Hubbard County commissioners received staffing plans from the state Department of Corrections (DOC) Wednesday.
The board also discussed ways to reduce jail staff, including not boarding out-of-county prisoners.
County attorney Don Dearstyne said he received a letter from DOC senior detention facility inspector Diane Grinde clarifying minimum staffing levels for the current jail plan and the maximum inmates allowed with one less jailer.
In the letter, Grinde reiterated her ruling of the need for four continuous jailers to implement the current plan. She said no evidence of a written agreement with former senior detention facility inspector Al Brinkman existed in the DOC facility and construction file.
The housing officer, booking officer, rover and control room jail post need to be staffed continuously, she added. Grinde further stated she reviewed the matter with her supervisor, Greg Carlson, and the pre-occupancy inspector Tim Thompson, who were in accordance.
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Grinde wrote, "To stay at two jail staff on the floor and a person at the control room post, you will have to close a unit and have a maximum capacity of 40 inmates. This means you would have to board out inmates. Be aware that while female inmates would make the most sense to board out, female beds are limited in availability in your area."
Grinde declined to include staffing plans for more than 60 inmates.
Dearstyne said he did not receive input on whether the county could eliminate a position when Huber and Sentence to Serve inmates leave the jail during work hours.
Following the May 2007 jail inspection, Grinde ruled sheriff's dispatchers could not adequately perform control room functions in the jail. The decision made the county's jailer/dispatcher positions obsolete.
Commissioner Dick Devine indicated his ire with the ruling.
"What's happened here is they've stolen a dispatcher and made a jailer out of them, because that's what she told them to do... that is not acceptable to me," Devine said.
"I think, in general, you are right, but on the other hand, we didn't have a staffing plan. We didn't have a budget for a staffing plan. We didn't have things worked on ahead of time," said commissioner Lyle Robinson.
"As far as I'm concerned, we did," Devine responded.
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"We don't have anything in writing. Then what happens is, it becomes a figment of your imagination and they change the rules on us," replied Robinson.
Devine expressed his desire to have Grinde's superior review the case to make a ruling.
"She said we can appeal to her boss. I could invite him to the next board meeting," Dearstyne said.
Commissioners directed Dearstyne to appeal their case. They also asked him to obtain in-county and out-of-county inmate numbers for the jail in 2007 to see if the inmate population could be reduced to 40 by no longer boarding inmates from other counties.
"If we go from 60 (inmates) to 40, we should be able to put that one jailer into dispatch," said chairman Cal Johannsen.
"To go beyond that and not bring in any revenue and tax the taxpayer for it, it's crazy," agreed Robinson.
