A bill introduced in the Minnesota Senate this week would cut prison sentences across the board and lower penalties for specific crimes. The bill’s author said she’s proposing the changes to help balance the state’s budget. But some public safety advocates say the changes go too far and the savings could be found elsewhere.  As reported by Minnesota Public Radio.

The bill proposed by DFL Senator Linda Higgins would cut $78 million from the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Corrections. The bulk of the cuts, $66 million, would come from the Corrections Department.  Because most of the department’s expenses come from housing inmates, Higgins said the only way to save money is by reducing the number of inmates walking into prisons and the amount of time they stay there. Her plan accomplishes that by eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for some offenses.  “In the last 10 or 15 years, legislators have imposed all of these mandatory minimums and taken away any discretion that judges have on certain things,” Higgins said. “And all of the research that’s been going around the country on prison systems have found that it has really been a driver in an explosion of costs in a prison system.”

Higgins wants to repeal required minimum sentences for felony drunk drivers, for some drug offenses and for predatory offenders who fail to register with authorities. She said judges should decide the length of sentences … The bill also reduces the length of time all inmates would serve in prison. Currently, offenders have to serve at least two-thirds of their sentence in prison or jail. The bill would shorten it to 60 percent … Higgins said lawmakers have to make changes in light of a tough budget deficit …

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said eliminating mandatory minimum sentences and prison time is a mistake. Even though the bill would apply only to inmates who are sentenced after July 1, Freeman said nearly every inmate already in prison would apply for the reduction. He said courts would force the state to make the change retroactive, meaning further reductions for inmates.  “It doesn’t save any money,” he said. “By the time we’re done in the next two or three years litigating everyone’s sentence again, it’s going to be very expensive and there’s no money in this bill for it.”

vericatrajkova Economic Issues, Minnesota, Sentencing

The man who will head the Lino Lakes prison later this month began his career there 17 years ago as a corrections officer, according to the Pioneer Press.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections appointed Eddie Miles as warden of the correctional site in Lino Lakes, the department announced Tuesday. He replaces Robert Feneis, who is retiring. The appointment takes effect April 15.

Miles began his state service in 1992 as a corrections officer at Lino Lakes, according to the department. He later became an investigator with the Office of Special Investigations in 1997. He accepted a program director’s position at the Stillwater prison in 2005 and has served as associate warden of operations for the past year.

Lino Lakes is a medium-security correctional facility for adult men that includes a minimum-security unit. The primary corrections treatment center for sex offenders, it houses 1,310 inmates.

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The state-of-the-art jail facility in Hubbard County has enough beds to hold 116 prisoners.  But on a recent day there are only 34.  A situation faced by many jails across the State.  This report from the Minneapolis-St Paul Star Tribune.

When the facility was built in 2006, there were high hopes it would draw overflow prisoners from around the region, and help Hubbard County make some money from its neighbors.   But that isn’t happening. The overcrowding from just a few years ago disappeared.  In fact, Minnesota Department of Correction figures show the number of prisoners in county jails is down 3.5 percent …

In Hubbard County, some officials say without that outside revenue, it would actually be cheaper for them to shut the jail down and send their inmates elsewhere. Hubbard County Commissioner and former County Attorney Greg Larson said that’s unlikely to happen.  Still, he and others wonder what’s going on … “One of the things that was not foreseen was a downturn in business. The numbers I see from the courts indicate the courts are less busy than they were a few years ago,” Larson said. “There is less of a workload, and other counties are experiencing the same thing” …

There’s lots of speculation as to why jail populations are down.   Some say the state has a better handle on the meth problem that plagued communities a few years ago. Others wonder if perhaps it’s due to an aging population. The children of baby boomers are growing beyond the age when they’re most likely to commit crimes.

In Crow Wing County, the story is the same.   The county has a jail facility with 286 beds, but more than a third of them are empty. Daily populations are about 50 inmates less than when the jail opened two years ago.    The number of prisoners Crow Wing County houses for the state has also dropped, and so has their revenue.  Jail administrator Jerry Negen said one reason for the decrease in inmates is that the courts are increasingly finding alternatives to jail time for law breakers. There’s a big push for more specialized programs that reduce jail time in favor of more treatment and court supervision.   “They’ve got 30 plus people in our drug court right now that are doing well, so there’s 30 people out of custody that they report to drug court,” Negen said. “We also have in Crow Wing County DWI court… So there’s another 15 to 20 on that. So there’s where our numbers went, we believe.”

vericatrajkova Drug Treatment & Diversion, MN Crow Wing County

A new proposal calls for letting some Minnesota state inmates out of prison 45 days early to save money and reliving counties of a major tax burden.

Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, plans to introduce a bill today that would require the state to take back responsibility for housing short-term offenders with six months or less to serve in prison. After a law change in 2003, county jails had to house these inmates, with local taxpayers footing most of the bill for their stay. In exchange for the state taking these inmates back, well-behaved state inmates could be released 45 days earlier. County correction department would be responsible for probation and providing re-entry services, like chemical dependency treatment or job training. The swap would not cost the state any more money and would get rid of a major local tax burden, Liebling said. “We are taking away a big problem for counties because they are dealing with these people who should be in prison,” she said. Democratic Sen. Ann Lynch of Rochester is sponsoring a similar measure in the Senate and has bipartisan support …

Housing these short-term offenders has put a big financial strain on Olmstead County [for example], with the state paying $9 per day for these inmates while the actual cost to house them in the county jail is $118 per day. As a result, Olmsted County taxpayers shell out more than $660,000 a year to pay for the inmates. The inmates take up valuable jail beds and some drag out the court process so they do not have to get sent to prison because they have less than six months left to serve, said Stacy Sinner, director of Olmsted County detention services. “It’s a situation where we are absolutely full because of the short-term offenders,” she said. “We are not buying beds right now, but if we go any higher we would have to start buying beds from other jails.”

The article in the Rochester Post-Bulletin has more detail.

vericatrajkova County-State Issues, Early Release, Economic Issues, MN Olmstead County, Minnesota

The Becker County MN Board of Commissioners approved renewal of a contract with the Minnesota Department of Corrections for the operation of the county’s Sentence to Service (STS) program. Report from Detroit Lakes Online.

The county will continue to employ two part-time STS crew leaders and a quarter-time shared position with Mahnomen County, which will be more than justified by additional work responsibilities that will be assigned to STS.

As explained by Gordon, in an effort to streamline county operations the STS program will be taking on additional duties for the county’s Parks & Recreation and Environmental Services agencies.   STS will be absorbing grounds maintenance duties for Parks & Recreation that had previously been handled via 12 separate contracts with other businesses. In addition, STS crews will be providing paint separation and paint can crushing duties for Environmental Services.

Altogether, assigning these jobs to STS is expected to save the county nearly $15,000.

vericatrajkova Community Corrections, Inmate Labor, MN Becker County

Some Minnesota legislators want to move more prisoners from state facilities to a private prison, saving the state $12 million in the next two years.  This report from the Bemidji Pioneer.

The 776 medium security prisoners at the Moose Lake prison would be transferred to the Appleton facility under a bill promoted by Rep. Torrey Westrom, R-Elbow Lake, and Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria.  Westrom said the bill is “another measure of common sense to save Minnesota money.” At Moose Lake, prisoners cost up to $122 per day, but just $62.90 at Appleton, Westrom said.

The newly emptied space at Moose Lake would be used as housing for the Minnesota Sex Offender Program and the bill’s supporters say that planned new Moose Lake construction would not be needed …

But Sen. Tony Lourey, DFL-Kerrick, said that the state should not farm out prisoners.   “Many, many other states have experimented with privatizing their prisons and had dubious results,” said Lourey, whose district includes Moose Lake.   Lourey said that among his fears are that workers in the Appleton prison are under paid and that a private facility is more prone to graft. “Any cost savings are not worth the price,” he added …

Westrom said any job loss at Moose Lake would be countered by more jobs in Appleton.  Ingebrigtsen said he was making this bill his major project for the legislative session.   “Increasing our use of private prisons also could bring a healthy element of competition to the state-run facilities to operate more efficiently and extend the saving seven further,” Ingebrigtsen said.

vericatrajkova Minnesota, Private Prisons

A new audit says Minnesota’s prisons should tighten oversight of arrangements with private companies for inmate labor.

The Legislative Auditor’s office says Minncor Industries does a generally good job of running a profitable business and giving inmates something productive to do. But its report says prisoners’ work for private companies such as 3M Co. is less profitable for the state than their work making license plates and running canteens …  The auditor also recommends standard contracts with the businesses and closer monitoring of the profitability of those contracts.

Inmates do everything from making tractors to packaging balloons for private companies. Minncor had its most profitable year ever in 2008, reporting net income of $3 million.

vericatrajkova Inmate Labor, Minnesota

The economic crisis is hitting local jails throughout the country.  Just this weekend I found the following examples:

Ramsey County MN Corrections has been told to cut $550,000 from this year’s budget.

Community Corrections, which runs the jail, is being asked to trim $536,000. Department spokesman Chris Crutchfield said it’s unclear where those might slice.   “We have a hole to fill, and it’s a question of how we’re going to keep people safe with $500,000 less, and that’s a lot of money for us,” he said.

Orange County CA has cancelled an expansion:

A jail unit that houses nearly 200 inmates and was planned for expansion earlier this year will be closed because of budget constraints. Orange County sheriff’s officials on Friday began shutting down the unit at James Musick jail. The low-security inmates housed in tents, which were erected in the 1980s to ease overcrowding, will be moved to other areas of the jail as well as other facilities in the county system. The move is expected to save about $1.2 million a year.

