Minutes 05-14-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Frank Clifton said there are a large number of different elements, and the County staff members are not experts on the criminal justice system. He said it is best to have a broader view and to have someone like Steve Allan with experience in this area. Commissioner Dorosin said that part of this description will have Steve Allan talking to the same people Frank Clifton refers to as not being experts. Commissioner Dorosin said he does not want another study like the library study plan that was just seen. He wants to see some direct correlation in the results of the report and how the jail will be designed. He said if this is the case he would like this to be laid out more clearly in the prospectus. Frank Clifton said the issue is that jails aren't built that often and $30m is a substantial investment. He said that he can't tell the Board that the study will save them a dollar in the future; but he can say that this report will give a basis for the design of the jail to incorporate savings over the life of the facility. Michael Talbert said a lot of court information is kept, but this does not tell how effectively the programs are working. He said that this is part of what the consultant will look at. He said that this is a starting point; and moving forward the plan will be refined, and numbers may change. He said the reality is that there is overcrowding on a daily basis in the current jail and this cannot continue. He said that expanding or making renovations to the existing jail is not an option. He said this is a good site and a good starting point. Chair Jacobs said when this topic first came up, he suggested a group modeled after the Emergency Services work group. He said this group had both stakeholders and County Commissioners involved. He feels that the explicit purpose should be to address whether the County needs the proposed jail capacity. He said the sheriff takes as many federal prisoners as possible to help defray the cost of his budget. He said that if there are not as many federal prisoners being taken, or if the federal policies change and fewer prisoners come, then the facility will have been vastly overbuilt. Chair Jacobs would like a more interactive discussion among professionals, rather than one consultant talking to everyone, similar to the Emergency Services work group. Chair Jacobs discussed a meeting that included a speaker who was a sheriff from Colorado. The speaker reduced his jail population using alternative sentencing and diversion programs with community support. Steve Allan said that the interactive work group is listed as item 6 on the scope of services. Chair Jacobs said this does not specify who will be the participating stakeholders; this only lists who will be interviewed. Michael Talbert said if the Board would like to follow the model of Emergency Services then a work group will need to be appointed now. Then the process will begin now, and the consultant will be used only after the group decides what should be looked at. He said this is strictly a Commissioner call. Commissioner Gordon said she would like to reinforce what Commissioner Dorosin said. She said that the specific deliverables don't seem to match up with the overall purpose of the study. She said that the overall purpose of the study is to look at how this will affect the new jail discussion. She reviewed the deliverables and said that what is missing are the performance measures. She said that there should be a specific assessment or measure of the models and how they relate. She said there needs to be a re-working of the prospectus to show how it meets the questions set out, and it needs to show the performance measures. Commissioner Pelissier said the primary goal is to look at how each programs can minimize the number of jail beds. She said this is the primary outcome measure.