Douglas County corrections director reports steady population, rising fentanyl risk and expanded Narcan use

Michael Myers, Director of Corrections for Douglas County, told the Douglas County Board of Commissioners on March 25 that the jail’s population and operations were largely stable but that fentanyl posed a growing safety risk.

Myers said the jail recorded 1,201 admissions and 1,264 releases in February, with a high count of 1,055 inmates, a low of 980 and an average daily population of 1,017. "Our average length of stay was 31 days," Myers said. He reported that 52% of inmates stayed longer than 72 hours, with an average stay of 58 days for that group, while 48.8% were released within 72 hours and had an average stay of 1.4 days.

The director said the department was ‘‘a little over $1,000,000 under budget’’ after eight months of the fiscal year but noted several earmarked project funds have not yet been spent. He reported $183,979 in overtime costs (about $55,000 lower than the prior month) and nearly $800,000 in bond payments processed by records staff. Myers also said four officers below the rank of sergeant left in February and six officers were promoted from CO1 to CO2; he said correctional officer staffing was at 101% as of Feb. 28.

Myers described programmatic activity: a 19-cadet academy class graduated Feb. 22; the sanction center and transitional discharge center placed 12 people into community corrections (saving 67 jail bed days); work release admitted 19 people; house arrest admitted 53; the reentry assistance program admitted 20; and 64 people entered therapeutic-community housing units in the jail. He said 113 people were on the GED waitlist with 75 active students and six GED completions during the month.

On health care, Myers gave counts for intake and assessments: 953 intake screenings, 321 physical-health assessments, 122 initial psychiatric assessments and 306 initial mental-health assessments. He said 89 individuals were placed on suicide precautions and 191 were placed on drug- and alcohol-detox protocols. Eight people required hospital admission totaling 34 days of hospitalization.

Myers warned commissioners that fentanyl has changed risk calculations inside correctional facilities. "Fentanyl is a paradigm shifter for correctional facilities across the country," he said, noting the substance’s small lethal dose and that local presence required stepped-up precautions. He described two operational responses already in place: Narcan carried on duty belts and a permanent, randomized staff-and-visitor checkpoint. "We have saved several lives since we placed Narcan on the duty belt of every staff member," Myers said.

When asked how many times Narcan had been deployed, Myers said the department would begin tracking deployments more precisely but estimated that since Narcan was placed on staff belts about 18 months ago, it has been used "upwards of 25 to 30 times," and cautioned that not every deployment indicates a confirmed overdose.

Commissioners pressed on contraband and screening. Commissioner Tim Cavanaugh praised staffing and asked whether training and exception-time categories were captured in staffing reports; Myers said those details are captured in the report’s exception-time graphs. Commissioner Borgeson and others discussed new contraband types found in February, including modified items used for tattooing and written Cash App account information used to transfer funds to people in the community. Myers said the jail recovered "a powdery substance and discolored papers that may have been laced with K2" and that investigators found Cash App usernames written on paper used to funnel funds to people outside the facility.

Myers also described security deployments: the crisis negotiation team was deployed 14 times and the correctional emergency response team 16 times during February; most deployments required no physical force and the remainder involved minimal force with no significant injuries. He raised staff wellness efforts — a new wellness and peer-support app, expanded peer-support membership and 17 staff using wellness services in February — and said fentanyl had prompted a new, always-on randomized checkpoint to screen a sample of staff, contractors and visitors when they enter.

Why it matters: Commissioners said the information helps them monitor jail capacity, health and safety and assess program investments. The director signaled follow-up reports would add more precise metrics — including a Narcan deployment log and more detailed pretrial-release software data — and said a special program for inmates ages 18–24 is expected to start in April.

The board did not take formal action on the report; commissioners asked Myers to return with more data in future reports.