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March 28, 2012
 
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Feather River Bulletin Wednesday, March 28, 2012 9A Correctional leaders blast county 'roadblocks' Officials say red tape is compromising inmate realignment process Dan McDonald Staff Writer dmcdonald@plumasnews.com Local criminal justice offi- cials, tasked with implement- ing Assembly Bill 109, blast- ed county leaders last week for what the officials consid- er to be a lack of support and unnecessary roadblocks. "It's a disgrace," Superior Court Judge Ira Kaufman said. "We take two steps for- Ward and three steps back all the time. Right now it's just business as usual in the county. And it's a very ex- pensive way to do business." Kaufman's comments sum- marized the frustration voiced by members of the Plumas County Community Corrections Partnership dur- ing its meeting Thursday, March 22, at the Plumas County Courthouse. The group, which included the district attorney, sheriff, chief probation officer and a public defender, said the county stands to lose tens of thousands of dollars if it doesn't take an active role and give the criminal justice system the tools it needs to succeed. "The fact that there's no Board of Supervisors mem- ber here, nobody from the CAO's office, nobody from the county counsel's office speaks volumes to me," Kauf- man said. "The CAO (Jack Ingstad)should be here telling us what he is doing, what he intends to do. He's not here. He's missing in ac- tion." The committee said Plumas County is probably in the worst shape of the state's 58 counties when it comes to having the neces- sary resources to handle the inmate realignment. In addition to having no al- cohol and drug program in p!ace, Dirc,t Attorney .j b Q, from page 1A admission and parking. For information: Amy Schulz, 283-0202, ext. 358. Donkey basketball, 7 p.m. Quincy High School large gym. RESCHEDULED from Feb. 29. Teams attempt to play basketball while riding donkeys. Pre-sale tickets, available at Carey Candy Co., Courthouse Cafe, Epilog Books, are $8 adults, $6 stu- dents, $4 children. Tickets at the door: $10 adults, $8 stu- dents, $6 children. David Hollister said adminis- trative red tape is keeping the county from implement- ing an essential case manage- ment system. The committee said the da- ta provided by that system is critical for the county to get state funding for AB 109. Without hard data, they said, the county could get the same amount of money, or less, than the state provided last year. They said the $250,000 is many times less than what the county needs. "The funding is based on hard, statistical data," Sher- iff Greg Hagwood said. "We can't submit feelings or esti- mates to the state. "You've got to have raw da- ta presented in an organized fashion that is accurate," Hagwood said. "And if we can't do that, we may not get anything. If we rely on what the state does, we'll end up like we did last year. And their numbers were so flawed it was laughable." The district attorney's of- fice has been working on a case management system that tracks the myriad statis- tics associated with the in- mate transfer. Hollister said his office is saving the coun- ty "more than $50,000" by de- veloping a system in-house. But he said the county au- ditor and county counsel have rejected requests for a $5,600 stipend to manage the system. He said that money actually comes from the AB 109 funding and not the coun- ty's general fund. "There is a dire need for this money and we are hav- ing a hard time working with the county to get this done," Hollister said. "I wish I could tell you this is an aberration, but I don't believe it is. "I invited both the county counsel (Craig Settlemire) and the auditor (Shawn Montgomery) to be with us today. My idea wasn't really to put them on the spot, but just to let them know how important this is to what we are trying to accomplish." The committee made a point to request that the county counsel, CAO and au- ditor attend the next meeting April 4. Hollister said the $5,600 stipend request was denied because of an outdated per- sonnel rule. "The county's argument was that the county felt that we did not comply complete- ly with personnel rule 6.15 in- volving extra duty stipends," Hollister said. "This person- nel rule is probably 30 years old (1986). It talks about a personnel office which we don't have anymore." Hagwood shook his head. "If it takes changing a per- sonnel rule from 1986 to al- low us to effectively do busi- ness in 2012 and beyond, then that needs to be fixed," Hag- wood said. Kaufman said the absence of an alcohol and drug pro- gram is a glaring