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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 01-28-2010 PUBLIC SAFETY COORDINATING COUNCIL REVISED Minutes of Meeting January 28, 2010 Convened: Adjourned: 3:35 p.m.4:15 p.m. CALL TO ORDER Commissioner Craft called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m. in Conference Room # 3, 2300 Virginia Avenue, Fort Pierce, Florida. ROLL CALL Roll call was taken. Members Present: Bruce Colton, State Attorney Commissioner Chris Craft Becky Bleyman for Suzanne Caudell, CORE Program Thomas Mark, Department of Corrections John Romano, New Horizons Ken Mascara, Sheriff of SLC th Chief Judge Steve Levin, 19 Circuit Major Pat Tighe Diamond Litty, Public Defender Mitchell Hilburn for Janet Collins, Bail Association Members Absent: th Judge Philip J. Yacucci, 19 Circuit- Excused Suzanne Caudell, CORE Program- Excused Janet Collins, Bail Association- Excused Others Present: Mark Godwin, SLC Criminal Justice Coordinator Ethel Rowland, Taxpayer Broderick Underwood, SLC Analyst Allison Duffy, SLC Drug Lab Lisa Savage, SLC Pre-Trial Program Chris Harris, Magellan Health Joseph E. Smith, County Clerk Faye Outlaw, SLC Administrator Eva O’Donnell, Commissioner Craft’s Office Theresa Bailey, SAMH Dennis J. Schmidt, Bail Bonds APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Public Safety Coordinating Council January 28, 2010 Page 2 The minutes from October 29, 2009 were unanimously approved. UPDATE by SLC Sherriff’s Office- Sheriff Mascara: Sheriff Mascara reported in regards to the medical expansion, it is his understanding that it is the county’s direction to look for alternate funding rather than tax dollars. Faye Outlaw confirmed that. Sheriff Mascara agrees in the face of the economy and what the county is facing, the expansion is a project that can be put on the back burner. When and if alternative funds become available, steps will be taken to move forward with the project. Sheriff Mascara shared his concern with the group about inmate medical costs. For fiscal year 2008 - 2009 there were 2,188 hospital days at Lawnwood. For this fiscal year’s first quarter there have been 179 hospital days experienced. If this trend were to continue, it would be very costly for the county and Sheriff’s Department. The Sheriff indicated that he anticipated a meeting with Lawnwood’s medical director who over sees patient care along with the medical director with PHS (Prison Health Services). Sheriff Mascara explained that staff is looking at ways to address these issues. It was noted that there were a few inmates who were very, very sick and that contributed to this spike. Major Tighe added insight to another issue that affects medical cost which is the oxycotin epidemic. He explained that there are many cases the Judges, State Attorneys and Public Defenders see at first appearance involving oxycotin and zanex. Oxycotin causes secondary issues like liver cancer. Commissioner Craft spoke about a substantial reduction in jail population compared to this time last year. He thanked everyone in the room for their group effort because in addition to the traditional decrease seen in the past there was a reduction of 100 inmates from November to December. Major Tighe informed Commissioner Craft and the group about a call he received from Washington on the same topic. The Bureau of Justice Statistics who monitors the census wanted to know what St. Lucie County was doing to have such a low jail population. Major Tighe mentioned there were five counties that had a great reduction rate. St. Lucie County is one of them. He felt with economics being the same across the State with foreclosures and people moving away this could not be the reason. Prime example is the jail population in Lee, Broward, and Dade went up. Major Tighe attributed the population reduction to the specialty courts like Drug Court and Mental Health Court. He also attributed to task force, fast track for the VOP’s . Diamond Litty’s program for substance abuse is keeping people out of jail. They stay out longer which is a savings of two million dollars if you run the numbers for some who would normally come back seven times. That is based on if we help two out of a graduating class of forty. Mr. Colton informed the group of an interesting fact about three of the counties that Major Tighe spoke of having a Public Safety Coordinating Council January 28, 2010 Page 3 reduction in jail population. Among the prosecutors’ offices those three circuits try the most cases and have the highest conviction rate in the State. Commissioner Craft and Major Tighe agreed that it is through the hard work and great communication of everyone working together on issues. UPDATE by Criminal Justice Coordinator- Mark Godwin: