Posted: 7/17/07
Crowded jail continues to be a problem for county sheriff
By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
While the future of the criminal justice center (CJC) is currently in the hands of the Caledonia City Council , crime continues in Houston County and the jail is full. At the July 10 county board meeting Houston County Sheriff Doug Ely reported "We had prisoners stacked on the floor. We had nine out of county and 13 in county.
"We normally average six to nine lunches for prisoners each day," Ely continued. "We served 17 meals Monday (July 9). We had to beg, borrow, and steal every vehicle we could to transport prisoners out of county, and utilized six transport officers, plus other personnel."
When asked if the surge in county prisoners was connected with the Fourth of July celebration in Eitzen, Ely said no. "We really didnít have any problems with Eitzenís Fun Fest. People behaved themselves very well there. This is just getting to be a normal thing. The need for more jail space continues to be a major issue for us. This is getting to be the norm rather than the exception on Mondays. We had to use every single vehicle we could find."
Chief Deputy Scott Yeiter noted they transported persons to various jails throughout southeast Minnesota, as far west as St. Peter. They also transported a juvenile to Red Wing at 8 p.m. and had to have him back to Caledonia at 8:30 the next morning. "Our transport officers had to leave to Red Wing at 3 a.m. to get the juvenile back here by 8:30 for a meeting his attorney. Court wasnít scheduled that early, but the meeting with the attorney was. We canít hold a juvenile in our jail for any amount of time. In the new jail, we could for at least six hours."
COPS Grant shot down
Yeiter told the county board the COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) grant was denied by the "powers that be. That option is dead for us. But the need is still there," Yeiter said. "We need a full time officer to handle this. The problem is real, it wonít go away unless we do something about it."
Yeiter had addressed the rising youth drug problem during the June 12 board meeting. At that time Yeiter told the board of a two-year program that would pay an officerís salary, car, mileage, and other expenses involved in combating drugs. Many cities and counties in Minnesota have received funding through the program. When Yeiter was part of the La Crescent Police Department, he helped secure a COPS grant for that city.
Unfortunately, the legislation was very specific, Yeiter noted. "The money is to be used to address juvenile crime only. Drug officers are not part of the program. Itís doesnít make sense to me."
Yeiter stated he has a deputy who is very interested in becoming a full time drug officer. He has had quite a bit of training and Yeiter feels this deputy would be an excellent candidate. "But if we created that position, we would need another road deputy," the chief deputy pointed out.
Commissioner Dave Corcoran replied the county will begin the budgeting process soon and will have to address the request then.
In other action
Visit from Senatorís aid
U.S. Senator Amy Klobucharís aid Judy Bird was on hand to listen to issues and/or concerns the commissioners might have.
The first item discussed was jail funding, and costs incurred to the county for the health care of persons incarcerated in the county jail.
"As soon as someone is arrested, his health-care coverage is dropped and the county gets stuck paying for it," Commissioner Larry Graf explained. "Somethingís got to be done about this."
Commissioner Dave Corcoran added there are some individuals who know if they do get arrested, theyíll receive health-care services. It was also brought up that county jails are being filled up with prisoners with mental health issues due to the fact the state and federal governments are no longer providing adequate services.
SELCO contract approved
The board approved a three-year contract with Southeastern Libraries Cooperating (SELCO). There are five public libraries in Houston County that are part of SELCO. They include Caledonia, Hokah, Houston, Spring Grove, and La Crescent.
The contract includes: $106,401 for 2008; $109,593 for 2009, and $112,881 for 2010.
The county pays about 65 percent of the total cost of library service in Houston County. The remaining money comes from the cities where the libraries are located.
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