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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPSCC 10312019_MinutesPUBLICSAFETY COORDINATING COUNCIL ST. LUCIECOUNTY, FLORIDA RegularMeeting October 31, 2019Convened: 3:32 PM Adjourned: 4:18 PM 1. CALLTOORDER Themeetingwascalledtoorderat3:32PMbyChair, Commissioner CathyTownsend. Rollcallwastaken. MembersPresent CommissionerCathyTownsend, BOCC BruceColton, StateAttorney, 19thJudicialCircuit Chief JudgeLawrenceMirman, 19thJudicial Circuit JudgeJeffHendriks forJudgeKathrynNelson, 19thJudicialCircuit DiamondLitty, Public Defender, 19thJudicialCircuit ChiefGarryWilson forSheriffMascara, SLSO Major Chris Cicio, SLSO GeorgeShopland, CEO, NewHorizons TimothyKozlowski, St. LucieBailAgentsAssoc. Members Excused SuzanneCaudell, Directorof COREProgram MikeDavis, Circuit Administrator, DOC Others Present RoyP. Hudson, SLCAtty/CJD TrevorMorganti, SLSO Captain Petri Hayes, SLSO EthelRowland, Taxpayer Joseph Cowan, SLCAtty/CJD Alicia Foster, SLC Atty/CJD Allison Duffy, SLCAtty/CJD ColleenHamilton, SLCAtty/CJD Regular Meeting Thursday, October31, 20193:32PM 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Theminutes fromJuly25, 2019wereunanimously approved. 3. UPDATE by SLCSheriff’sOffice: ChiefGarry Wilson ChiefWilson introducedMajorChrisCicio andCaptainPetriHayes whoarenowleadingthedetention department. ChiefWilsonshared thatthere weresome meetings andconversations recentlytotry anddetermine if moving the timeofFirst Appearancewould allowformore information tobe gatheredondefendants inordertopotentially allowfordefendantstobeputon Pretrial. He explainedthatif FirstAppearance were alittlelaterinthe dayit may allowforPretrial Officersto vet defendantsand make recommendations toPublic Defender’soffice. Chief Judge Mirman indicatedit would beuptotheindividual judge. JudgeHendrikssharedthatafewjudgeshavediscusseditand feeltheway itrunsnowwithFirstAppearanceearlier in themorning worksbest. RoyHudsonshared thatPretrial does notvet defendants and makerecommendations; the judges make that determination. Diamond Littyshared thatinlargercircuits Pretrial Officers gather information such as jobverification, residency, etc. forthePublic Defenderto present tothe JudgeduringFirst Appearance. CommissionerTownsendaskedifDiamondLitty couldmeetwith RoyHudson andthen come back andtalkabout it ata futuremeeting. Aconversation ensued regarding ifthere wasa benefitto havingPretrialOfficersgatheradditionalinformationondefendants prior to First Appearance. TimothyKozlowski expressed concernthatPretrial isnot alessrestrictive form ofrelease. Diamond Littyclarified that sheisnotadvocatingfordefendants topost bond andhaveadditional requirements suchasGPSmonitoring. Sheexplained thatshewassuggestingthatPretrialOfficers wearadifferent hatingatheringadditional information forthePublic DefenderandJudges sothere wasmoreinformation available tomakedecisions regardingbond, release on recognizance (ROR), or Pretrial. ChiefWilsonconveyedthemotivationistoseeifthe jailpopulation canbereducedtosave theCountywhether itwasthrough a lowerbond, ROR, or GPS monitoring. Heexplained thatifthere arefiveinmates thatgetsickenough to gotothehospital thatcanadduptoa significantamount of money. Commissioner Townsend indicated thatwepaymore thanonehundred percent over the Medicare ratewhen aninmateissent toLawnwoodhospitalfortreatment andthemedical expenses atthejailaremillions ofdollars. She shared thattheCounty recently hadaconversationwiththe Sheriff’s Departmenttosee what canbedonetoreducemedical costs atthe jail, thereby, saving the taxpayersmoney. Judge Mirman brieflymentioned thatDadeCountyhasaprogramtoassistmentally illversussending tojail. ChiefWilson conveyed thatinSt. LucieCountymanyofthesenior deputies havebeen throughcritical incidence trainingtowork withthementally ill; however, when theperson commits acrime theyhavetoarrestthemandput them injail. He explained they dolobby forthe mentally illdefendants once in jail. JudgeMirmanexpressedthat sometimes everyone workstogether tokeepapersonoutofjailbut thepersoncontinuestoreoffendbecausethey want tobeinjail. MajorCiciosharedthatthejailpopulation was1257anditwas1283year-to-date. Ofthatnumber thereare25federal inmatesand30year-to-dateandalso130withmisdemeanors, 74ofwhich have beensentenced. Hementionedtherearecurrently 2inmates inthe hospitalwithserious healthissues. Henoted thattheSheriff’sOfficedoesworkwellwithboththeStateandthePublicDefender’soffice 2 | Page Regular Meeting Thursday, October31, 20193:32PM inhaving defendantsreleased dueto medical issues when possible; however, some ofthecharges are tooegregiousandtheCounty mustpayfor themedicalcosts. Commissioner Townsend asked iftherewassomeone whoneeded space outatthejail tobeable to meetwiththeinmates. Timothy Kozlowski indicated itwasthe St. Lucie BailAssociation and heshared they justrecently touredthejail andit wasa goodmeeting. 4. UPDATE byCriminal JusticeDirector: RoyHudson RoyHudsonintroduced thenewPretrialProgram Manager, Joseph Cowan andsharedtherearetwo newPretrial ReleaseOfficersgoing through field training. Therearealso twonewhires thatare going throughbackgroundchecksthroughthe Sheriff’sDepartment. Henoted thatthePretrial department willbeatfullstaffbyChristmas forthefirsttimeinabouttwo years. 5. JUDICIALUPDATES Judge Mirmanshared thatherecentlyreturnedfrom aChiefJudgemeeting withtheChiefJustice. In termsof PublicSafety, heindicatedallisstatus quo. DiamondLitty introduced Judge JeffHendriks. JudgeMirmannoted theyarewaitingto seehowthemarijuana/hempsituation filters tothevarious courts andwhatthatwilldotothenumbers. Commissioner Townsend mentioned theFlorida AssociationofCounties ismovingtowards legalization ofmarijuana. She indicated itwillbe talked aboutinsession for2020. 6. OLDBUSINESS 7. NEWBUSINESS 8. COMMENTS 9. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Townsendadjourned themeetingat 4:18pm. Submitted by, Kellie Harris Thenext meetingwillbe heldonJanuary 30, 2020. 3 | Page