Mr. Godwin announced the production of the 2009 Detention Center Population Report that Mr. Underwood, SLC analyst worked on. The data was gathered from the Clerk’s office, the jail and other sources. Mark went over a lot of the data and noted the jail population is down and Pretrial is up. In December 2009 there were 4,723 bed days saved in lieu of individuals being on the program. The Pretrial program works in conjunction with bail bonds. According to a state wide report there was not one failure to appear. Mitch Hilburn from Bail Bond Associates had some questions based on the numbers from a report Pretrial provides weekly. Mr. Hilburn wanted to know with 416 people put in the program last year, how there were no failure to appear. He explained that those 416 generated 143 warrants. Mr. Godwin and Lisa Savage, Pretrial manager, addressed that question. There are some cases that are in direct violation of a court order for positive drug testing. Ms. Savage has the statistics and will provide a report for the next meeting per Commissioner Craft’s request. It was noted that there was one failure to appear. Lisa informed the group of: Office of Program Policy Analysis and Governmental Accountability (OPPAGA). The report is Statewide, and based on the Citizen Right to know Act. OPPAGA just finished an audit with the Pretrial Program. The cases that are tracked are, ROR. OPPAGA and the State have not tracked the cases on bond because they are not interested in those. Over half the cases in the Pretrial program are on bond. Much of the information required statutorily only want to know one portion, not the whole program. Lisa and her staff track all of the violations. Commissioner Craft asked who gets the reports from Pretrial. Lisa advised it is statutorily required for funding source, which is the BOCC and it is posted to the Clerk of Court. In addition, the report is distributed to: State Attorney, Public Defender, CORE, DOC, Court Administration and anyone who might have contact with our office. Mr. Hilburn, bail bondsman, spoke about the surety bond and how it is not on the tax payers’ dime. There were 80 defendants arrested 199 times and created 325 bonds. He also mentioned the same number of defendants who were released on their own recognizance (ROR) into the Pretrial Program. He used those examples to establish a point that there is a place for the Pretrial Program, but there is also a place for his program, the surety bond which should not be compromised at the tax payers’ expense. Mark Godwin, Criminal Justice Coordinator, advised that he could figure a higher number than 80 that had no bond granted and was ordered into the Pretrial Program for a higher level of security. Those individuals would otherwise still be in jail. Mr. Hilburn’s reply was that could be a sub- set of the 80. Commissioner Craft commented that it is not anyone’s intention to imply that there is no place for the Bail Bonds Program. For the most part it is the Judges who make these Public Safety Coordinating Council January 28, 2010 Page 4 decisions on the conditions of release based in part on their comfort level with the cases. Mr. Godwin went on to report good news happening at the SLC Drug Lab. The Lab continues to increase testing not only for individuals being ordered by the court, but for those in the community as well. The apprenticeship programs are on board; they test the iron workers along with many small businesses in our area. The Lab is open to the public for any parent wanting to have their son or daughter drug tested. Allison Duffy, Drug Lab Manager, recently gave a presentation and suggested parents could use the drug screening as leverage if they want to use the car. Some parents use that option. In conclusion of his report, Mark announced that March is National Criminal Justice Month and asked if he can promote that. Members and Commissioner Craft thought it was a great idea and it was agreed to be done through a resolution to the Board. The Criminal Justice team will give a presentation of the positive things that occur within our system and it will be aired on television. JUDICIAL UPDATE Judge Levin gave an overall view of judicial assignments that went into effect for January 2010. Judge Mirman took over Judge Shack’s docket, Judge McCann took over Judge Belanger’s docket and Judge Vaughn is still here doing Felony. Judge Yacucci our County Judge would have been here today, but could not because the jury was still out. Mental Health court is going strong with Judge Cox. In addition to that there are three Drug Courts, Felony run by Judge Shack, Juvenile run by Chief Judge Levin, and Misdemeanor run by Judge Nelson. Drug Court is going further with the Drug Lab in doing random testing more