Chief Jail Inspector's Network

Chief Jail Inspector’s Network Proceedings of the Annual Meeting June 18-19, 2012 National Institute of Corrections Jails Division 14th Annual Chief Jail Inspector’s Network Meeting Record of Proceedings NIC Event # 12J2701 July 18-19, 2012 National Corrections Academy Aurora, Colorado Table of Contents Day One Introductions and Overview .................................................................................. 2 NIC Information Center ........................................................................................ 3 National Sheriff’s Association Update ..................................................................... 3 ACA Jail Standards Update.................................................................................... 5 Iowa, Minnesota and Indiana Standards/Inspections .............................................. 7 Federal Agency Update – U.S. Marshal’s Service .................................................. 10 Suicide Prevention: Current Research, Policies and Procedures and Legal Trends ............................................................................................ 14 Day Two Legal Issues in Today’s Jail ................................................................................. 18 Prison Rape Elimination Act ................................................................................ 25 Surviving in Hard Times: Marketing the Jail Inspection Process ............................. 31 Evaluations/Close-Out ........................................................................................ 33 Appendices ........................................................................................................ 35 Chief Jail Inspector’s Network Page 1 Introductions and Housekeeping Danny Downes, NIC Correctional Program Specialist, opened the meeting at 8:00 a.m. and passed out the agenda to the group. He emphasized that the agenda was subject to change, as the needs of the group changed. (Refer to Appendix I for the Revised Agenda.) Danny informed the group that seven states and the U.S. Marshal’s service were represented at the meeting. He then gave a brief overview of his background and experience. This was followed by a PowerPoint presentation that offered an overview of NIC and the services provided to agencies throughout the United States. (Refer to Appendix II for a copy of the presentation.) He then went over the contents of the participant folder, daily schedule, breaks and seating arrangements. He passed around a participant list to enable the chief’s to make any necessary corrections to their contact information. The participants were then asked to introduce themselves to the group and provide information on their agency and their background. (Refer to Appendix III for a complete participant list with contact information. Danny then introduced the guest presenters for the meeting: Kathy Black-Dennis – the Director of Standards and Accreditation for the American Correctional Association. Carrie Hill, Esq. – an attorney and criminal justice consultant. She is the editor of Corrections Managers Report and counsel to the Hill Law Office in Maple Grove, MN. Ms. Hill is well known as an expert in legal issues involving jails and other correctional facilities. Lindsay M. Hayes – the Project Director for the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, with an office in Mansfield, MA. Mr. Hayes is nationally recognized as an expert in the field of suicide prevention with jails, prisons and juvenile facilities. Danny also introduced Cheryl Paul, former NIC Correctional Program Specialist. Cheryl was tasked with documenting the proceedings of the meeting and completing a report for dissemination to the participants. Chief Jail Inspector’s Network Page 2 NIC Information Center Susan Powell, Public Services Coordinator, provided the group with an overview of the resources available from the NIC Information Center. She explained that the library provides access over 18,000 corrections related resources including training plans, research reports, program evaluations and more. Many resources are available on-line at http://nicic.gov/Library/. Susan also explained that the Information Center also provides a research service. This service enables corrections professionals to ask questions and be directed to information and resources through the Information Help Desk. The group then took a tour of the Information Center, returning to the meeting with stacks of resource materials. National Sheriff’s Association Update Denny Macomber, Chief of the Jail Standards Division of the Nebraska Crime Commission, gave a report on NSA activities over the past year. Denny has represented the Network at NSA for several years and has a seat on three committees: 1) Accreditation, 2) Jail Detention and Corrections, and 3) Ethics and Standards. He attended the January meeting in Washington, DC and the annual Congress of Corrections in Nashville, TN. Apparently all of the jail training at NSA in Nashville was cancelled due to a gas leak and explosion at the host hotel. Denny explained that while some of the meetings are more productive than others, it is important for the chief jail inspector’s to have a presence with NSA. Carrie Hill mentioned that NSA’s Institute for Jail Operations provides some training that might be worth looking into. Go to http://www.jailtraining.org/ for more information. Denny explained that the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was a hot topic at both NSA meetings. There seem to be a lot of questions about PREA and the implementation of the new standards. Tim Thompson commented that counties don’t have to comply with PREA standards, only if they hold federal prisoners. Carrie Hill responded that the problem is if you don’t comply and you have an incident it could expose the agency to liability, although there is no federal penalty for non- compliance with the standards. Chief Jail Inspector’s Network Page 3 Bill Wilson asked about housing state inmates or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees – “would that situation require compliance with the standards or the potential for monetary penalties?” Carrie advised all jails that house either federal or state inmates should carefully look at their contracts with those agencies. Danny Downes commented that there will be a presentation on PREA later in the meeting, which will give everyone an opportunity to have their questions answered. Denny then reported that ICE has another set of small jail standards. This involves a self-inspection process for small jails and would represent a major change for small jails and the inspection process. Denny asked the group if someone else would like to assume the responsibility for being the representative to NSA. The volunteer would be required to attend one meeting a year; there are two meetings each year. The representative must be a member of NSA. He said if no one is interested he will still attend the meetings. He emphasized that there is a value for the chief jail inspectors to be a presence at the meetings and participating on the committees. Making contacts is one of the main advantages. Bill Wilson mentioned that the purveyors of “private” standards, that is standards developed by individuals or companies and sold to state agencies to enable them to conduct self-audits, have made inroads in doing away with ACA jail standards. He also pointed out that NSA’s Institute for Jail Operations, www.jailtraining.org, is affiliated with this private standards company. Prior to the break, Danny Downes asked the group if anyone would be interested in attending a one day meeting at the Academy to gain more information on the new PREA standards and how they will affect jails. A majority of the participants raised their hands. Danny will keep the group informed of the progress of this idea. Chief Jail Inspector’s Network Page 4 ACA Jail Standards Update Kathy Black-Dennis began her report by asking the group if they have a copy of the Core Jail Standards. She mentioned that many copies had been distributed by NSA and NIC had mailed a copy to all of the countries jails. Copies are available for purchase on the ACA website at https://www.aca.org/store/bookstore/view.asp?product_id=1164&origin=results&QS ='&YMGHFREproduct_name=Core+Jail+Standards&YMGHFREkey_words=Standards &pagesize=10&top_parent=188 . The price is $30.00 per copy. You can get reduced pricing for volume purchases. ACA is now including a CD in the back of each paper book and is working toward development of an on-line version to automate the process. They are still working through how to do this without sharing proprietary information. Kathy told the group that there is now a new accreditation process for the Core Standards. In this way more agencies will be able to get into accreditation. ACA is encouraging facilities to start their accreditation process with the core standards then move on to full accreditation. The Core Standards allow facilities to receive basic accreditation at a much lower price. In the Core Standards there are 45 mandatory standards and 134 nonmandatory standards. ACA is now working to enable agencies to go paperless in the accreditation process – if it meets the needs of the agency and it is easy for the auditor’s to work with the system. It is not mandatory that agencies use a paperless process. John Dunn, Ombudsman/ACA Accreditation Monitor, with the Kentucky Department of Corrections, has more information on this process. If anyone in the Network would like to learn more about

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