Six additional corrections officers for Monroe County’s jail were added to the 2024 salary ordinance by county councilors at their regular Tuesday meeting.
The six positions, which are connected to Monroe County’s plans to design and build a new jail at an undetermined location, got some preliminary discussion at the county council’s meeting two weeks earlier.
The basic idea for assembling a transition team is to draw from current jail staff who know the ins and outs of Monroe County’s current jail and its processes. But in order to do that, the jobs now being done by those staff will need to be backfilled. The added six positions reflect the work by transition team members that still has to be covered.
Two weeks ago, the source of funding for the six positions that was identified by county councilors is revenue from the corrections local income tax (LIT), which county councilors enacted last year.
But revenue from the corrections LIT—which reflects a tax rate shift, not a rate increase—was conceived at the time of enactment last year as a funding source for a different purpose. That purpose was to pay for three mental health positions at the jail—a qualified mental health professional, charge planner, and a substance use counselor.
An appropriation will still have to be made by the council, likely at a meeting in April, to fund the six positions. A contract with jail transition director Cory Grass was already signed by the sheriff last year, funded by (ARPA) American Rescue Plan Act money.
At their Tuesday meeting, county councilors also received a basic update on the status of the current facility from jail commander Kyle Gibbons.
From the six jobs added to the salary ordinance, county councilor Kate Wiltz segued the discussion to a related item on the meeting agenda. The related item was for discussion—of the cost analysis for the three mental health care positions that are to be incorporated into the contract that Monroe County has with Advanced Correctional Health (ACH).
The three positions are among the staff additions that the county council’s justice fiscal advisory committee (JFAC) has recommended, following the advice of Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté.
Witz expressed concern about the capacity of the corrections LIT to pay for the six backfilled positions, as well as the three mental health positions.
At $55,063 apiece, the total salary for the six positions comes to $330,378, but does not include benefits. The anticipated revenue from the corrections LIT for 2024 is $424,260.
Chief deputy sheriff Phil Parker estimated the funding gap for the three positions—compared to what is already in the 2024 budget for health care at the jail—at $106,678. He arrived at that number by taking the 2024 jail medical budget line for the jail of $1,576,000 and comparing it to the working number for the contract with ACH, which is $1,682,678. The corrections LIT would just about cover the $106,000 gap, and the salaries for the six correctional positions.
One potential source of funding to cover mental health services in the jail is opioid settlement money. At the end of 2023, Monroe County’s combined fund balance for restricted and unrestricted opioid settlement funds stood at around $418,000.
On Tuesday, councilor Peter Iversen, said that while there were a lot of demands from various corners of the community for use of the opioid funds, he thinks that paying for the mental health positions at the jail is a legitimate use of the opioid money. Council discussion of the topic highlighted the fact that it’s the county council that has the final say over the way opioid settlement funds are spent.
In his update to county councilors, jail commander Kyle Gibbons ticked through the basic numbers, which included the bright spot that the jail continues to be 100-percent staffed. There are no vacancies.
That includes 64 full-time employees and six part-time. Gibbons reported there were 189 total inmates—158 in secure beds. The gender breakdown was 162 men and 27 women. The most recent 48 hours included 12 bookings into the jail and 36 releases, Gibbons, said.
The breakdown of prisoners by seriousness of their alleged crimes was 158 felonies and 25 misdemeanors. Six other prisoners were being held for other jurisdictions, Gibbons said.
The bickering over money, i.e. “mulling”, should be seen as nothing more than denial of the findings of the CJRC and JFAC groups which investigated issues causing incarceration.
The mental health services provided in the jail will help everyone, the people in jail, the jailers and the community.
Spending toward a shiny new cage fails at every level; takes resourses away from much needed services, creates and increases harm to people struggling to survive.