problem that complicates sentencing and leads to inmates re-of- fending. It doesn't allow for OPEN DINNER TUESDAY - SUNDAY rQpens 11:00am (except Sunday 4:30pro) • ' fi Droner 5pm !"',,. :l Early Bird Menu 5-6pm :i,;!ii : FULL SERVICE LUNCH ....... i, Tues. - Sat. from 11:00am FULL BAR 836-1300 Dine In- Take Out Lunch: 1 l:OOam to 4:30pro Take Out "tii 8pm i 250 Bonta Street, Blairsden 836-4646 g l(€  It appears old man winter may have .:  passed us by, but at any rate, is your family • ' :  - V.,, car.ready for the cold and the coming  warmer weatl7 WHAT WINTER? OIL CHANGE SPECIAL *Change Oil & Filter (up to s q=) *Rotate Tires ( needed) *Brake Check (.Jut wheel Ixdl) *Cooling System Check *50 pt. General Inspection & lube $35.45. A $100. O0 VALUE MR. B'S 283-1935 alternative split sentences that combine jail time with drug rehabilitation pro- grams. The usually soft-spoken judge was loud and clear in his criticism. "It's just terrible," Kauf- man said. "It's terrible -- not only terrible for the citizens of the community, it's a total waste of money. It's impact- ing the sheriff's office, the DA, probation. We can't get anywhere. We can't do things. "I've talked to a lot of judges throughout the state. We are so far behind it's em- barrassing," Kaufman said. "I can't tell you how many ' times I've been to meetings and told judges we don't have an alcohol and drug depart- ment. They just look at me like I'm a leper." The county shut down its state-sanctioned alcohol and drug program more than three years ago because it was considered dysfunction- al. Efforts have been under way to resurrect the program under the direction of Public Health Director Mimi Hall. However, Hall's recent resig- nation was viewed as a set- back by the committee. Hall was also a member of the Community Corre.ctions Partnership. "She has done a great job. I was very saddened to see her leave," Kaufman said. "The county has lost a great asset. We were starting to get down the road we needed to go. "I was hoping that with her appointment as the per- son in charge of A&D that we would have a global reso- lution in terms of providing a substance abuse program for the county, which has been missing for over three years ... It is a disgrace. "Until the county steps up to the plate and wants to pro- vide services, the court,s hands are tied," Kaufman said. "And unfortunately the sheriff feels the impact of that because of the impact on the jail. It's been over three years and we should be able to solve the problem." Hollister said that without the ability to provide split sentences, the county jail is going to fill up faster. "All we are doing now is warehousing people (in the jail)," Hollister said, "with the understanding that when they get out they will be provided no services, and we can expect to see them again shortly thereafter." Hagwood said that not having an alcohol and drug program defeats the intend- ed purpose of AB 109. "The fundamental reason for AB 109 was to reduce re- cidivism and give people the tools as the state gives us the money," Hagwood said. "But we are just continuing down the same road we have al- ways been on. And that flies in the face of why we have realignment. "We are going to be on the receiving end of a lot of (state) scrutiny, and ultimately a reduction of funding." Kaufman agreed. "If 57 other counties in the state of California can do it, why can't we?" he said. "This is not rocket science." I i PAID POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT ELECT JAMES HUFFMON SUPERVISOR * DISTRICT 4 JUNE 5, 2012 oo Local Business Owner oo Quincy High School Graduate o. Self-Employed for Over 10 yrs "1 believe that turning around our economic future starts here at the local level." www.JamesHuffmonForSupervisor.com PAID FOR BY THE COMMITTEE TO ELECT HUFFMON FOR SUPERVISOR 2012 395 MAIN STREET, QUINCY, CA 95917 • 530-283-3277 ii ii i Waste Management Announces Summer Hours For Local Transfer Stations The following Waste Management Transfer Stations will be switching to summer operating hours, starting April 1, 2012 East Quincy Transfer Site/Abernethy Ln: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday 9:00am - 5:00pm Closed 12:00pro to 12:30pm for Lunch Closed Wednesday and Thursday Chester Transfer Site/Hwy 36 & A-13: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday 9:00am - 5:00pm Closed 12:00pro to 12:30pm for Lunch Closed Wednesday and Thursday Greenville Transfer Site/Greenville Dump Rd. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday 9:00am - 4:00pm Closed 12:00pm to 12:30pm for Lunch Closed Wednesday and Thursday Feather River Disposal (530) 283-2004 WNW, Wm,com WAlrlrl MANAEMENI"