Law Enforcement & Judiciary Committee

DATE:December 5, 2003

The regular meeting of the Sauk County Law Enforcement Committee was held on Friday, December 5, 2003, at 8:00 AM., in the Community Room, D 102A, 1300 Lange Court,
Baraboo, Wisconsin.

The meeting was properly posted and all interested parties were notified.

Members Present:

Members Absent:

Others Present: Montgomery, Giebel, Carlson, Wenzel, Williams B. Hinze, M. Hafemann, C. Hendee, R. Meister, A Kirby, K. Fults, j. Welsch, j. Spencer, L Crisman, P. Holcomb,
M. Backeberg, G. Wiegand, B. Manning, j. Prantner, Public

1. Call To Order and Certification of Open Meeting Law: The meeting was called to order and compliance with the Open Meeting Law was certified by Chair Charles Montgomery at 8:00 AM.
2. Agenda: Motion by Giebel, seconded by Carlson, to adopt the agenda. Carried.
3. Approve Minutes of Previous Meeting(s): Motion by Wenzel, seconded by Carlson, to approve the minutes of the regular Law Enforcement Committee meeting held on Friday, November 7, 2003. Motion carried.
4. Update by Corporation Counsel Chad Hendee on Barnes V Sauk County. et al: Hendee said that on October 23, 2003, an inmate had filed a complaint stating his medical needs weren't cared for while he was an inmate in the Sauk County jail, as well as other alleged causes for damages. The inmate, Dennis Barnes, is seeking $108,000,000 in damages from Sauk County, Sheriff Stammen, and numerous other jail staff. Hendee said the case has been referred to Whyte, Hirschboeck & Dudek of Madison. Hendee said it's not a difficult case to defend, there are no real issues involved and it's being taken care of. He just wanted to bring the committee into the picture in regard to the matter. No action was needed nor taken.
5. Communications:
   • Captain Meister reported to the Committee that Sauk County had been notified that it was no longer a defendant in the law suit initiated by Milwaukee County after their helicopter crashed in Dodge County a couple of years ago.
   • Captain Hafemann reported that he, Chief Deputy Prantner and jail Inspector Bob Lee has toured the old jail on November 21 st. The purpose of the tour was to determine necessary repairs and corrections needed to ready part of the old jail to be used as a court holding area. The area to be converted, the southeastern section of the jail, needed to have loose wires removed, the televisions and outlets removed, needed to be cleaned and painted as well as having bars removed, showers removed, and camera monitors switched around. The preliminary list of changes was drawn up and there are funds remaining from the construction project to cover the cost of the renovations.
6. Appearances:
   1. Presentation of Officer of the Month Award. Clerk/Matron Michelle Backeberg was presented with the award for Employee of the Month by Chief Deputy Prantner. Backeberg was nominated for her outstanding service to the TRIAD Program in Sauk County. TRIAD is a program promoting safety for senior citizens, and promoting law enforcement issues that are especially relevant to senior adults, including the Grab a Phone Program. Grab A Phone provides free used, donated cell phones to qualifying persons. The phones can only be used to call 91 I but there's no cost to the citizens and it's an important safety tool. Backeberg actually
      received two nominations according to Aaron Kirby, the Vice President of the Sheriff's Department's labor union.
   2. Deputy Louise Crisman appeared before the committee asking for their consideration of a possible recommendation to amend the Sauk County Personnel Ordinance. Crisman stated there's a gap in health insurance coverage for employees who retire early, even though they may be eligible for Wisconsin Retirement pension benefits. There's no provision allowing employees to continue to subscribe to the county's group health insurance once the initial COBRA period lapses or the employee runs out of coverage through paid contributions funded with sick leave accrual, even if the employee is willing to pay the full cost for continued enrollment in the group plan. The gap in health insurance coverage discourages employees from retiring even when they qualify for Wisconsin Retirement benefits.

      After a discussion the committee agreed that this was an issue that merited consideration.
      They did not think an actual age should be included in their recommendation to the Personnel
      Committee.

