Jan. 2—DOUGLAS COUNTY — Officials are making some progress in fully staffing the jail and reopening sections that were closed last year due to critical staffing shortages.
While the jail still has five employees, it is an improvement from the 12 vacancies that forced the sheriff’s office to start housing Douglas County inmates in other counties.
In May, only 20 prison staff were available for four 12-hour shifts at the prison, which normally employs 34 people. With so few officers
forced overtime and closing parts of the prison
became necessary.
At the time, there were 24 prison guards working for the county, but one was on leave for military service, one for teaching and two to recover from incidents at the jail.
While it is not likely that the reopening of the closed portions of the jail will happen in the first quarter of the new year, Sheriff Matt Izzard said he is optimistic it will happen in the second quarter when construction of a secure holding station begins. will take place in the direct supervision unit. completely.
The unit, which has 68 beds and is overseen by one prison officer, was closed earlier this year due to staff shortages.
“We are 96% staffed,” Administrator Ann Doucette said of the positions across all county operations. “We’re still looking for about five correctional officers, a couple of coordinators and a couple of child support investigators.”
Izzard said they are looking to hire five prison staff after two recent layoffs.
“It’s one step forward and two steps back,” Izzard said.
However, he said progress is being made as four people were recently hired.
“We’re making some progress, but now we need to get everyone trained,” the sheriff said.
Douglas County jail staff receive 13 weeks of training, including five weeks at Northwood Technical College, before they can work independently in the jail.
The staffing shortage has also meant the county has had to be more selective in housing inmates for other agencies, which typically generates about $1 million in revenue annually to offset the jail’s operating costs. The prison still houses federal prisoners due to its proximity to the federal courthouse in Duluth.
Earlier this year, Izzard said a budget deficit of $800,000-$900,000 was expected.
“I think we’ll probably get to half of that,” Izzard said.
