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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOMM - Meeting Minutes - PB 3-17-21 - 3-17-2021 - PRISON BOARD291 MINUTE BOOK PRISON BOARD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA [MR LIMITED E1316649LD Minute No. PB 3-17-21 March 17, 2021 The meeting of the Washington County Prison Board was with the following members being present: Commissioners Diana Irey Vaughan, Nick Sherman and Larry Maggi; President Judge John DiSalle; Controller Mike Namie; Sheriff Sam Romano; and District Attorney Gene Vittone. Also present: Solicitor Jana Grimm; Warden Fewell; Deputy Warden Waugh; Chaplain Mike Pierson; Chief of Staff John Haynes; Finance Director Joshua Hatfield; Chief of Adult Probation Jon Ridge; Human Resources Director Shelli Arnold; Chaplin Mike Pierson; Chief Clerk Cindy Griffin; Washington County Correctional Facility Chef Georgia Dovshek; Executive Secretaries Marie Trossman and Patrick Geho; and Administrative Assistant Joyce Thornburg. Mrs. Vaughan called the meeting to order at approximately 11:33 a.m., and Chaplin Mike Pierson led the meeting with the invocation. Mrs. Vaughan asked if there were any corrections, additions or omissions to Minute No. PB 3-3-2 1, dated March 3, 2021, each member having received a copy. It was moved by Mr. Namie and seconded by Mr. Maggi that Minute No. PB 3-3-21, be approved. The motion was carried unanimously with the Board signifying their approval by stating "Aye". PUBLIC COMMENTS None. WARDEN'S REPORT Warden Fewell presented the Board with statistics showing the average daily population at 275 with 273 in custody, 1 juvenile in custody, and 1 inmate admitted to the hospital. Warden Fewell added that the protocols will also be reviewed and updated with PrimeCare which is scheduled to take over on April 5, 2021. At this time, PrimeCare will take the lead in screening and mitigating COVID-19 processes within the facility. They will be testing, screening, quarantining, and vaccinating the inmates. PrimeCare has a license and can administer the vaccines. Once they are on site, this process can begin. Warden Fewell stated that the only people in the facility that have been vaccinated are the nurses, and that the state has classified the facility as group 1B. Pennsylvania is still in the 1A eligibility phase. Other correctional facilities have informed the Warden that the acceptance rate for the staff is only at approximately 30% to 40% which is problematic. The Warden stated that statistically these people will get sick. Mrs. Vaughan remarked that the County is offering an employee incentive to those who get the vaccine. Shelli Arnold stated that approximately 60 employees have turned in copies of their vaccine cards. Once the vaccines are completed, the employee will be credited with one-half of a sick day in return. Warden Fewell stated that he has one inmate who had refused the COVID test which is required in order to enter the state hospital. The state will not take this inmate without a test. The District Attorney had indicated that this is a gray area when it comes to expectations of privacy with an inmate. For instance with blood, a warrant is needed; with breath, there is no expectation of privacy. For saliva, it is not so clearly defined. Mr. Vittone stated that the inmate just needs to have the test administered but that the results could be confidential. President Judge DiSalle remarked that the previous concerns related to results of tests being used as evidence against the defendant but that this test is for the health, safety and welfare. Warden Fewell stated that Ms. Miller will look into obtaining a court order. If there is a court order, the inmate could be placed in a restraint chair and swabbed or taken to the hospital for forensic testing. Warden Fewell doesn't believe that the hospital will do the forensic testing. President Judge DiSalle remarked that this would not be for forensics but for the safety of inmates and the correctional facility. Warden Fewell announced that he had two juveniles in custody and that one of them just had a birthday and is no longer classified as a juvenile. The two juveniles were bunked together, but the one who now classified as an adult has been moved to another cell. According to the guidelines, juveniles have to be separated by sight, sound, and location. Separating by sight and sound is not a big deal, 292 MINUTE BOOK PRISON BOARD IMR LIMITED E1316649LD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA however, location is a problem. This is a federal requirement under the Prison Rate Elimination Act (PREA). If we were to seek full accreditation with PREA, the juvenile would have to be transferred out to a juvenile facility in another county or the County would need a facility that housed juveniles. Either option is costly. Juvenile housing is an issue for Pennsylvania counties due to strict PREA standards. It does not matter if the juvenile is charged as an adult, the age determines the restrictions on where and how the juvenile is housed if complying with the PREA standards. This is a local challenge throughout the United States. President Judge DiSalle stated that we were sending juveniles to Jefferson County, Ohio. Warden Fewell indicated that juveniles could be sent to local counties such as Allegheny for housing, but he reiterated that there is a high cost associated with housing juveniles. Housing juveniles leads to additional requirements for a correctional facility's personnel such as the requirements for correctional facility personnel to be registered with the Child Abuse Registry which becomes a Human Resources issue. Processing everyone in this registry costs $10 plus fingerprinting along with a three to five hour online class. This requirement is time intensive, and