Community corrections told to come back when funds run dry
The Dubois County Commissioners agreed that the best course of action for the beleaguered Dubois County Community Corrections budget was to approach the state for an increase in the annual grant.
This decision correlates well with news from the Department of Corrections (DOC) that the facility should ask for an increase in the $400,000 annual grant. “They (DOC) called and told Jenny Fuhs (Dubois County Community Corrections assistant director) to pick a number,” J.P. Weisheit, director of community corrections, said. “She said, ‘So, like up to $200,000,’ but the state said that was too much and we should come up with a number that was nicer. But they didn’t say $175,000 or $150,000 was too much.”
The $200,000 Fuhs refered to would have been nearly enough for the department to cover the annual cost of employee insurance benefits. The costs associated with the increased premiums paid by the department are one factor forcing it to seek county funding.
Weisheit stated he would be reviewing their budget and placing the request for the increased state funding in the next few days.
One area questioned was whether the department was attempting to collect over $600,000 of uncollected user fees that have accrued since the facility opened in 2003. According to Weisheit, he inherited over half that amount when he took over as director and he doesn’t expect that the county will ever see the money. “We have tried. We got a collections agency and they recovered about $2,000 over two years,” Weisheit said. “I don’t know if they didn’t do the job or if they just couldn’t get it.”
Weisheit said he is looking at another agency to take up the task.
Another option being fielded is to return the participants to jail if they are unable or unwilling to pay the dues. This would make the county responsible for room and board (estimated to be about $35 per day) as well as any potential medical costs. “I don’t think it is a good idea,” Weisheit said. “If one person develops a heart problem and the county has to pay for heart surgery, that’s going to be an enormous cost for just one person.”
Room is also an issue. Community corrections has 102 beds for participants compared to 85 at the Dubois County Security Center. Right now, the security center population averages about 65 inmates, leaving 20 beds available as well as several temporary beds that have historically been placed on floors when the jail population exceeds capacity.
And this current level is a comfortable spot to be, according to Sheriff Donnie Lampert. “Then we have space available if there is a large amount of arrests or a major bust,” he explained. “We have had to use the temporary beds in the past before the community corrections facility was available and it was difficult. The inmates were on edge and frustrated because they don’t have room to move around as much. We had more fights and a lot of requests to go to the hospital. That’s where you get into issues with lawsuits.”
In regards to reverting the community corrections participants to the jail, Lampert stated he felt each case should be examined individually. “If you have a guy that is working a low paying job and he’s paying child support, it’s actually better off in the long run to keep him in the program,” he said. “You have to weigh out the lesser of the two evils.”
Although the dwindling usage fees have exacerbated the budget problem, besides the increase in insurance costs for the employees, all costs associated with the facility have increased while the grant has only had two increases over the past ten years.
Faced with the realization that community corrections does save the county money and that state grants and user fees won’t be enough the cover its budget, the commissioners told Weisheit to come back when he has a budget shortfall.
Weisheit is expecting that to occur in July or August of this year when the one-time special grant the department received in December runs out of money.
Here are several stories about the community corrections budget issues.
