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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Protection 12-10-04 ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Chair Clarence Malick St. Croix County Board FROM: Julie Speer, Chair COMMITTEE TITLE: Public Protection Committee DATE: December 10, 2004 TIME: 8:30 a.m. LOCATION: St Croix County Government Center Room 1281 ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: Regular Meeting January 14 8:30 a.m. ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES November 12 2004 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 1. Web Browser 2. Traffic Ticket Collections a. Organization meeting NEW BUSINESS: 1. Bills and Vouchers* 2. Medical Examiner Cindy Litzel 3. Child Support Administrator, Katy Kapaun 4. District Attorney Eric Johnson, Victim Witness Ann Gustafson 5. Sheriff Dennis Hillstead, Chief Deputy Ron Volkert, Patrol Captain Bob Klanderman, Jail Captain Karen Humphrey, Office Manager Mary Martell a. Expenditures: Drug Fund /Confiscated Acct /Jail Assessment b. Inmate Debts c. Automatic Pawn Shop System Resolution d. Storage Building 6. 6. Closed Session per Wisconsin State Statute 19.85 (1) (c) considering performance evaluation for Medical Examiner and Child Support Administrator Annual Reports Due December 14 for County Board ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE POSSIBLE AGENDA TIEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order.) SUBMITTED BY: Julie Speer Date: November 18, 2004 COPIES TO: County Board Office News Media/Notice Board County Clerk Committee Members Respective Dept. Heads *Additions /Changes /Corrections 11/18/2004 Meeting Minutes of Public Protection Committee Meeting December 10, 2004 Members Present: Julie Speer, Denise Gunderson, Lori Bernard, Chuck Mehls, Mark Erickson Staff Present: Medical Examiner Cindy Litzel, Child Support Administrator Katy Kapaun; District Attorney's office Kathy Halverson; Chief Deputy Ron Volkert, Jail Captain Karen Humprey, Office Manager Mary Martell. Meeting called to order at 8:30 a.m. by Chairperson Speer. Motion by Gunderson/Bernard to aUrove the agenda. Carried. Next meeting will be January 13 at 8:30 a.m. (note date changed from the 14 ), followed by February 1 l at 8:30 a.m. . Motion to approve the minutes of November 12, 2004 by MehlsBemard. Carried. Medical Examiner's Report: Cindy Litzel reported on monthly expenses and year to date statistics on autopsies, scene visits, etc. The entire state of Wisconsin is reporting a 14% decrease in the number of traffic fatalities for the year to date. The committee requested from Litzel a running total and percentage of funds used in a year -to -date format. This will allow the committee to see any significant trends that need attention. Litzel presented an additional expense of $700 for the month to the committee. This amount was billed for four body transports. This brought the total monthly expenses to $3071.40. Motion to approve bills on Gunderson/Erickson motion. Carried. Motion to go into closed session at 8:55 a.m. per Wi State Statute 19.85 (1) (c) to consider performance reviews Gunderson/Mehls. Roll call vote taken. Unanimous. Carried. Motion to come out of closed session at 10:30 a.m.. Child Support: Katy Kapaun reviewed her departmental report draft. The final version will be presented to the entire board on Tuesday, December 14. Katy wants to begin working with the DA's office in order to claim reimbursement from the state for duties performed by the DA's office /victim witness staff. Katy has drafted a resolution that will be presented to the full county board probably in the next month or two. This resolution is in regard to the state's plan to keep more of the incoming federal incentive child support funding that would normally go to the respective counties that have worked for it. Katy is concerned that this will lead to not only less in collections but also greater costs at the county level. She will also be presenting to the board a sample letter that could be sent to our local state officials urging them to vote against this measure. Katy thinks that the department will come in under budget by year end. District Attorney: Kathy Halverson presented for the DA's office. Julie Speer shared with Kathy a program that she learned about through the League of Women's Voters entitled `Crossing the Line'. It is a video presentation regarding the destructive effects of methamphetamine use and is intended to be used in the middle and high school age groups. Kathy reminded the group of the $50,000 grant received by the department for the diversion coordinator position. The DA is in the process of identifying candidates for the position. The individual will probably start in the January- February time frame. Information on whether the drug grant will be continued should be