Loading...
08-28-07Little Rock Board of Directors Reconvened Meeting — Minutes — August 28, 2007 MINUTES BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECONVENED MEETING City Hall — 500 W. Markham August 28, 2007 - 4:00 PM The Board of Directors of the City of Little Rock, Arkansas met in a reconvened session with Mayor Stodola presiding. Nancy Wood, City Clerk, called the roll with the following directors present: Hendrix, Richardson, Cazort, Keck, Wright, Wyrick, Kumpuris, Fortson, Adcock, Vice Mayor Hurst, and Mayor Stodola. The Mayor requested that the City Clerk read the resolution. 1. RESOLUTION - Deferred to September 18, 2007 - To authorize the City Attorney to take legal action against Pulaski County, Arkansas, and any necessary county officials, to require that they accept all prisoners presented for incarceration at the Pulaski County Regional Detention Facility unless, and until, a court or competent jurisdiction has declared it unconstitutional to do so; and for other purposes. Tom, Carpenter, City Attorney, overviewed what the negative impact could be to the City at the request of Director Keck if the City pursued litigation regarding the detention city with Pulaski County. Sherriff Charles "Doc" Holladay, Pulaski County, stood for questions for the Board of Directors in regard to their responses to the City Attorney's memo. See the minutes and attachment from August 14, 2007 meeting. Attached to these minutes is a memo entitled "Responses from Pulaski County." Sherriff Holladay reported that the current facility was an 880 bed facility, but that the current population was 1021 inmates. The 1,021 inmates are inclusive of 153 state prisoners and 90 federal prisoners. He reported a total staff of 119 today; with 89 deputies managing the 1021 beds. He indicated that the County was currently recruiting to fill the 23 vacancies for Detention Deputies needed to adequately manage the 1021 inmates. He also If the old jail roof were repaired an additional 160 beds would be opened to house inmates, but additional staff would be required to operate the old jail and the work center. He indicated that an option for the City and other entities was to rent space from other counties. Major topics of the lengthy discussion included inmate medical care logistics; how detainees are selected to be housed in the jail (municipal, state, and federal), the costs of housing state and federal prisoners, and additional staffing needs and costs if more beds were made available.. Sheriff Holladay indicated that he was committed to presenting a budget to the Quorum Court to get back to where the detention facility was in October 2005 at 1125 beds, which he added was still not sufficient, but it would move the facility forward to address the present and growing needs. A motion was made by Director Adcock, seconded by Director Richardson, to table the item until the second meeting in September. The Mayor indicated that there were citizens present to speak on the matter. Director Adcock withdrew her motion. 1 Little Rock Board of Directors Reconvened Meeting — Minutes — August 28, 2007 Dr. Charles Hathaway spoke in opposition of the resolution asking the Board to pause on filing a law suit against the County. Mildred Tatum, Pulaski County Special School System Board member and member of the Jail Commission put together by Sherriff Holliday, also spoke in opposition of the resolution for the City to enter into litigation with the County. Mayor Stodola reported that he had spoken with the other Mayor's in the County. There comments were as follows: Mayor Tommy Swain, Jacksonville, was not opposed to the litigation, but wanted to use it as a last resort; Mayor Patrick Hays wanted to exhaust all possible other resources before filing litigation; Mayor Virginia Hillman, Sherwood, was not prepared to move forward; and Mayor Mike Watson, Maumelle, was not prepared to move forward with litigation A motion was made by Director Adcock, seconded by Director Keck, to table the item until the second meeting in September. By unanimous voice vote of the Board members present, being two - thirds in number, Item 1 was tabled until September 18, 2007. 