JUSTICE ADVISORY COUNCIL OF THE PIKES PEAK REGION. Meeting Minutes for August 16, 2001

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1 JUSTICE ADVISORY COUNCIL OF THE PIKES PEAK REGION Meeting Minutes for August 16, Call to Order and Attendance Robert Briggle Meeting was called to order by Chair Robert Briggle at 12:03 PM in the El Paso Room, Pikes Peak Center, 190 S. Cascade Avenue. A. Introduction of Guests All present introduced themselves. B. Request for Excused Absences 33 voting members 17 members present Willie Alexander (for Paul Isenstadt), John Anderson, Robert Briggle, Donald Campbell, James Hastings (for John Anderson), Jeri Howells, Terry Klopfenstein, Lloyd Malone (for David Berns), Dan May (for Jeanne Smith), Gilbert Martinez, Kathy Moore, Doug Moyes (for Jack Ruszczyk), Rich Rippetoe, Tom Rosazza, Gary Shupp, Kathy Verlo, Katherine Sanguinetti (for George Burke), Jim Ungvarsky (for Beth Craft), Luis Velez. 11 members absent Larry Baldonado, Robert Brown, Terrie Burke, Eric Holzwarth, Mike Leslie, Robert MacDonald, Jorge Sierra, Rick Tudor, and members requesting excused absences: Caroline Benham, Judith Horose, James Null. 5 representatives not yet assigned Cities of Calhan, Green Mountain Falls, Palmer Lake, and Ramah and the Teller County Board of Commissioners. Guests and Non-Voting Members in Attendance Duncan Bremer, Jeff Canitz, Rich Larsen, Susie Mecikalski, Larry Schaad, Jill Travis. Staff in Attendance Jan Barkley, Jane Headley, Ned Fenlon, Imad Karaki, Jay Lauer, Bill Miller, Henry Sontheimer. 2. Minutes June, 2001 Robert Briggle It was moved, seconded and voted unanimously to approve the minutes as submitted. 3. Business

2 A. Heads Up! What current events or considerations in your agency may impact other agencies? 1. Henry Sontheimer: A presentation on court house safety was given to the BoCC at their meeting today by David Berns and Trudy Strewler. The presentation was similar to that given to the JAC last month. Data on court house incidents was presented. 2. Henry Sontheimer: Handouts were provided including: new Bylaws, new JAC membership list, new JAC calendar, annual report of Court Services Unit. B. Strategic Initiatives 1. Proposed Bylaws changes: Judge Briggle and Henry Sontheimer presented the proposed Bylaws changes to the BoCC on August 9. The BoCC approved the Bylaws with one amendment, which would provide that agency representatives appointed by the Chief Executive Officer of their agency serve at the pleasure of and may be removed without cause by their agency s Chief Executive Officer. Written notice of this amendment was sent to the JAC last week. A motion was made, seconded and voted unanimously to approve this change. C. Committees 1. Reports a. Steering Robert Briggle The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding coordinated agency IT plans is making its way through channels and should be ready for presentation to the BoCC in about a week. Dan May asked whether the JAC was planning to request any additional funds from the BoCC in the current budget cycle. Judge Briggle replied that the only request was for support services for the Criminal Justice Planner position. The Committee discussed the need for a Facilities Usage and Needs Committee and the Chair is ready to appoint members. The prospective Co- Chairs are Judge Martinez and Sheriff Anderson. b. Data Luis Velez The Committee has a new spinoff group called the IT Subcommittee. This group is made up of IT professionals, whereas the Data Committee is composed mainly of lay (non-technical) persons. The IT Subcommittee has been examining various possible integration models for information systems. Discussions are centering on how to integrate the records management systems of the EPSO and CSPD. This step could form the nucleus of a regional integration effort in the future. Deputy Chief Velez will be discussing this issue with the EPSO Sheriff. The Subcommittee will prepare a report for the Data Committee by November 2001, and the Data Committee will make a report to the JAC by December c. Jail Alternatives Doug Moyes

