New jail staffing plan still tentative
EL CENTRO — On Monday, the Imperial County Board of Supervisors, Sheriff’s Office and other departments agreed on a plan to fund staffing at the new jail and avoid a possible backlash from the state in the spring.
The county and the Sheriff’s Office found themselves in a complicated situation recently as a result of a difficult budget year and the necessity to staff and operate the soon-to-be-completed Oren R. Fox Detention Facility.
Because the new $33 million facility is funded by the state through Assembly Bill 900, the county is obligated to have the jail operational no later than 90 days from the completion date, which is scheduled to be finished by mid-February.
So, under the state’s guidelines, the jail will have to be operating by mid-May. As of now, the local entities don’t know if they would face possible sanctions from the state if the facility is not operational within 90 days of its completion and are working to avoid any possible repercussions.
Last month, the Sheriff’s Office requested a budget augmentation for an additional $765,000 to fund 11 positions for the new jail upon its completion. Those positions include seven new correctional officers, three correctional clerks and one lieutenant.
However, due to financial restraints, the ICSO was forced to reduce the amount of staffing for the detention facility by three correctional officers and will move forward with operating only one of the housing units in the new facility — there are two housing units. Along with the single housing unit, which will be able to house 45 inmates, the ICSO is also planning to operate the administration, booking, medical clinic, laundry room, commissary and inmate programming room within the facility.
“I don’t think we left any stone unturned,” Loera said. “Our priority was to move forward with staffing and be ready for the opening of the facility in a safe manner.”
Initially, the Sheriff’s department wanted 40 correctional officers to fully staff the new detention facility, however, comprised with then-county CEO Ralph Cordova on 11 for both housing units to minimize the impact on the county’s general fund.
In addition to the obligation to get the new facility operational, the time needed to go through the hiring process was also a concern since it typically takes six to seven months to have the new hires go through background checks, tests and certification processes.
Director of Human Resources Rodolfo Aguayo said during the workshop that his staff is working with ICSO to try to expedite the hiring process and pre-schedule all the required tests within three to four weeks. Aguayo noted that a couple of the candidates ICSO is considering already have the required certification which could allow them to be ready to go when the facility is turned over to the county next spring.
Despite the reduction of staff proposed by ICSO, the fiscal impact to the general fund will still be more than half a million, not included in the original budget.
As a result of housing AB 109 inmates, the Sheriff’s Corrections Division will receive an additional $424,000 from the Community Corrections Partnership (a local partnership made of law enforcement officials required by the state) to offset the rising costs of housing those inmates. AB 109 inmates are inmates who would normally go to prison, but instead will be housed at county jails, depending on their convictions, to reduce the population in prisons.
Also, the Sheriff’s Office will receive an additional one-time payment of $1.6 million to cover the remaining $80,000 needed to fund the additional positions. The county will place the rest of the amount in the general fund in order to reduce the total amount the county will need to withdraw from the Rate Stabilization Fund (county’s reserve funds) in order to balance the budget for the next fiscal year.
The budget, which was approved last week by the board, included a $7.46 million transfer from the RSF to balance the budget; such transfer would’ve diminished the fund to $826,000. The additional funds are expected to allow the county to preserve as much as $2.3 million within the stabilization fund.
The board approved the phase I staffing plan with a unanimous vote, but will continue to work closely with the department to find options to increase its revenue and to also better manage overtime costs.
“This was a group effort, we would not have been in this place today if it had not been for CCP and the Sheriff’s Office coming back to the table and finding a way to make this work,” said Interim County Executive Officer Robin Hodgkin.