2. ORDINANCE 19,811 - To amend Ordinance 19,787 (7- 17 -07) to modify the time and manner in which the City shall release immobilized or towed motor vehicles; and for other purposes. Staff recommends approval. The ordinance was read the first time. Director Keck, seconded by Director Adcock, made a motion to suspend the rules and place the ordinance on second reading. By unanimous voice vote of the Board members present, being two - thirds in number, the rules were suspended and the ordinance was read the second time. Director Adcock, seconded by Director Keck, made a motion to suspend the rules and place the ordinance on third reading. By unanimous voice vote — of the Board members present, being two - thirds in number, the rules were suspended and the ordinance was read the third time. Bruce Moore, City Manager, reported that booting will start on Saturday, September 15, 2007, and would be in full force on Monday, September 17, 2007. A roll call vote was taken and recorded as follows: Directors Adcock, Hendrix, Richardson, Keck, Wright, Wyrick, Kumpuris, Fortson, Vice Mayor Hurst, and Mayor Stodola voted yes. The ordinance (Item 2) was passed. Directors Cazort was absent at the time of the vote. A motion was made by Director Keck, seconded by Director Adcock, to go into executive session for the purpose of making Board and Commission appointments. By unanimous voice vote of the Board members present, being two - thirds in number, the Board went into executive session. The meeting was reconvened at 6:55 PM. 3. EXECUTIVE SESSION AND RESOLUTION 12,569 - To make appointments to various City of Little Rock Boards and Commissions. Synopsis: Central Arkansas Transit Authority, City Beautiful Commission, Civil Service Commission, Housing Board of Adjustment and Appeals, Museum of Discovery Board of Trustees, Little Rock Sanitary Sewer Committee, Central Arkansas Regional Water Commission. 2 Little Rock Board of Directors Reconvened Meeting — Minutes — August 28, 2007 Recommendations were read by Bruce Moore, City Manager, as follows: Central Arkansas Transit Authority Board of Directors - Todd Hart (reappointment), Allie E. Freeman, III (appointment), J.L. "Jim" Gilbert (appointment) Director Adcock, seconded by Director Keck, made the motion to accept the recommendation. By unanimous voice vote of the Board members present the recommendation for appointments and reappointments to the Central Arkansas Transit Authority were accepted. Little Rock City Beautiful Commission - Jennie Cole (appointment) Director Adcock, seconded by Director Keck, made the motion to accept the recommendation. By unanimous voice vote of the Board members present the recommendation for appointment to the City Beautiful Commission was accepted. Little Rock Civil Service Commission - Debby A. Linton (appointment) Director Keck, seconded by Director Adcock, made the motion to accept the recommendation. By unanimous voice vote of the Board members present the recommendation for appointment to the Civil Service Commission was accepted. Little Rock Housing Board of Adjustments and Appeals - Gregory L. Vardaman (appointment) . Director Keck, seconded by Director Adcock, made the motion to accept the recommendation. By unanimous voice vote of the Board members present the recommendation for appointment to the Housing Board of Adjustments and Appeals was accepted. Museum of Discovery Board of Trustees - Nikki Polychron Lawson (appointment) Director Adcock, seconded by Director Keck, made the motion to accept the recommendation. By unanimous voice vote of the Board members present the recommendation for appointment to the Museum of Discovery Board was accepted. Little Rock Sanitary Sewer Committee - Debbie Shock (appointment) Director Adcock, seconded by Director Keck, made the motion to accept the recommendation. By unanimous voice vote of the Board members present the recommendation for appointment to the Sanitary Sewer Committee was accepted. 3 Little Rock Board of Directors Reconvened Meeting — Minutes — August 28, 2007 Central Arkansas Regional Water Commission - Tony Kendall, City of North Little Rock (concur reappointment) Director Adcock, seconded by Director Hendrix, made the motion to accept the recommendation. By majority voice vote of the Board members present the recommendation for appointment to the Central Arkansas Regional Water Commission was accepted. Director Keck and Wyrick voted no. A motion was made by Director Keck, seconded by Adcock, to adjourn the meeting. By unanimous voice vote of the Board members present, the meeting was adjourned at 7:00 PM. ATTEST: > I /-'1 00 e, 6 / //JI � �- VZ- Na cy Wo , MC City Clerk 11 APPROVED: ,1 n `i 1 Mark Stodola Mayor RESPONSES FROM PUI:,ASKI COUNTY 1. In terms of space and overcrowding, what steps have been taken to see how many prisoners could be maintained in the PCRDF if they slept on floors in the dayrooms, and double or triple bunked, as the federal courts have upheld as constitutional? Pulaski County currently utilizes mattresses on the floors and triple bunking. This is necessary whenever the cap is exceeded. Even when the number of prisoners does not exceed 880, it is sometimes necessary in some pods. 2. Has the Sheriff considered covering the floor of the dayrooms at night with mattresses, and then piling the mattresses up during the day to provide for some space within the dayroom? As noted in the response to Question no. 1, mattresses and bunks are utilized in the dayrooms. The capacity of a dayroom is 80, but this is often exceeded. This places an added burden on staff because there can be no true "lockdown" in a pod where the dayroom is being utilized. 