our staff have not been registered. Getting back to the statistics, Warden Fewell remarked that the current population of 273, up 10% from last month. Because of increased bookings, the quarantine area is becoming very overcrowded. Housing new commitments in this area for 10 days cannot be done. The jail administration has coordinated with PrimeCare to provide the facility with rapid test kits which has cut the quarantine time down to three days which has freed up bed space. Therefore, after three days, a rapid test is administered. The inmate will be moved into general population if the test result is negative and if the individual is showing no symptoms. Warden Fewell stated that the booking area is just not designed for the amount of intakes. This space is very small and does not incorporate the wrap -around services such as specialty courts, as well as the different goals that have been established. Mrs. Vaughan stated that a number of issues are being presented to the Board. She asked the Prison Board members if these issues, the Child Abuse Registry, juvenile incarcerations, female population and the booking area should be discussed further in a planning session. If so, she asked the members if this should be an advertised meeting since its purpose would be to discuss and not to vote on any of the topics. President Judge DiSalle suggested reviewing these items as a committee, and report on recommendations. Warden Fewell stated that there are consultants available for a substantial price of approximately $125,000 to do a study. The study would not include the Child Abuse Registry, but it would include the juveniles, the booking area and the physical plan. If a bus station style is desired, the District Attorney's office, the Sheriff s office, mental health, medical, veterans' court, specialty courts, and all wrap around services would all be present in the booking area as inmates come in for processing. Mrs. Vaughan remarked that she would like to be a part of this planning committee. Also volunteering for this planning committee are Commissioner Nick Sherman, District Attorney Gene Vittone and President Judge DiSalle. Marie Trossman will work with the Warden to coordinate schedules. Mrs. Vaughan stated that all Prison Board members will be informed as to when these committee meetings will be held in case that anyone else would like to take part in the discussions and planning. Mrs. Vaughan asked Warden Fewell to gather information on the above mentioned items along with additional items that he deems necessary. Also the Warden will distribute information prior to the planning meeting. Again, the four items right now are the Child Abuse Registry, juvenile incarceration, female population and the booking area. Solicitor Jana Grimm followed up on President Judge DiSalle's earlier comment regarding juveniles. She said the County does have an agreement with Jefferson County, Ohio for juvenile detention services. This document was brought before the Commissioners, and the County had some changes to the document. The revised agreement has been sent to the Solicitor for review. Mr. Romano noted that the juveniles can be transported out of state. Solicitor Grim stated that this is an ongoing relationship. Warden Fewell replied to Mr. Haynes' inquiry and stated that we now have 407 beds. The National Institute of Corrections recommend 20% for classification which leaves approximately 320 293 MINUTE BOOK PRISON BOARD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA [MR LIMITED E1316649LD beds. After 320 beds, this is overcrowding. If PrimeCare is treating between 275 and 325 inmates, there may have to be an adjustment. At this time, Warden Fewell introduced Adult Probation Chief, Jon Ridge, to discuss the work release program and his thoughts about intakes. Mr. Ridge remarked that the Adult Probation Office (APO) is back to running at 100%. After having conversations with President judge DiSalle and the District Attorneys office, the District Attorney's office felt that APO was at its highest level in terms of criminal behavior that they've had. As a caveat to that, about 88% are vaccinated or in the vaccination process. Mr. Ridge stated in his 28 years, he has not seen this many violations. Mr. Ridge was not referring to Human Services violations, but serious hard crimes, i.e., guns, drugs and selling. He anticipates that the jail's population is going up, and that these are not the type of people that you want to cycle in and cycle out. APO is the agency that is in the homes the most. Mr. Ridge mentioned that his office put about 13 people in on Friday alone from one home related to the bad drugs that has been recently circulating and killing people. Warden Fewell and Mr. Ridge have been discussing the work release issue. Mr. Ridge spoke to Mr. Haynes about a year ago with regard to moving the work release program out of the correctional facility into an independent community correctional type of an option. Work release would work much better as a community corrections option. Mrs. Vaughan stated that this would be added to the list for the newly formed committee to discuss. Mr. Haynes directed a question to Warden Fewell regarding special cases for those in the facility right now. Warden Fewell stated that the special cases are reviewed weekly and that he had just conducted a special management meeting with the District Attorneys office and personnel from the Drug and Alcohol and Mental Health offices represented. All special cases are reviewed. Warden Fewell stated that the approved new jail management system will enable him to pull up a roster of all the charges in contract to the current system. The Warden remarked that the population will be screened daily, and together with Mental Health and medical, he will try to mitigate