Douglas County corrections officials report budget correction, staffing gains and software rollout date

Amber Redmond, deputy director of corrections for Douglas County, reported to the Board of Corrections on the facility's August 2025 operations, saying the department is under budget after an earlier accounting error was corrected and outlining staffing, admissions, program and equipment updates.

Redmond said the corrections budget is under by $708,117 for the second month of the fiscal year after the clerk's office identified payroll that had been posted to the wrong fiscal period. She also reported $568,516 in overtime costs for August, attributing much of that to months with three payroll periods and to training and construction-related staffing needs. "We were accounting for an additional payroll in our month that actually belonged to the prior fiscal year," Redmond said.

The report said the department collected more than $840,000 in bond payments in August and that two officers below sergeant rank left the department during the month. Redmond said Douglas County was 102% staffed among correctional officer ranks as of Aug. 30, a figure that included 22 employees in the academy; 21 graduated from that cadet class and are now in field training.

Redmond provided program and population metrics: 1,455 admissions and 1,443 releases in August; average daily population 1,093 (down 17 from the prior month); average length of stay 24 days; 52% of admissions staying 72 hours or less. She said custodial sanctioned bed days fell to 45 from 66 the prior month and that one smaller housing unit remained closed, approximately 32 beds.

Education and reentry numbers included 116 individuals on the GED waitlist, 72 active GED students and five GED completions in August. Treatment and supervised-release numbers showed 20 admitted to work release, 45 to house arrest and 21 to the RAP program. Pretrial supervision figures showed 297 placed on pretrial release last month and a monitored caseload of 1,397 individuals; 623 people were enrolled in the 24/7 program and 190 were on GPS monitors in August.

Redmond said the department's new pretrial-release management software is scheduled to go live Oct. 14 and that staff expect implementation issues to arise but anticipate improved reporting. She also said procurement is underway for a PREA audit vendor following board approval of a bid on the consent agenda.

On health and safety, Redmond reported four 9-1-1 emergency transports, nine hospital admissions totaling 40 hospital days, and no doses of naloxone or naltrexone ("Opvie") administered in August. Response teams were activated multiple times: CNT (critical needs team) deployed five times and the CERT team three times.

Redmond noted hiring activity: 109 applications for correctional officer positions and 50 interviews conducted in August. A laundry project approved in the department's budget is moving forward; Redmond said bringing laundry services in-house is expected to yield ongoing savings of more than $100,000 annually once complete.

Commissioners and a public commenter pressed for clarifications. Commissioner Cavanaugh said the expanded metrics'including month-to-month staffing and overtime comparisons'help the board understand trends; Redmond confirmed months with three payrolls raise overtime totals. Commissioner Kavanaugh and others asked about demographic breakdowns; Redmond directed commissioners to enclosure four for admissions demographics, which show roughly 44% Black, 14% Hispanic, 35% White and smaller shares of Native American and Asian populations. A resident, Larry Storer, asked whether people on probation have access to in-custody classes; staff replied probation services are administered separately and that question should be directed to probation.

The Board of Corrections approved the minutes of its Aug. 19 meeting and later adjourned; both motions passed by voice vote.

Redmond's written enclosures and the metrics she referenced will be available in the meeting packet for commissioners and the public.