3. Does the Sheriff have detainees participate in cleaning the cells? Yes. (a) If so, is this done on a daily basis? Yes. (b) Are the prisoners provided with the cleaning implements and materials to assure that cells and the dayroom are clear of waste, and other unsanitary matters? Yes. (c) is there a policy in place to provide for more often cleaning, e.g., if a prisoner gets sick and throws up, is there a way to assure that this problem can be cleaned up immediately? Yes. (d) Is the Sheriff able to assure that clothes, or blankets, that may be fouled because of the close proximity of double or triple - celled prisoner can be cleaned within 24 hours? Laundry is performed twice /week on linens and blankets. Replacements may be provided in t:he meantime, however. 4. In terms of ventilation, air conditioning, or temperature, what is the situation within the various pods of the PCRDF? Each pod was actually constructed to house a specified number of inmates. That number varies by pod, with the maximum being 90. The pods are constructed to provide adequate ventilation, air conditioning, and temperatures for the appropriate number of inmates. These remain adequate when the numbers are exceeded by a slight amount. These systems are constantly maintained by county staff. 5. It has been stated that there are twenty -two (22) guard positions currently unfilled for the Sheriff's Office. The actual number, as of today, is twenty -three (23). The number varies from time to time. (a) Does the Sheriff intend to fill these positions, and if so when? Yes. The Sheriff is constantly searching for qualified applicants to fill the positions. (b) Has the County actually budgeted the funds to fill these positions? Yes. (c) If these positions are unfilled because of low pay, what steps have the Sheriff and County taken to reclassify the positions to make them more attractive to potential candidates? Detention deputy positions pay the same as a patrol deputy. In the 1990s, the County took steps to upgrade the County's pay system to make it more competitive with surrounding governmental entities. County employees have not received a pay increase in the last 3 years. 6. It has been stated that if the roof of one facility is repaired with money from the State, the PCRDF could hold an additional 120 prisoners. If the roof of the "Old .Tail" were repaired, the physical capacity of the PCRDF would increase by 160. However, the current staffing level would not be sufficient to reopen the "Old Jail" and continue to operate the work center. (a) Has the County been guaranteed such funding from the recent appropriations to local governments made by the General Assembly? The County has not received any money at this time. However, it is anticipated that the revenues from the "Administration of Justice- Real Estate" fund and House Bill 1836, one time general turn back money, that were passed this year will provide sufficient. funding. (b) How long before the County believes it will get these funds? The County has received $330,000.00. The remainder is expected be received around the first part of September. (c) Has the County considered short term financing to make these roof repairs, and to repay these bonds once the state funds are in place? The County currently has two short term financing obligations outstanding. The County has considered short term financing, but must be financially able to repay the loans. (d) What steps have the County and the Sheriff taken to assure that as soon as the funds are in place, the roof will be repaired? A structural engineer has been contracted to ensure that the existing structure is sufficiently stable to support the roof repair. The County is currently waiting on the engineer's response. (1) Has the work to repair work been bid? No. County purchasing policy prohibits the issuance of a bid with no appropriation. (ii) if not, have bid specifications been drawn to get the bids issued as soon as the money is received? Yes. 7. What other facilities, if any, are not opened because of the need for repairs? None. (a) To the extent that such facilities exist, what steps have the County or the Sheriff to budget for the repairs of these facilities? N/A (b) How long have these facilities been in this state of disrepair? N/A (c) If there are other problems that have been in existence for some period of time, what have the County, or the Sheriff, done to make sure that this type of disrepair does not go untouched in the future and create another set of problems and closing of the PCRDF? The County works diligently to provide preventive maintenance on all county facilities. 