DATE: June 12, 2007
The regular meeting of the Sauk County Law Enforcement Committee was held on Tuesday, June 12, 2007, in room D102A-Community Room, 1300 Lange Court, Baraboo, Wisconsin.
The meeting was properly posted and all interested parties were notified.
Members Present: D. Stevens, R. Sinklair, C. Montgomery, J. Wheeler,
Members Absent:
Members Excused: P. Tollaksen
Others Present: R. Stammen; M. Hafemann; B Hinze; W. Schneider, Sauk County Humane Society; M. Krueger; R. Meister; J. Fry;
B. Manning; J. Gaalswyk; Media
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 Donald Stevens at 10:00 AM.
2. Agenda : Motion by Montgomery, seconded by Wheeler, to adopt the agenda with the deletion of Item 8, Discussion of A Pod Opening and Reconsideration of Resolution Authorizing the Opening of Unit A To House Prisoners from Other Jurisdictions in the Sauk County Law Enforcement Center . Motion carried.
3 . Approve Minutes of Previous Meeting(s) : Motion by Sinklair, seconded by Wheeler, to approve the minutes of the regular Law Enforcement Committee meeting held on May 8, 2007. Motion carried.
4. Communications :
There were no communications.
5. Public Comment : County Board Chairman Marty Krueger spoke to the committee in regard to opening A Pod to house prisoners from outside of the county. Sauk County is faced with a possible budget shortfall in 2008, which could be partially offset by revenues generated by holding prisoners. He stated that adding language to the resolution to open Unit A providing for a full review of all expenses and income after one year might diffuse skepticism. The account information would be tracked separately from all other jail operating expenses. Based upon the results of the review the housing program would be continued or discontinued. Krueger said the topic has been debated for three years and it should be moved ahead at this time.
6. Appearances :
a) Sauk County Animal Shelter Operations Update
The Shelter report was given by Shelter Director Wendy Schneider. Twenty-five cats from the Shelter were given free spaying/neutering by a veterinarian in Stoughton. The Shelter also has veterinarian students who p rovide services free of charge.
Three employees went to training at the Prairie States Conference which was very well received.
There were 13 bite cases and 52 animal calls in May. There were 93 dogs taken in and 92 dogs were adopted. There were 97 cats brought in and 74 cats went out. They're offering low cost adoption of cats in an effort to try to find homes for the many cats in the Shelter.
b) Alyssa Rotschafer - Columbia and Sauk County CASA Program
Although scheduled for an appearance Rotschafer was not in attendance.
7. Review and Approval of May, 2007, Bills for Coroner and Sheriff's Department :
Motion by Sinklair, seconded by Montgomery, to approve payment of the May, 2007, expenses for the Coroner in the amount of $3,416.27. Moti on carried. The Coroner's Form I for 2008 budget preparation will be brought to the next meeting.
Motion by Montgomery, seconded by Wheeler to authorize payment of the Sheriff's Department's May, 2007, expenses in the amount of $116,976.96. Motion carried.
9. Review and Possible Approval of Advisory Resolution to Amend Federal Law to Restore and Retain Medicare and Medicaid Benefits for inmates in Public Institutions : Wheeler noted that the fiscal note on the resolution wasn't signed by Comptroller Beghin. Beghin did review the resolution and forwarded it to the Administrative Coordinator before she left on vacation last week. The fiscal note has no dollar amounts because the money isn't tracked by Sauk County but rather by the federal agencies governing Medicare and Medicaid benefits.
There was a motion by Wheeler, seconded by Sinklair, to table the resolution until the special meeting prior to the County Board meeting on June 19th. Motion failed.
The fiscal note was amended to clarify the fact that if the law were changed to let incarcerated persons retain their federal benefits until they're convicted Sauk County wouldn't be paying medical costs for pretrial detainees who're receiving federal benefits.