received this week or next. It is also for approximately $50,000. A motion to approve the DA' s bills for $3,010.29 by Erickson/Mehls. Carried. Sheriff: Ron Volkert presented on behalf of the Sheriff's department. Ron officially turned in his resignation. After 33 years of service to the county, he will resign effective January 31, 2005. His service will by greatly missed by the county. Chairman Malick presented a memo regarding the imminent staff changes in the Sheriffs department. In the memo he mentions that the Public Protection committee currently does not have staffing assistance for the purpose of correspondence, research, etc. He thinks that this should be considered as the committee moves forward with any staffing changes and consider that perhaps the next first deputy might take on some of these responsibilities. Obviously, the sheriff does the hiring, however, the committee should have input into this aspect of the job description. Interviews have been planned for the openings in the sheriff's department, this includes two patrol openings and 1 jail opening at sergeant level. In addition, the department is looking for a new range location. The agreement with the Cylon range will end in February. Volkert reported that only $84,000 will be received this year on a drug grant that provided $150,000 last year. Also, the sheriff is seeking to shift $20,000 in unused funds from the 2004 education fund to cover the purchase of 54 pistols by his department. This amount had been planned into his 2005 budget, but he would instead like to use the existing unused funds to cover the cost. Any amount that they may be short for the purchase would come out of the asset forfeiture fund. Motion by Speer/ Mehls. Motion carried. There was also discussion regarding $27,500 needed to cover the cost of the new jail intercom system. The job had been budgeted for 2004, but the job will not be completed and balance due until about March of 2005. It was suggested by Chairman Malick that this matter is taken up with the finance committee at their special meeting at 8:30 a.m. on December 14. Also, Cheryl Slind has requested that there be sheriff deputies available in the government center between 8 -5 p.m. on Thursday, December 30 as the treasurer's office will be open during those hours for tax collection purposes. Bills for the sheriffs department totaling $68,307.71 were approved on a Mehls/Bernard motion. Carried Jail: Humphrey presented a list of twenty -one policy and procedural revisions with the county jail since February 2001 was presented to the committee for review. Some of these include the rewriting of the strip search policy and its periodic review by the sheriff and corporation counsel to reflect any changes in law and/or pertinent court cases. Also included in the policy and procedure revisions is the required search form that is filled out for every inmate booked into the jail. Any further questions regarding specific policies should be directed to Humphrey. Ten critical policies for the jail staff have been defined by the Sheriff and have been printed on colored paper to reflect to the staff that these policies are essential for them to be familiar with and operate within. It was suggested by the committee that the Sheriff and the jail staff identify the next ten or so policies that should be reviewed and addressed if necessary. Also discussed was a recent article in the Pioneer Press in which an inmate is suing the Minnesota Department of Corrections, claiming that the prison ban on inmates' receiving sexually explicit magazines and books violates his First Amendment rights. This matter will be monitored. As such, the jail policy regarding the jail library and books and magazines is in the process of being revised. Ray Pollen (attorney who represented the county on the strip search lawsuit) recommends that we set up a committee to review and oversee the periodicals that are allowed to be viewed by the inmates and what type of access to the periodicals is appropriate. In the meantime, a committee is being assembled to review materials coming into the jail library. Lori Bernard volunteered to represent the Public Protection Committee as a member of this review committee. Bills for the jail totaling $49,520.28 were approved on a Bernard/Erickson motion. Carried. TrafficTicket collection: Mehls expressed the need for a meeting to be called to push this matter forward with a more focused effort. Speers noted that the meeting needs to be identified and called by a specific committee and cannot just be labeled `special informational meeting'. The judges have indicated that Thursdays work best. The date of Thursday, January 6, 2005 at 8:30 a.m. was proposed. This would occur before the regular January Public Protection meeting. Meeting notices will be sent out. Meeting was adjourned at 12:55 p.m..