situations and to apply the most effective feasible solutions for inmate care. The Warden added that the average length of stay dictates the population. President Judge DiSalle replied to Mr. Haynes's question related to the effect that having the courts fully opened again will have on the population. He stated that there are some who have been waiting trial. It wasn't exactly the courts opening, but waiting on jury trials. Many of these cases have been resolved and are in the process of transitioning out. These are felony charges that require a jury. Mr. Ridge also replied to Mr. Haynes that pre-trial has already screened anyone coming into the jail. Also, anyone who does not have a serious offense requiring incarceration have already been released with APO placing placed them into a bail condition. Mr. Ridge suggested that the Warden add one of the pre-trial staff to the screening matrix. This would offer a resource for anyone in this vacuum. Addressing Mr. Sherman's inquiry, Mr. Ridge stated that there are now 325 people on house arrest and none on work release since COVID-19. Prior to COVID, there would have been approximately 60- 90 on work release. Warden Fewell respectfully requested the Board to award the fire alarm inspections contract to Johnson Controls, Pittsburgh, PA. This contract will be effective through December 31, 2022, with options to extend for three, one-year periods. NOTE: Fire alarm inspection line items have been advertised twice and no bids were received. Therefore, in accordance with 73 P.S. Section 1641, the County may enter into a contract for these items. NOTE: 1. Work Release program ceased March 21, 2020. 2. Prior COVID-19 populations exceeded facility capacity. The plan is to farm out to Greene County. 3. PrimeCare takes over April 5, 2021. 4. Camera upgrades should be complete within a month. S. Roof contract to begin May 17, 2021. Large construction crane will be in operation and erected outside for one to two months. Warden Fewell remarked that Shelli Arnold and April Secrist Jones are doing a great job to maintain the staffing. There is a recruit class of nine that will graduate the first week of April. Warden Fewell is in negotiations with payroll to go to a 12-hour shift. He remarked if we can go to a 12-hour shift, the schedule would be manageable with the goal to retain employees. 294 MINUTE BOOK PRISON BOARD IMR LIMITED E1316649LD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA It was moved by Mr. Romano and seconded by Mr. Maggi approving the Warden's Report. The motion was carried unanimously with the Board signifying their approval by stating "Aye". BILLS Mr. Namie presented to the Board for their consideration and approval of the bills dated March 17, 2021, in the amount of $221,222.18. It was moved by Mr. Namie and seconded by Mr. Sherman approving the bills dated March 17, 2021. The motion was carried unanimously with the Board signifying their approval by stating "Aye". (See list of bills attached hereto and made a part hereof.) OLD BUSINESS None. NEW BUSINESS Mr. Namie distributed to the Prison Board the audit of the Washington County Correctional Facility for the audit period January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020, with the following comments: Page 2 - Inmate Welfare Account -Receipts for the year, $1,054,585.89; disbursements, $924,244.68; remaining year-end balance, $1,331,138.79. Paee 3 - Inmate Money Account - Balance as of December 31, 2020, $50,731.27 with bank balance reconciled to Keefe system balance. Page 7 -Findings - Inadequate internal controls over the bank accounts and untimely bail receipt deposits to the Clerk of Courts. Page 8 - Findine of inadequate internal controls over the bank accounts 1. Approval signatures did not appear on invoices paid from the Inmate Welfare Account. The following discrepancies were noted: Duplicate and triplicate invoice payments/or check totals not in agreement with invoice totals were detected resulting in net overpayments to three Vendors totaling $14,189.99 of which $9,340.91 has been refunded as of December 31, 2020. Measures have been taken to fully recover the remaining $4,849.08 overpayment balance. Pennsylvania sales tax was paid on three invoices totaling $34.54. 2. Payments for monthly services from the Inmate Welfare Account were not tracked which resulted in payment discrepancies and missed or duplicate payments relating to inmate phone service and copier payments. 3. Bank reconciliations were not all approved or did not include the appropriate supporting documentation. Periodically appearing in the audits are untimely bail receipt deposits to the Clerk of Courts. Late deposits ranged from 1 to 23 days late taking COVID shutdown periods into consideration. In other words, the COVID shutdown periods were not counted when determining deposit days late. The ongoing recommendation is for deposits to be made by the next business day as cash should not be kept in the facility for an extended period of time. Mrs. Vaughan called an executive session at 12:13 p.m. to discuss personnel. Mrs. Vaughan reconvened the meeting at approximately 12:21 p.m. It was moved by Mr. Namie and seconded by Mr. Sherman approving that the Inmate Account Specialist position be transferred from the WCCF to the Finance Department with Warden Fewell's 295 MINUTE BOOK PRISON BOARD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA IMR LIMITED E1316649LD approval and contingent upon Salary Board approval. The motion was carried unanimously with the Board signifying their approval by stating "Aye". There being no further business, Mrs. Vaughan declared the meeting adjourned at approximately 12:22 p.m. THE FOREGOING MINUTES SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL: ��Ai0,, iL 141 2021 ATTEST: l/�'' SECRETARY E 1