      Motion by Wenzel, seconded by Giebel, to recommend an amendment to the Personnel
      Ordinance to provide the option for retiring employees to continue to subscribe to the
      county's group health insurance plan, at the full monthly payment amount, if the employee is
      eligible for retirement benefits from the Wisconsin Retirement System and to support Deputy
      Crisman in her request for that at the Personnel Committee. Motion carried.

7. Review and Approval of November, 2003, Bills for Coroner and Sheriff's Office:
   • Motion by Giebel, seconded by Carlson, to approve payment of the Coroner's bills in the amount of $583.96. Motion carried.
   • Nothing of note was brought up in regard to the Sheriff's bills except to note that there were a
     few 2004 bills included totaling only a small amount. They'll be deducted once the 2004 budget
     info is loaded into the MUNIS system and transferred to next year's expenditures.
   • Motion by Carlson, seconded by Williams, to authorize payment of the Sheriff's November bills
     in the amount of $94,733.73. Motion carried.
8. Consideration and Approval of Resolution to Purchase Three Squad Cars From 2003 Sheriff'S Vehicle Replacement Allocation:
   • Captain Meister reported to the committee that he had contacted Kayser Ford of Madison to check on availability of Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors. Kayser had three 2004 Ford Interceptors and their sales
     representative told Meister that he would offer them at the 2003 state bid price. In addition, they would take three used, high-mileage squads in trade and provide the three vehicles for a final total price of $53,264. There is money left in the vehicle replacement account in the amount of $64,889 and the committee agreed that it would be wise to use up the money to
     buy the squads yet this year. The budget cuts in the 2004 budget reduced the amount to purchase squads by half, leaving enough funds to buy 4 police-package marked vehicles, rather than the eight marked police specification squads requested. The committee was also favorable toward the purchase since the vehicles purchased with 2003 dollars would be 2004 vehicles at
     last year's price.
   • Motion by Giebel, seconded by Wenzel, to approve the purchase of three Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors from Kayser Ford in Madison at a total final cost of $53,264; money to be taken from the Sheriff's adopted 2003 budget, Vehicle Replacement Account; each 2004 vehicle to be purchased at 2003 state bid prices; and to take the resolution to the Sauk County Board of Supervisors at the December 16, 2003, meeting. Motion carried
   • The matter of the performance of the Chevrolet squads purchased in 2003 came up during this discussion. Captain Meister said that there are issues with the alternators on the Chevrolet squads, which aren't heavy duty enough to stand up to the drain of all the electrical equipment that's running off them. All repairs up to this point have been warranty work so the economic
     impact isn't apparent yet. All the vehicles are approaching 21,000 and some of them are burning oil. Columbia County has decided not to purchase any more Chevrolet squad cars because of issues of needing excessive brake work, transmission problems and problems with the catalytic converters.
   • Meister also stated that he was informed that one of the transport vans, the one that was slated
     to be replaced in 2004, but which was removed from the budget, needs $1,200 worth of repairs. He reported the oldest van in the transport group has 21 1,000 miles on it. There are three vans that either have in excess of 100,000 miles on them or are near the 100,000 mileage
     mark. One of them is on its second transmission.
9. Current Status of Sheriffs 2003 Budget:
   • Chief Deputy Prantner reported that overtime is high in the 2003 budget overview and revenues are low. The matter of paying off the copierlfax lease came up. Prantner and Manning agreed it didn't appear favorable to payoff the lease as the Controller Kerry Beghin has requested. Prantner said the final line on the 2003 expenditures might be slightly over, or at the very least in the black only by a few thousand dollars. The committee stated they would like to see the lease paid off if there was any way it could be done. Prantner said that if they were to take a few dollars from a number
     of accounts, possibly up to 9 or 10 different accounts, the money might be scraped together to cover the payoff.
   • Motion by Giebel, seconded by Wenzel, to use the miscellaneous balances in the budget accounts to come up with the money to payoff the fax/copier lease/purchase agreement, in an amount somewhere in the area of $39,000. Motion carried.
