Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Committee

Members Present: Judge Screnock, Peter Vedro, Michael Albrecht, Patricia Rego, Cathy Warwick, Dan Brattset, Annette Kuhlmann, Alene Bolin, Judge Jones, Chief Cummings, Leonie Dolch, Ryan Ramnarace, Tom Kriegl, Elizabeth La Broscian, Sheriff Meister, Glen Johnson

 

Members Absent: John Miller, Brian Basham, Jay Englund

 

Others Present: Regina Baldwin, Kristen Ederer, Captain Lange, Rick Spoentgen, Lory Seffrood, Tim Lawther, Tom Weber, Chief Spencer, Dan Holsmen

             

Call Meeting to Order:

The meeting was called to order and certification of Open Meeting compliance was given at 3:31 p.m.

 

Adopt Agenda:

*Motion to move Tom Weber discussion to after Public Comment section.

Motion by Vedro second Rego to adopt agenda. Motion carried.

 

Minutes:

Motion to approve minutes by Brattset second by Kuhlmann to adopt minutes. Motion carried.

 

Public Comment:

-Dan Holsmen – Fairfield Township – lived there since 1982. CJCC is doing a good job but he wants to see the tax savings given back to the tax payers. Offered statistics about the jail population and the annual cost per inmate. Said that the jail cost isn’t decreasing, even though the number of inmates in the jail is decreasing. He believes there should be new ways identified to serve the public.

 

Tom Weber Site Visit (Moved from Regina’s CJCC Report)

-Tom Weber - Consultant brought in to improve agency relations and data needs/software. Has been working with the jail/Sheriff on the new database (operations, operation management, and organization). Wants to maximize what the database can do, as it is constantly evolving and can be customized to add all necessary user groups, needs, and information output. The goal is to collect information by the jail staff and other user groups to map a process and see the daily operation of the jail. With the help of Captain Lange, a goal is to determine what reports are needed to manage the jail. The goal of the evaluation process is to not only source the information desired or the necessary measures, but also to identify some standards (admissions, average populations, classification of inmates, gender, length of jail stay, etc.) Determined that in the next 2 weeks, need to determine what all is wanted to be evaluated, and identify the next steps to attain that information.

-Tom Kriegl – said that the software system over-promises and under-performs. Asked Tom Weber if our system and our CJCC is on track with other comparable systems and council’s that he has worked with. Tom Weber said that our system is scheduled to be active in April, but it will take time to transfer all of the old data into the new system. A major challenge will be that it will change the appearance of the data integration process. That is why it is so necessary to test and ask questions before the system is fully active.

-Tom Kriegl – Discussed Lacrosse County and a third party test on recidivism. Stated that there is no standard definition of recidivism in Sauk County. Asked Tom Weber if any other counties have done a study on recidivism? Tom Weber responded that cross-jurisdiction can be used to learn from each other, but each county has a unique set of measures AND a standard set of measures. Stated that it is important to make the determination or recidivism but it is a significant undertaking that will likely extend over a six (6) month period. Certain criteria needs to be established before the term can be defined (re-arrest, reconviction, period of time that has passed, supervision/probation, when discharged, misdemeanor versus felony, etc.)

-Peter Vedro – High level of expertise is on the CJCC team – all coming from various “silos”. The largest challenge is how to find a manner to coordinate every point of expertise in a way to gather all of the necessary data. The CJCC needs are clearly defined in the Stepping-Up Initiative (LEO, Jail, Courts, Reentry, etc.) but a policy/funding is needed and this is the data that is missing. He would encourage the County Board to fund additional staff to input/combine data from various departments/divisions in order to determine the trends/gaps and monitor the constant development. Tom Weber is here to help us see the bigger picture and look more broadly – we have the capacity, but we need the oversight to guarantee our investments to the community. Tom Weber responded that some data is specific to the jail, and other is universal. Operational management is the main focal point of the data. Challenges: determining which department/division/segment carries the specific data we are looking for, how do get the data, what if nobody has the data, who should collect the data, how do we collect the data? Need to build off of the jail data system – it is not the “end all” for data, but it is a good start and it will cover incarceration/recidivism rates in Sauk County. It is just data until you make information out of it. Vedro is looking for an intercept that collect the data (processes information collected and follows individual though the system) to determine what kinds of services were received. Wants to be able to follow the person through their cycle, both in the justice system and after the justice system.

- Tim Lawther – Community Information Exchange – can make different systems from different departments “talk” to each other to track individuals through different systems and combine them into the jail data system. Sauk County is well-suited to broaden the data system and create a future combined system.

-Ramnarace – there were different data fields that were identified in the disbanded Data Collection Committee. Couldn’t find a way to integrate the systems back then. Would like a “data dump” where everything can be shared and managed by a Data Manager – someone who can sort through it after it is combined from all agencies/departments. Reports could remove specific identifiers. Asked Tom Weber if he knows of any existing system that could combine everything into one place? Tom Weber responded that there used to be two systems: Spider System that would pull information from multiple software systems and the Bus Type System that would dump data into one place. The formatting to get everything into a central database could be a challenge because you would need to find a unique identifier to follow the person (name, DOB, SS#, etc.). Could use something like Excel or Access, which doesn’t require a large investment and is more universal. MIS staff could work on collecting/combining data into one place, but would need to identify the information that you are looking for first.