Nassau County NY has cut visiting hours:

As part of a countywide initiative to close a $130-million gap in this year’s budget, the jail no longer has visiting hours on Saturday starting this weekend, Chief Deputy County Executive Marilyn Gottlieb said last week.   The change surprised some who stopped by the jail yesterday afternoon expecting to visit someone.

vericatrajkova CA Orange County, California, Economic Issues, MN Ramsey County, Minnesota, NY Nassau County, New York, Prison and Jail Construction, Visits

Vice-chairman Don Carlson of the Hubbard County MN Board of Commissioners wonders if the county would be better off shutting the three-year-old jail down.  This report from the Park City Enterprise.

He – and his fellow commissioners – are getting increasingly alarmed that the operational costs of the facility are crippling the county; it might be more fiscally responsible to close the doors and ship the 30-some inmates it currently houses to other facilities … “It has been mentioned but nothing has been looked at very deeply,” commissioner Greg Larson admitted. “It would be pretty drastic to mothball the whole thing and use the old facility again” …

The Enterprise scrutinized jail expenses over a three-year period, from its opening in 2006 through 2008. Many of the major expenditures have been put in the accompanying chart.  During that period, the costs to operate just the jail portion of the law enforcement center increased more than $500,000. The annual bond payment, an obligation that will run until 2025, is around $640,000 this year. It’s not part of the operational costs.

When the jail budgeted $250,000 in revenues last year, but only collected $58,950, county commissioners reacted in horror.  “Why didn’t the other costs go down, too?” Heeren questioned, voicing the sentiments of the board. And that’s where they want the bleeding stopped.   “It doesn’t make any difference what the building costs because you will pay that off eventually,” Carlson said. The building will be an asset to the county.  “But your costs of operations are what you really have to be concerned with because you will never pay off the cost of operations,” he said. “They go on forever” …

Carlson’s frustration led him to embark on his own investigation into the daily inmate population.  “I came up with an average inmate number of somewhere in the low 30s” per month, he said.  The facility is designed to hold 116 prisoners. Because a Minnesota Department of Corrections examination found some deficient areas, the facility needs a minimum of 16 jailers, plus dispatchers, “plus a slew of part-time personnel,” Paul said, to operate …  In 2006, before the jail opened and Hubbard County had to ship out its inmates, it spent $72,316.76 to house them elsewhere for about half of the year.  The costs would fluctuate, depending on the number of inmates the county has. Transportation costs of ferrying prisoners to and from court appearances would also vary, depending on inmate numbers and gasoline prices.  But they certainly wouldn’t rise to the $1.8 million in operational costs the facility incurred in 2008.

The complete article in the Park City Enterprise is full of additional detail.

vericatrajkova Economic Issues, MN Hubbard County, Minnesota

In Stevens County MN, the state Department of Corrections and a large gathering of locals held a detailed and highly informative debate.  The questions were:  is the County required by law to have a jail; and if so what size and kind of jail is required.   The report in the Morris Sun Tribune is long and detailed and well worth reading.  I can barely scratch the surface here:

Tim Thompson of the Minnesota Department of Corrections spoke first and was asked “Are we breaking the law by not having a jail and do we need a jail?”   Thompson replied by reading the state statute that states, “Each County shall provide at the county seat, and keep in good repair, a suitable courthouse supplied with fireproof vaults, a suitable and sufficient jail and other necessary buildings.”  Thompson explained that the DOC does not enforce that statute “that literally so we say that every county has to have a county jail.”   Thompson said there are currently six or seven counties that don’t have a jail.   “Actually, that makes our job easier. Then we don’t have to go out and inspect them.”

Thompson was also questioned about DOC requirements on the size of a county jail and staffing.   “We’re not going to tell you how big of a jail you need.”   As for staffing, Thompson said the current regulations allow that one person can supervise up to 15 inmates. In other words, the dispatcher could also supervise the inmates. However, Thompson said he believes that is a very unsafe way to run a jail and he believes that regulation will be revised so that sole supervision is no longer allowed. That would mean a county would need both a jailer and a dispatcher at all times …

Thompson noted that it appears the Stevens County proposal took that into account when deciding to build a 40-bed jail and staff efficiencies appear to built into the plan.  Stevens County auditor/treasurer Neil Wiese took issue with that notion.  “We’ve been told that the larger the jail, the more efficient. I don’t agree.”   Wiese said that based on conversations with auditors in counties that operate jails, he believes the $260,000 projected cost to operate the jail is too low and suggested that $650,000 is more realistic.

Wiese outlined a projection of costs for the project that he had calculated. He noted that the county’s portion of the gross levy for 2009 is $4,673,398. He figured that the levy for debt service on a $9.5 million general obligation jail bond will be $767,790 a year. Additionally, the county is planning to issue $1.5 million in capital improvement bonds, with the levy for debt service for that bond totalling $124,743 a year. Wiese also forecast a loss of interest income of approximately $180,000 from the $4 million in reserve funds that will be used for the project …

John Stephens said that in hindsight, a regional facility was the best idea.  “My heart goes out to these guys who poured themselves into that and finally decided to just take the bull by the horns,” Stephens said. “But the economic situation has changed drastically since then.”

vericatrajkova County-State Issues, MN Stevens County, Prison and Jail Construction