10. Consideration and Approval for Sheriff to Enter into a Contract with Justice Benefits for 2004:
    • The Sheriffs Office has had a contract with Justice Benefits since 200I. Justice Benefits applies for federal entitlement monies for which the Sheriffs Department might be eligible from various programs and funds. They charge 22% of all monies collected as their
      fee. From January I, 200 I, through 2003, $24,666 has been collected. After deducting their fee of $2,426.52 the revenue realized were $ I 9,239.48 overall.
    • Motion by Williams, seconded by Carlson, to authorize the Sheriff to enter into a contract with
      Justice Benefits for 2004. Motion carried.
11. Authorization to Solicit Bids for Purchase of Four 2004 Squad Cars:
    • Captain Meister requested permission from the committee to solicit bids for the purchase of four
      police patrol vehicles, marked squads. The committee asked if he would solicit bids on Chevrolet Impalas and Meister said he would. The only stipulation would be that the bid specifications would include a 200 amp alternator.
    • Motion by Giebel, seconded by Carlson, that the Sheriffs Office be authorized to solicit bids
      for the purchase of four 2004 marked patrol squads. Motion carried.
12. Sheriff's Report:
    • Captain Meister reported there were 569 transport hours in November, with a total payroll of $5,823.43.
    • Hafemann told the committee that 13,448 inmate meals were served in November. He also reported that an inmate had done $3,470 worth of damage to one of the cells. The inmate has been charged with felony criminal damage but is now in prison. It's unlikely any amount will be collected to offset the expense.
    • Payment has been received for Probation and Parole Holds from the Department of Corrections for the fiscal year running from July I, 2002, through June 30, 2003, in the amount of $67,084.72. This is payment for 1,819 billable days, averaging out to $36.88 per day.
    • There were 376 inmate days in October for electronic monitoring. The amount collected for rent of the equipment is $6,040, our costs from Pro Tech were $2,045, for a total credit of $3,994. The monthly average was 12 inmates per day on electronic monitoring.
    • Hafemann also informed the committee that all jailors have now been hired and they are approaching a completion of the training of all new staff. The new Huber area will open right after the first of the year but the hiring of the additional four clerks are needed to get all areas fully staffed. One of the clerical positions is dependent upon hiring and training a telecommunicator to replace the one who will be coming to the clerical division from dispatch.
    • Inmates from Iowa County were held starting in mid-November. The daily average Iowa
      County inmates was four to six inmates for a total of 85 holding days @ $52 per day. The total amount due for these days from Iowa County was $4,420.
    • The sliding electric door in B Pod into housing unit B 170 has been fixed along with several video visitation booths. Both repairs were needed due to wiring problems. Chief Deputy Prantner told the committee that Guy Matthews has been promoted to the position of detective. Kim Wasilewski has been temporarily appointed as an acting detective to fill the vacancy created with the promotion of Jeff Tobin to Patrol Sergeant. Todd Bychinski I has been appointed to fill Wasilewski's patrol slot and an additional jailor has been hired to fill Bychinski's vacancy in the Security Division. These are all termed project positions for the
      purposes of payroll and accounting restrictions in the MUNIS program.
    • Chair Montgomery asked Detective Sergeant Welsch and Lieutenant Kevin Fults what the average case load was for a detective. They said it was averaging between 18 to 25 cases each. These cases comprise the ones that are being actively investigated, and don't take into account"cold" cases which are open but for which little or no evidence lends itself to active investigation. Fults also told the committee that Sauk County has been hit hard in recent weeks with burglaries on the western side of the county. There are some suspects and leads in the burglaries and other counties are also experiencing some similar crimes.
13. Adjourn To Date Specified: The next regular meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 7, 2004.
    Motion by Carlson, seconded by Giebel, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried.

Respecfully Submitted: Dorothy Williams, Secretary

(minutes taken by B. Manning)