Judge Jones – wants to identify Tribal individuals going through the justice system – could this be recorded somewhere? Is looking for data on diverse populations, and how to direct people once the problem is identified in order to stop the cycle. Tom Weber responded that minority data and other areas of interest are exactly the data points that we are looking for. We just need to figure out where to get this data from.

 

Communications:

-TK Email (Articles): “Prison Paradox” – provides state by state comparison. “Misuse of Jails” – provides statistics on over-incarceration. “2019 Jail Inmates” – discusses staffing rates across the country.

 

November CJCC Report – Baldwin

-BNR Articles: Good reflection of ATC & SUDS accomplishments.

-ATC/SUDS updates

- Discuss Kiosk Demonstration – explore further for compliance

- John Miller – in Tulsa, Oklahoma attending the Stepping Up Peer Exchange conference

 

Discussion and election of CJCC Vice Chair

-Chair & Vice Chair only serve until April of 2020. Chair Screnock elected Leonie Dolch for Vice Chair.

Motion to approve appointment by Screnock, second by Warwick. Unanimous consensus.

 

Discussion and possible action on name of CJCC program division (staff vs. committee)

-Letter to Governor Evers sent out in October caused confusion on program name versus committee/council name.

-New name for program/division: Justice, Diversion, and Support

Motion to approve by Ramnarace, second by Lange. Motion carried.

 

Review and Discussion of the approved 2020 CJCC budget, and related programs/efforts

-Full-time Administrative Specialist

-Full-time Reentry Coordinator – be able to help with education/transportation. Will work closely with jail/prison release. Grant through Dept. of Administration will be submitted 12/02/2019

-U.W. Platteville/Baraboo/Sauk County is on-board with assisting this new position, and will assist with tutoring, education, and college applicants, making it easier for individuals to get jobs.

 

Discussion and possible action on the formation of an Ad Hoc Committee or Work Group/Task Force to analyze historic jail bed data

-Kriegl – Provided statistics on the changes in Huber and Electronic Monitoring rates. Should try to understand the changes to the jail population and what caused the change. Determine the roll that people play within the system in order to help determine the cause of the change.

-Lange – asked Kriegl where he got those statistics, because they are inaccurate. Kriegl responded that he got them from the monthly report submitted to DOC. Lange responded that LEO and the Jail do not determine sentencing – the courts and prosecutors decide. The individuals are sent to Huber/Jail but the data doesn’t give a picture of why.

-Brattset – proposed a Data Task Force, assigned with projects to vet towards the direction of a new plan, rather than try to find the purpose. Judge Screnock asked if now the right time, with all of the other changes is going on with CJCC right now? Lange proposed to wait until mid-2020 until after the new jail database is up and running. They don’t have the staff to allocate someone to work on this right now. Gina said that Tom Weber had advised that CJCC not take on anything new at this time (even though we are adding positions/programs), and should wait until after Tom Weber finishes his current task before starting this new data piece. Maybe have Tom Weber join the Task Force at that time? Warwick wants to move forward with AJS first, they are just starting to make headway and they don’t want to take on anything new yet. They should focus on System Mapping in order to develop data points for the jail. Kuhlmann agreed that AJS shouldn’t take on more right now, they need to be able to move more freely in order to coordinate with the subgroups/committees. Motion to create a Data Task Force (small group) was denied. Instead it was decided that Gina, Captain Lange, MIS, and Tom Weber will continue to provide monthly updates.

 

Committees: Report on Action Plans and Committee Goals

Adult Justice Systems:

-Stepping Up Initiative – brainstorm exercise to identify gaps.

-Boys and Girls Club – 1 year diversion program intended to assist individuals with minor offense in helping them develop social/work skills

-Next meeting: December 4, 2019 at 3:30 p.m.

 

Juvenile Justice Systems:

-Met 11/20 – gather information from LEO and Schools to better understand youth justice policies.

-Cody McConnell/Annie Getsinger/Ryan Ramnarace – will review policies to identify what a system map could look like.

-Next meeting: December 18, 2019 at 3:30 p.m.

 

 

 

Victims Services Committee:

-CMRT met 11/21 – WI CAC – Chile Advocacy Center consultation/training

-DART/ Arizona Report

-SART/ Victim Survey (highlight experience with criminal justice system)

-Potentially get a service dog for Victim Witness division – comfort children who need to talk to LEO or attend Court.

-Next meeting: November 27, 2019 at 2:30 p.m.

 

Next Meeting Date and agenda items:

December 19, 2019 at 3:30 p.m. in Room 218.

Agenda Items:       Safety of JDS office space

 

 

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn by Bolin second by Ramnarace. Motion carried.

Meeting adjourned at 5:22 p.m.

 

Respectfully Submitted:

 

 

Kristen Ederer