often. Many lives are touched and sometimes there are positive stories that come out of Juvenile Drug Court and Judge Levin shared a few with the group. Judge Levin has seen the drug of choice being Oxycotin for sure. The cocaine has slacked off and it is pills everywhere. Sheriff Mascara mentioned that there were 41 deaths attributed to Oxycotin last year. SLC had the highest number of deaths in four counties. Commissioner Craft asked what is being done on the State level in regards to the pain clinics. Major Tighe replied that the pain clinics fall under Federal Statue, not the State. He also informed the group of what West Palm Beach Commission has done. WPB voted on an Ordinance that no more pain clinics can open in their county, meanwhile two have opened up here in St. Lucie County. Commissioner Craft asked for a motion from this board to ask the county to adopt the same ordinance that Palm Beach has. Mr. Colton gave the first motion and Diamond Litty seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously. Judge Levin abstained from voting. The Commissioner advised that he would also take it to the Treasure Coast Council of Local Government to ask each governing agency in the four county area to pass it as well. Sheriff Mascara commented after researching what WPB did with that ordinance, he learned that there was a flaw and they are circumventing it. Commissioner Craft said that they would make sure they will look into and fine tune what they had done. Sheriff Mascara met with Public Safety Coordinating Council January 28, 2010 Page 5 representatives from the Law Library and they requested that bar members have access to it 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He explained that there is currently a punch pad as well as a card pass to get in the door. The Florida BAR Association is willing to pay for an IRA scan or thumb print scan to get through the door at the Law Library. No one was opposed to the idea and Commissioner Craft said as long as it is no cost to the tax payers, he is fine with it. OLD BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS A Pocket Guide to Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine Laws booklet was distributed and there was a sign out sheet for it as well. Administration is requesting that be done for all the committees. Clerk Smith addressed the group about his office taking a comprehensive look about the way they provide case maintenance for all involved with the process. One issue has been some trouble with getting the information that is needed to move a person from jail to Department of Corrections. To improve the current process, there will be more documentation provided and involve more members of the Criminal Justice system. When the Clerk’s office receives information from the Judge that a person has been sentenced to prison, they will let all involved know. In the same regard if there is information they are waiting on they will pass that along so that everyone is informed. This is all an effort to have things run smoothly for the jail and it has been made a serious priority. Elizabeth, assistant manager, in Felony will be in charge staying on top of the new system, along with Gale. The management team is involved and prepared to work on the comprehensive review to see where the problems and failings are and by March it will be all turned around. This is to ensure your staff or key contacts get the information they need and the Clerk’s office does as well, so that we can continue to move the system forward. Clerk Smith mentioned that he would be happy to come back and show how they are going to do this in a few months. He wanted everyone to be informed early and know why they will receive more emails from his office. Also it is to ensure there are no miscommunications anymore. In addition, Clerk Smith suggested having a “sub group” from Public Safety, particularly a population and release group to help out with the jail and other partners. This would be at the manager or assistant manager level. Those individuals will work together to identify how many people in a month came into the jail and how many came out. For those going out, they will track how many days it took for the packet to get completed. In addition, how long was it before the different pieces of information came into our office, and then the turnaround time from our office to where it needed to go? Seeing the numbers would be beneficial to all involved. Sheriff Mascara thought it was a great idea and thanked Clerk Smith. ADJOURNMENT: Public Safety Coordinating Council January 28, 2010 Page 6 Commissioner Craft adjourned the meeting at 4:15 p.m. Submitted by, Carlene Filippini THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE HELD February 25, 2010