Final Creative Corrections review finds measurable reforms at Milwaukee County Jail but funding and facility gaps remain

Milwaukee County Audit Committee members heard Creative Corrections LLCsummarize a final corrective action plan for the Milwaukee County Jail on June 9, saying the county has implemented many operational changes but still needs funding and interdepartmental cooperation to finish physical retrofits and staffing upgrades.

The reportpresented by Steve Spaulding of Creative Corrections detailed work on more than 40 deficiencies identified in an earlier audit and the CAP the firm helped the Sheriff—s Office implement. Creative Corrections and county auditors framed the package as "responsive to the request included in the 2024 budget" and as a roadmap to reduce in-custody harm.

Creative Corrections flagged suicide prevention as a top priority and described multiple reforms implemented since the initial review: elimination of restraint benches on suicide watch; placing suicide-watch individuals in designated cells within one hour; retrofit work including plexiglass, tamper-resistant lighting and fixtures in some suicide-watch cells; expanded staff training led by mental-health clinicians; a revised policy removing the previous mandatory 24-hour suicide hold and allowing clinicians more professional judgment; and weekly interdisciplinary reviews to track at-risk individuals. "This CAP report is not just a checklist. It's a roadmap for reform," Spaulding said.

Spaulding also said the CAP drove structural and process changes across security, medical and mental-health delivery, and oversight: rewritten post orders; supervisors assigned to special housing units; a KeyWatcher key-control system and biometrics implementation; intake mental-health assessments when clinicians are present; and in-house perpetual audits to identify problems early. The report cited a 46 percent reduction in use-of-force incidents tied to training and revised protocols.

Sheriff's Office leaders said many items were completed internally while larger physical retrofits require county capital resources and interdepartmental work because the jail building is not owned solely by the Sheriff—s Office. Joshua Brace, Milwaukee County Jail director, said the office has submitted multiple capital-improvement requests and estimated some cell retrofit projects at "upwards of $100,000 or over for each" location. He added that the office has requested support from Facilities Maintenance and the county executive to finish larger projects. "We are not opposed by any means to making these corrections," Brace said.

Officials gave several specific cost and schedule figures during questioning: the tool-control kit program to track trade tools used inside the facility was estimated at $10,000 total; replacement of riot and CERT gear was estimated at about $76,000; KeyWatcher biometric enrollment was completed in early June and the system was expected to be fully operational once fobs are installed; and the mental-health-unit light-switch replacement was estimated in one figure discussed at about $8,085,000 for the 19-cell unit, with a separate estimate "upwards of about a half million" to tie the whole building into the legacy control program. County staff said those larger retrofit items would be submitted as capital projects for future budget cycles.

On medical and mental-health services, the county contracts with Wellpath for onsite clinical staffing and NCCAC Resources (NRI) to monitor contractual performance. Fred Meyer, managing director of NRI, reported that the vendor has faced staffing shortfalls that triggered contractual penalties: he said penalties charged to Wellpath in recent months included amounts he gave as January just over $70,000, February about $46,789 and March about $18,687, and said those figures show a trend of improving staffing. He offered to expand NRI's monitoring to include an 11-item list of medical and mental-health areas identified by the audit team.

Committee members pressed county and vendor representatives on remaining risks and compliance checks. Deputy Director (name in transcript: Rugaber) and Director Brace described a perpetual internal audit program to be run by supervisory staff to sustain changes, and both said several items can be and have been implemented without additional county dollars. The Sheriff—s Office told the committee it does not maintain a contingency fund and must rely on budget allocations and capital-project approvals for larger retrofits.

Creative Corrections and county officials also discussed a possible move of about 70 women in custody to the Community Reintegration Center (CRC) annex as a therapeutic alternative. Spaulding described that site as suitable for programming and suggested moving residents there could allow the jail to take units offline for maintenance and retrofit work. County officials said they had toured the facility and hoped to begin transfers in late summer but noted additional surveillance and equipment would be required.

Public commenters pressed the committee to go further. Casey Serrano of Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression said the audit addressed the group—s demand but argued the CAP had not yet stopped in-custody deaths and urged stronger community oversight and budgetary constraints on the Sheriff—s Office. Ron Jansen, who has previously advocated on jail deaths, called the audit "a sham" and urged supervisors to withhold further funding.

The committee accepted the report for informational purposes and discussed follow-up monitoring. Jennifer Folliard, Comptroller's Director of Audits, said her office will return with a follow-up status review on open recommendations at a later cycle and recommended continued oversight by the Department of Corrections detention facility monitors and the consent-decree process in place.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to adjourn into closed session to receive a confidential departmental briefing (motion by Supervisor Alexander): passed 6-0 (Martin, Alexander, Rolland, Vincent, Capriolo, Chair voted yes). The committee cited security-related reasons for that brief closed session. - Motion to reconvene in open session (motion by Supervisor Alexander): passed 5-0 (Vincent excused).

What remains: several CAP items are marked partially complete pending capital retrofit funding (suicide-watch cell retrofits, wiring/lighting tie-ins, door replacements), full deployment of some equipment and completion of contracts or coordination with Facilities Maintenance. Committee members and outside monitors agreed to periodic follow-up reporting; Creative Corrections and NRI offered continued engagement and periodic reviews to sustain progress.