Douglas County corrections director reports July budget shortfall, higher pretrial releases and new mental-health construction

Michael Myers, Director of Corrections for Douglas County, told the Board of Corrections on Aug. 19 that the department ended July $568,766 over budget, which he attributed to invoice timing and said staff will explore efficiencies to return to budgetary expectations.

Myers said overtime for July totaled $288,718, about $30,000 more than the previous month. "There were $288,718 spent on overtime costs which was an increase of about $30,000 from the previous month," Myers said.

He reported a suite of operational metrics and program activity for July: the jail was 99% staffed across correctional ranks as of July 31; five officers below sergeant left employment in July (including one retirement) and only two staff left voluntarily; bond payments exceeding $940,000 were processed by the records division; and the county processed 1,454 admissions and 1,459 releases in July with an average daily population of about 1,110.

Myers highlighted pretrial release and reentry activity as producing notable capacity savings. "We theoretically project that pretrial release saved 4,647 jail bed days," he said, adding that the department estimates that saved $789,990 in detention costs. Pretrial…