Motion by Wheeler, seconded by Sinklair, to approve the Advisory Resolution to Amend Federal Law to Restore and Retain Medicare and Medicaid Benefits for inmates in Public Institutions with the amended fiscal note and to take the resolution to the Sauk County Board of Supervisors at the June 19th County Board meeting. Motion carried.
10. Consideration and Approval of Form I : After a lengthy discussion, a motion was made by Montgomery, seconded by Stevens, to approve the Form I as presented. There were two yes votes and two no votes. Motion failed.
11. Discussion on Huber Center : Each committee person had received a copy of the Huber rules and a number of issues were discussed. The committee was informed by Chair Don Stevens, who had met with Judge Evenson, that the sole determination of the granting of Huber/Work Release status upon conviction of an individual is made by the judge at the time of sentencing. Captain Hafemann reported that based upon the Judgment of Conviction an inmate does have the opportunity to work, to leave the Huber Center to apply for jobs, receive job applications that are hand delivered or mailed. If work release/Huber isn't granted by the judge at the time of sentencing the inmate can petition to court for such privileges at any time while incarcerated
Very few counties allow inmates to do job searches outside of the facility because of the risk of inmates walking away or participating in illegal or illicit activities, but Sauk County still allows that. Violations of the rules of employment can result in the loss of work release/Huber privileges but no one is denied work release/Huber by the Sheriff or any of his deputies without cause. Neither does the Sheriff or any of his staff have discretionary authority to disallow work release/Huber if the judge grants it and it isn't ever done, despite any information that may have been given to any committee person, or County Board Supervisor by Tom Kriegl.
12. Update on Transport Program : When the civilian transport program was set up a number of years ago the number of transporters was set at 15. However, under federal law, once an employee works 600 hours in a year he/she is entitled to benefits. Due to the ever increasing number of transports many transport persons are nearly at the 600 hour limit for 2007.
Sheriff Stammen will be going to the Personnel Committee on June 15, 2007, to ask that the cap on the number of transporters be lifted. He stated he's considering alternative to the civilian transport program but at this time there are no options that won't be considerably more expensive.
13. Sheriff's Report :
a) Jail Report
There were 17 inmates involved in the electronic monitoring program in May with a total of 375 days. Equipment lease expenses were $2,057 and revenues were $6,375, leaving a credit of $4,318 over expenditures.
In the month of May, Dane County was billed for $86,955 and Rock County was billed $20,904 for inmate housing, bringing the May revenues to $107,859. The year-to-date revenues for housing out-of-county inmates is $464,442.00.
To date 33 inmates have earned GED's and 19 inmates have received their HSED's.
b) Communication Center
The committee received a report generated by the Communication Center Supervisor showing a break down of the calls for service for the month of May, 2007,
c) Field Services Report
The hours spent working the various highway safety grants have resulted in 727 citations being written year-to-date.
There were no traffic deaths in May.
d) Administration Report
One employee from the Communication Center has been granted extended leave until September 5th. Options are being explored to try to cover the open shifts without constant overtime.
Detective Eric Miller was promoted to Detective Sergeant and Security Deputy Lance Kreyer has been promoted to the Patrol Division. Jailor Cody Bernhardt has resigned to accept a job as a police officer for the LaCrosse Police Department. Jessica Fry was promoted to fill the position of Financial Analyst.
Sheriff Stammen said that preliminary reports from the Office of Justice Assistance show that Wisconsin has experienced a 19.5% increase in violent crimes, a 3.5% increase in property crimes and a 1.7% increase in the number of arrests.
The Hainstock trial will take place in July. Chief Deputy Meister is making arrangements for bailiffs, meals and housing for the sequestered jury.
There were 144 hours of supervisory overtime in May, 2007.
12. Adjourn to Date Specified : The next meeting of the Law Enforcement Committee was set for Tuesday, July 10, 2007, at the Law Enforcement Center.
Motion by Sinklair, seconded by Wheeler, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried.
Robert Sinklair, Secretary
(Minutes taken by B. Manning)