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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 03-25-2010 (2) PUBLIC SAFETY COORDINATING COUNCIL Minutes of Meeting March 25, 2010 Convened: Adjourned: 3:33 p.m.4:00 p.m. CALL TO ORDER Commissioner Craft called the meeting to order at 3:33 p.m. in Conference Room # 3, 2300 Virginia Avenue, Fort Pierce, Florida. ROLL CALL Roll call was taken. Members Present: Commissioner Chris Craft Suzanne Caudell, CORE Program Eric Gidland for Thomas Mark, Department of Corrections Ken Mascara, Sheriff of SLC th Chief Judge Steve Levin, 19 Circuit Major Pat Tighe, SLC SO Janet Collins, Bail Association Bruce Colton, State Attorney Members Absent: John Romano, New Horizons - Excused Diamond Litty, Public Defender - Excused th Judge Philip J. Yacucci, 19 Circuit – Excused Thomas Mark, Department of Corrections - Excused Others Present: Mark Godwin, SLC Criminal Justice Coordinator Faye Outlaw, SLC Administration Ethel Rowland, Taxpayer Trase Rowland, Taxpayer Broderick Underwood, SLC Analyst Becky Bleyman, CORE Program Gary L. Robinson, PSL PD Trevor Morganti, SLC SO Major Tighe, SLC SO JR Miller, Magellan Health APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes from February 25, 2010 were unanimously approved. Public Safety Coordinating Council March 25, 2010 Page 2 UPDATE by SLC Sherriff’s Office- Sheriff Mascara/Major Tighe Major Tighe reported that the count for criminal aliens have gone way down. He also informed the group that contrary to rumor, Prison Health Services (PHS) is still the medical provider for St. Lucie County’s Sheriff Office. UPDATE by Criminal Justice Coordinator- Mark Godwin: Mr. Godwin went over basic statistics of the Detention Center Population Report with the group. He told members that it is a snap shot of certain things that are brought to them. Mr. Godwin thanked Broderick, SLC analyst for the report and offered his services to anyone in the group who may want to track other statistics. Mr. Godwin touched on the VOP category and mentioned that the numbers have gone down and the cases are moving faster with the special Court process that the Judges have put in place. The average length of stay for Felony’s has increased to 110 days. The average includes the entire population of the jail which includes those who have been sentenced. It also includes those who have been in jail over 365 days. Major Tighe sent an email to Mark showing the top 50 individuals who have been in the County Jail with their cases pending. He reported those 50 are skewing the numbers along with those who have been sentenced. It is a complex process to define the average length of stay due to what has to be taken into account. As the Judges hear the cases Court Administration is notified and a report is produced as to how many individuals were taken into custody. Questions among the table were asked and answered and Mark added that all other programs are working well. Mark thanked Mr. Gidland for bringing statistics from State Probation and Parole. He went over the breakdown of fees collected by the State Probation officers. In 2009 nearly a million dollars was collected from the 1,646 probation offenders. The fees include restitution, Court costs, and fines. The figures mentioned were: over $469,000 in restitution, Court cost $422,000 and fines were approximately $72,000. These figures reflected St. Lucie County, not circuit wide. This concluded his report. Commissioner Craft had a meeting with the Sheriff regarding medical costs and how they continue to rise. They have asked PHS to provide them with ample data to better understand the situation. Some costs at the County jail are associated with an increase in aids patients, the oxycontin epidemic, which sometimes disguise aliments because the patient is numb to them. This has a direct affect on the County’s budget. To date we have spent 2.1 million for offsite medical care and it is expected to reach 4 million dollars by the end of the year. Major Tighe brought up a case about an individual who got arrested for a number of charges and nine days later, while in custody medical discovered a terminal illness. After this individual had surgery, he admitted to the Dr. and Major Tighe that he purposely got arrested because he could not get health care. This bill is estimated to be $500,000. Major Tighe explained the two processes they go through if a case is eligible for medical release. One is going through Pretrial and the other involves the Public Defender at the jail and the State Attorney’s office. In this case Public Safety Coordinating Council March 25, 2010 Page 3 the State Attorney’s Office had scheduled a hearing before the Judge and received a ROR. Commissioner Craft mentioned he was uncertain if there is a specialty Court that specifically deals with patients who have higher medical costs. At some point the Commissioner expressed he would like to look at data and crimes to see what categories these folks fit into. With the County’s deficit at 54 million dollars, it is important to turn over every stone possible. There may or may not be a solution, but it is important to explore. Chief Judge Levin explained that as long as these situations are brought to the right people’s attention, it will get resolved quickly. Cases that have been brought before him in the past have been ROR rather quickly. It was noted in our County the State Attorney does get notified quickly because we have the Public Defender at the jail. JUDICIAL UPDATE Chief Judge Levin updated the group on the hiring of a Magistrate for St. Lucie County. The new Magistrate will start around mid May because of the 90 day hiring freeze. Until then Senior Judges were brought in to help out with Family Cases. There was a Chief Judge meeting in Tallahassee recently where financial issues were discussed with the Legislators. Chief Judge reported some of the ideas for pay and benefit cuts that are currently on the table. In addition to Juvenile Drug Court, Chief Judge Levin is also doing Adult Drug Court because Judge Shack could not do it with his schedule in Okeechobee. Other than that update, Chief Judge reported that they are fully staffed, going forward and will make it work. Commissioner Craft suggested a joint Public Safety Coordinating Council meeting with the Sheriff and Commissioners from: Indian River, Martin, and Okeechobee. The idea is that it will be beneficial to all because the issues in SLC are not just isolated. All the counties have the same budget concerns. The group discussed this idea with many questions asked and answered. It was agreed to be explored. OLD BUSINESS Sheriff Mascara asked if Janet knew the tracking of the Pretrial Bill. He was informed that a vote was scheduled for the next morning, before the “House” Criminal Justice Committee. NEW BUSINESS ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Craft adjourned the meeting at 4:00 p.m. Submitted by, Carlene Filippini Public Safety Coordinating Council March 25, 2010 Page 4 THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE HELD April 29, 2010