8. It has been stated that $1.2 million of the medical expense for County detainees is paid to private hospitals instead of taking indigent prisoners to facilities that must treat as indigents such as UAMSC. The County disagrees with this figure and is not aware of its source. $1,175,000 is appropriated to pay for "Medical, Dental, and Hospital" this provides in facility care, as well as hospitalization at times. (a) Has the County made an agreement with UAMSC not to take County detainees to UAMSC? No. (b) Does the County, or the Sheriff, assume financial responsibility for any detainee taken to a hospital? The County has contracted with Southwest Hospital for some inmate care at a negotiated rate. (i) Why when such action is not required by law or the U.S. Constitution? This is a legal conclusion. The County disagrees with the conclusion drawn. What steps has the County taken to assure that it has access to third party sources of funding for medical care? (A) For example, some prisoners may have private insurance; is this possibility ever explored'? Yes. (B) Some detainees may be entitled to Veteran's benefits including, but not limited to, the ability to receive free medical treatment at the VA hospital. What steps have the County, or the Sheriff, taken to see if any detainees are entitled to such treatment? The County has attempted this. The VA will not see a person once incarcerated. (C) Other federal programs may be available to qualifying persons to help with medical bills or medication costs; What steps have the County, or the Sheriff, taken to assure that these programs are considered? The County works diligently to minimize all medical costs and has explored all possibilities. The County takes advantage of whatever programs are available including grants for specialized illnesses and diseases. 9. The UALR Report states that for the year 2005 approximately 526 federal prisoners were kept at the PCRDF. (a) What was the average length of incarceration for each of these prisoners? There is no current count. (b) How many local detainees were rejected during the time that these federal prisoners were in custody at the PCRDF? That count is not kept. (c) Instead of maintaining this contract, has the County, or the Sheriff, considered not accepting federal prisoners and using these extra spaces to maintain local detainees? This arrangement: to accept federal prisoners is part of the interlocal agreement. 10. Are any persons being housed for "failure to appear," or traffic offenses? Yes. (a) If so, how many and from what jurisdiction? The number varies daily. (b) If not, how long has it been since the PCRDF has accepted such persons for incarceration? N/A -- _ _ ___ 11- _ _.__ _. __-__ _ _ 10� 11. Does the County, or the Sheriff, agree with the statement by the UALR Report that the PCRDF does not have to accept prisoners from District Courts within Pulaski county? If so, why? § 12 -41 -503. Management of local jail populations (a) Sheriffs and other keepers or adininistrators of jails within the State of Arkansas are responsible for managing the populations and operations of their respective facilities in compliance with the laws and the Arkansas Constitution and within the requirements of the United States Constitution. (b) Neither a sheriff nor another keeper or administrator of a jail shall refuse to accept any prisoner lawfully arrested or committed within the jurisdiction of the supporting agency of the jail except as necessary to limit prisoner population in compliance with subsection (a) of this section. U) W N t- CD — F-- 0 M W Iq N 04 dt o n CD w N 0 193- m (N N 0') Qc) ti LO M M Irr '14' M N M d co I (Y) Z G 0) U*) — CO CNI CO -r I-- Cf) cY 0) r-- LLJ p LO > LO uj CD w C) -i LL 0 D C/) CD CD 0 C) 0 CD (0 C) (D C) 0 (D CD (14 C3 owamcD �o (D 0 CD C) 0 r- z 0 U-) �- a M LO T- a W 00 C) 14T o & Cli U5 di Tl- od r-� od & (5 6 cr; N U) r U) N co (N 0) 0 QO (N r- m C\l (D '4* ui M o (L C'4 a uj LU 1,- 0) (0 CD (D co 0 0 C) IT 00 C) 0 t-- LO CD Z 't 0 0 0 0 r- (D t-- 0 r-• m , a a o c) - 0 L(5 q7 L6 "i ".6 06 Oo - 1. - - C) N CO 'IT C) lzl- CD 00 Lcj o') t'- 00 (7) CO G) m ui n 0 CZA z 0 (D ti 00 0 0 (D It C-) N 0 CD N CY) LO 0 CY) 04 "T CN 00 0 C) 04 C) "o ("� 1 7 LQ. —. (q. d. D CD m m N r r N O tit OD r- 0 CD CD N T- LO r U) N M C) M M r 0 04 (D 0 0) C) LLJ CY) "t C) 00 — LO M 0 (Y) 0) N (D D LLJ C) 0 — 'T q c) C) CN C:) , C) m C:) W 0 (D (0 00 r- (D OD (D (D I-- CD r- co I-- o I,- I` t-- 00 r- r- 00 00 00 CO 00 f-- w LLJ O cd U) U) z 0 w C) w z z LU z 0 w W UJ C) w __j 7- z C) LL < 0 ::_j LIJ 0 Q C) > LL, LU < >: Ql) co F- w W (D Lij 0 U) > F- Q 0 Z Z (D < C)o M z uj b� w — < < fy D Lu W 0 0 < 0 C) U- U) 03 LL L) LL. 0 z -r ry < X -i X -10 �: 0 w - 2 LL LL Z U) LL CO < W LL 0 LL D- U) L—L L—L w < w w < o -j LL < LU w C LIJ n; w — Z -i W r1r, -) ! < w cr- z Lu W"' o W© w LLJ < w