3 The Committee met today and continued to engage in fact-finding around jail use issues. The main focus has been on projecting future jail needs, devising contingencies for various scenarios. Today EPSO Commander Santiago made a presentation on the jail classification system. With the current high inmate count, the ability to assign inmates based on their classification breaks down, resulting in less safe conditions for inmates and staff. d. Special Populations Donald Campbell The meeting scheduled for August 8, 2001 was cancelled. A new meeting will be rescheduled. D. Educating Ourselves County Detention Facility Briefing-EPSO Sheriff John Anderson County Justice Facilities Briefing-Terry Harris, Ned Fenlon The Sheriff went through a Power Point presentation, which was also provided in hard copy. The EPSO is wrapping up its accreditation process with the American Correctional Association (ACA). The high inmate population count in the county jail system was noted by the ACA. The detention function is at a crisis, with 1,041 inmates as of August 12, The historical high was 1,097 in Unlike in the recent past, the crisis is not related to DOC inmates being held locally. The growth in the jail population has mirrored the growth in the general population. The county is projected to experience similar growth during the current decade. If we project that future jail populations will grow at the same rate as the general population, we can expect the jail population to exceed the total available jail space by the year The Sheriff reviewed proposed Executive County Capital Improvement (CCIP) projects, including the Minimum Security Unit (MSU). An bond issue for an MSU failed in 1995, and perhaps could have been promoted better in terms of having more partners and doing a better public education effort. Current plans for an MSU call for a 248-bed capacity at a construction cost of $4-4.5 million. An MSU is the most costefficient space to acquire. The unit would house male and female minimum security inmates. A longer-term project is for two Detention Towers built at the CJC complex, providing 696 additional beds at a cost of $45.7 million. Some of the site prep work will be facilitated by earlier work done in in terms of infrastructure needs, since the intent was to be able to add onto the original CJC. Bringing the towers on line will allow Metro to be closed while providing new maximum security capacity to replace Metro. The total projected detention capacity, including CJC, MSU, and two Detention Towers, assuming Metro was razed, would be 1,557. The Sheriff requested that the JAC consider providing letters support for the MSU and (at some point) for the Detention Towers. In response to questions, the Sheriff indicated that the MSU would require 14 FTE positions to staff. Doug Moyes asked what the projected per diem would be. The EPSO is working on those figures. The Sheriff noted that the current cost per year to house an inmate is about $22,000-$26,000, less any revenue generated by work release fees and other revenue. He said that the MSU has the potential to operate in the black. Tom Rosazza asked if the system would gain any net beds, given that some of the new capacity would be used to relieve overcrowding. Tom raised the policy question

4 of whether the County should continue to rely on (and possibly expand) the ComCor, Inc. contract for work release inmates, instead of building new jail capacity. He suggested that the cost per day under the contract is lower than the projected cost per day at the MSU. The Sheriff noted that the MSU would not be a work release facility, but would accommodate a range of minimum security inmates. He suggested that the MSU could generate a net profit, based on inmate fees. He acknowledged that some of the work release population currently assigned to ComCor, Inc. might be housed at the MSU, but that the overflow would probably continue to be housed at ComCor, Inc.. Terry Harris then addressed the JAC on the larger issue of securing funding for detention space needs and for increased justice facilities space. He noted that the County s borrowing limit is around $50 million. Given that the EPSO s request for an MSU and two Detention Towers would cost about $50 million, and that a new Court House Annex would cost an equal amount, the County cannot handle both needs and must decide what is most important. All ballot issues are tough sells, but requests to fund jails tend to do better than requests to fund court houses. Ballot issues generally fail unless there is a real or perceived crisis. He suggested it would be better to put these issues on the ballot together, for example requesting one Detention Tower and some Court House expansion combined with tearing down Metro. Mr. Harris reviewed some conceptual ideas for additional Court House space, such as using the Metro site or the block of Cascade across from the Justice Center, which is mostly County owned. Centennial Hall sits on the gateway site to the proposed urban renewal development. He has explored scenarios involving using private funds to expand County jail and court house space, which requires a monthly revenue stream rather than a large lump sum. He will soon start meeting with individuals involved in the proposed urban renewal project, and there is a chance for the JAC to be involved, possibly through the new JAC Facilities Usage and Needs Committee which will soon be formed. Commissioner Duncan Bremer asked whether the proposed MSU should be funded out of the $8.8 million Tabor excess funds which the County could access through a successful ballot initiative, and he asked whether the JAC had a position on this issue. Judge Briggle pointed out that in all the years that the MSU has been discussed, this was the first time that the topic was officially presented to the JAC by the EPSO or BoCC and that it would be difficult to make a decision for or against the MSU in the very short time frame required. He was concerned that the JAC not be asked to rubber stamp a proposal. Terry Harris noted that ballot issues must appeal to City voters in order to succeed, and that the County would need to get support from the City Council for any proposed spending related to the Tabor funds. Dan May suggested that there are two separate issues here: whether the MSU is needed, and how it should be funded if the need exists.

5 Ned Fenlon provided an update on County plans to provide additional court room space for the new 4 th Judicial District judgeships coming on line. Current renovations will provide for three new court rooms on the 2 nd Floor of the Justice Center within the next month. In reference to the Sheriff s request for a letter of support for the MSU, the Council discussed the request and decided to refer the matter to the JAC Executive Committee. In the meantime, the EPSO could draft a letter for the Executive Committee s consideration. E. Populations 1. Jail Jim Hastings The jail population is 1,021 today. 2. Prisons No report 4. Next Meeting September 20, 2001 Confirmed. 5. Adjourn A motion was made, seconded and passed unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 1:30 p.m. Approved by Council at the September 20, 2001 meeting. Robert Briggle, Chair