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Home My WebLink About06-01-2018 Public Protection & Judiciary Minutes MEETING MINUTES PUBLIC PROTECTION & JUDICIARY COMMITTEE June 1, 2018 7:50 AM County Board Room-Government Center County Board Room - 1101 Carmichael Road, Hudson, Wisconsin CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL Attendee Name Organization Title Status Arrived Andy Brinkman St. Croix County Chair Present Scott Nordstrand St. Croix County Supervisor Present Roger Larson St. Croix County Supervisor Present Lynda Miller St. Croix County Supervisor Present Bob Feidler St. Croix County Vice-Chair Present Others in attendance: County Administrator Patrick Thompson, Medical Examiner Patty Schachtner, Community Justice Collaborating Council Coordinator Michael O’Keefe, Judge Eric Lundell, Emergency Support Services Director Stephen T’Kach, Emergency Communications Manager Terry Andersen, Child Support Administrator Lisa Plunkett, District Attorney Mike Nieskes, Clerk of Court Kristi Severson, Sheriff Scott Knudson, Data Analyst Kevin Hamlin, meeting organizer Janet Smith other staff and public. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Public Protection & Judiciary Committee – Regular Meeting – February 9, 2018 8:00 AM RESULT: ACCEPTED 2. Public Protection & Judiciary Committee – Special Meeting – May 4, 2018 7:35 AM Correction to the May 4th meeting: Correct Friday, June 4th to Friday, June 1st. RESULT: ACCEPTED AS AMENDED PUBLIC COMMENT No Public comment BUSINESS ITEMS 1. Financial Report as of April 2018 Administrator Patrick Thompson explained the new look of the financial reports, produced from the new financial system. The Financial reports are through the end of April 2018. Revenues and Expenses are within the acceptable amounts. Chair Brinkman explained the three types of financial calendars the county works with; Federal (October- September), State (July-June) and County (January-December). RESULT: DISCUSSED 2. Introduction of Child Support Administrator Lisa Plunkett Administrator Patrick Thompson introduced Lisa Plunkett as the new Director/Administrator of Child Support. Director Lisa Plunkett gave a brief description of the functions of the Child Support Office. Director Plunkett explained the Child Support Office's mission is to help families become self sufficient. The department must meet certain criteria to receive federal funding such as 80% court order establishment, current collections and in arrears collection in a fiscal year which is October 1st through September 30th. Paternity establishment criteria level is 100%. The office currently has 3,232 cases. The department is currently on track to meet all benchmarks. RESULT: DISCUSSED 3. Medical Examiner Report Medical Examiner Patty Schachtner reported on the current status of the office. Schachtner directed the members to the Lodox information in the agenda packet. The ME office does a lot of autopsies. Autopsies are performed to determine cause and manner of death. Since 2013 the county has spent $750,000 for autopsies. The cost will only increase in upcoming years. The increase can be explained by the change in the general population of St. Croix County, 13% of our population is 65 or older, more people live at home and when death happens is classified as an unexpected death (if not registered with hospice). Traditional autopsies are completed in Ramsey county by a forensic pathologist. The cost is $1,400 per autopsy, labs $12 - $1,000 dollars. Does not include other costs i.e. certification, law enforcement investigations and other agencies involved. Between 2016 - 1700 ME calls increased by 3,000, LODOX performs digital autopsies which takes about 30 seconds. The image would be sent (electronically) to Ramsey county for reading. LODOX system would not eliminate the need for all autopsies. Schachtner expects autopsies will increase in both number of autopsies and the cost of each autopsy. In 2013 over half of autopsies have come back as expected. But department must perform an autopsy for an official result. LODOX would confirm the cause of death without autopsies. The ME's office covers the cost of the autopsy. Ramsey County does have a LODOX system but just starting to go through their process. Other counties in Wisconsin which have the LODOX system are Dane County. Supervisor Nordstrand requests a cost basis analysis and costs of annual or ongoing expenses would be along with expected life and upgrades over the life of the resource. RESULT: DISCUSSED 4. Community Justice Collaborating Council (CJCC) Updates CJCC Coordinator Mike O'Keefe explained to the committee the mission of the CJCC committee is " promote safety of the citizens of st. croix county, provide direction, leadership and a vision for an improved justice system." The CJCC currently has nine subcommittees which operate under the umbrella of CJCC. Report included in the agenda packet. CJCC has 17 voting members and 23 advisory members. O'Keefe acts as the Treatment Alternatives and Diversion (TAD) Grant administrator. The grant award is $146,000. The TAD grant supports Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS) assessments, pretrial risk assessment for bail bonds and the Day report center. Judge Lundell explained to the committee how the CJCC was formed approximately five years ago based on the new 5-6 evidence based decision making process. Significant strides have been made in the criminal processes better. The Day report Center (DRC) has had a great influence on monitoring bail situations. Some conditions of bail include absolute sobriety, no contacts etc. are monitored through the DRC. Based on the COMPAS results the conditions are set and then checked in on at the DRC. Open 7 AM - 6 M-F and on Sat morning. Not open on Sunday. Also, the hiring of the Data Analyst, Kevin Hamlin has helped with obtaining details on the programs. Kevin's time is split 50%/50% between the Sheriff's Office and CJCC. Hamlin explained some of his projects. Mike O'Keefe confirmed cost analysis is important for any positions and programs to determine their impact and success.. Judge Lundell reported Eau Claire opened q new jail 3-4 years ago with plenty of room but now is over crowded. Lundell does not want to become that problem. RESULT: DISCUSSED 5. Background and Update on Phase II Radio Project Director Stephen T'Kach reported on the 911/Public Safety infrastructure project. A history of the St. Croix County 911 and public safety system was given. Emergency Communications Manager Terry Andersen explained the Phase I of the project began in late 2013. Phase I of the project was focused on changing the physical location of the Emergency Communications center and Emergency Management department. On 12/11/2013 Dispatch moved into the new center, the old 911 area was renovated and the EM and ESS staff moved into that area in early 2014. The previous Emergency Management area was then demolished and a new Emergency Operation Center (EOC) was created. Phase I was completed in April 2014. Director T'Kach reported the Phase II project supports a six position dispatch center, currently staffed regularly with three or four dispatchers. The Emergency Communications Center is able to be expanded to a total of eight dispatching stations. Phase II also overhauls the two way radio communication system. Went from a 3 - 5 tower radio system over the last 40 years to currently having 14 tower radio sites. This includes the Kingstack in Bayport, MN. We use a Simulcast radio system which means the radio signal is broadcast from all tower sites at the same time. The project is nearing completion. The L & S plant smokestack in Bayport has been used for equipment. During the project it was discovered the smokestack will be operational less than 20 years, but do not have definitive date. The Phase II project budget is approximately $8.2 million. Expenditures to date are $7.3 Million. An option in replacing the Kingstack tower in the radio communications would be to build a tower in the Houlton area. The tower cannot be built with county funds alone. Discussions with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT) would have them contribute at $300,000 and Washington County would contribute $100,000. Those amounts would be a one time payment for having equipment on the tower. The tower, if built, would be St. Croix County property built on WI DOT property for lease free equipment on our tower. The phase II project is winding down with one digital channel (LAW1) awaiting FCC licensing. RESULT: DISCUSSED REQUEST FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Supervisor Bob Fiedler requested a full fledged briefing will all interested parties on the drug epidemic. ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE Requests agenda items as soon as possible with next meeting being July 6th. ADJOURN Meeting was adjourned at 8:46 AM DATE OF NEXT MEETING JULY 6, 2018