Douglas County corrections director reports staffing gains, pretrial savings and drone concerns

Michael Myers, Douglas County director of corrections, told the Board of Corrections on May 13, 2025, that the department was $1,371,362 under budget after the 10th month of the fiscal year, was 104% staffed among correctional officer ranks including 25 cadets in training, and that pretrial release and supervision efforts saved the county an estimated $715,530 in detention costs during April.

Myers' monthly report provided program and population details that county officials said bear on operations and public safety. The report covered staffing and overtime, community corrections placements, pretrial supervision numbers, medical and mental-health screenings and hospitalizations, training and security deployments, and an increase in drone activity over the Douglas County Detention Center campus.

Myers told commissioners that after 10 months the department was under budget by $1,371,362 and that overtime costs totaled $364,577 for the month. He said records processed more than $820,000 in bond payments, five officers below sergeant left in April, and 10 officers were promoted from CO‑1 to CO‑2. “As of April 30, we were a hundred and 4 percent staffed among all correctional officer ranks,” Myers said; that figure includes 25 cadets who were in the training academy and scheduled to graduate on May 23.

Myers gave program statistics for April: the sanction center and transitional discharge center placed 13 people in community corrections and saved a combined 71 jail bed days; work release admitted 19 individuals; house arrest admitted 38; the reentry assistance program admitted 24; and 65 people were admitted to therapeutic community housing units. On pretrial services, he said, 306 individuals were placed on pretrial release in April and 1,329 people were supervised on pretrial release over the month, 545 of them with GPS monitoring. “There were 4,209 jail bed days saved via these pretrial interventions, meaning pretrial release theoretically saved Douglas County $715,530 in detention costs,” Myers said.

Myers said the department is transitioning to a new vendor for pretrial release software and expects a launch in August that will provide more detailed programmatic data. He also said the National Commission on Correctional Health Care will conduct an audit before the end of the year, but no date has been set.

On medical and mental-health services, Myers reported 1,166 intake screenings and 412 health and physical assessments in April; 20 emergency medical transports and seven hospital admissions that resulted in 34 days of hospitalization; 58 initial psychiatric assessments; 376 initial mental‑health assessments; 101 individuals on suicide precautions; and 205 placed on drug‑and‑alcohol detox protocols. He reported the Lincoln Regional Center wait list at 15 and 12 individuals currently at the center. Myers said 52.3 percent of the jail population had been diagnosed with a mental illness in the department’s data, and he acknowledged a separate graphic in the packet contained an error that staff would correct and circulate: “there was an error on the pyramid,” he said.

Myers described security and training activity in April: a Crisis Negotiation Academy graduation for eight staff members, 10 crisis negotiation deployments, 12 CERT (Correctional Emergency Response Team) deployments and several cell extractions ordered by court. He listed contraband found during searches, including social-media account credentials and tampered batteries (categorized as minor) and cash‑app information, hoarded medication, papers suspected of containing synthetic cannabinoids (K2) and marijuana paraphernalia among more significant contraband.

The department has removed portable radios from commissary offerings and confiscated radios already in use because components were being tampered with in ways that created safety risks, Myers said; the department expects tablets issued to inmates to replace radios for entertainment and communications with approved vendors. He also described plans to adopt a new use‑of‑force protocol (TAP, the Tactical Athlete Program) emphasizing de‑escalation and officer wellness, and to implement a new online learning-management system.

On drone activity, Myers said the department had noticed an increased amount of unknown drone flights over the DCDC campus in recent weeks and that the source and legality of those flights were not yet known. “We are continuing to monitor the situation very closely and are currently formulating plans to attempt to combat this activity,” Myers said. Commissioner Borgeson asked whether drones must be registered; Myers said registration shows ownership but does not establish flight restrictions and that a no‑fly designation would require engagement with the Federal Aviation Administration. Myers also noted vendors sell anti‑drone technologies such as capture tools and jammers if activity escalates.

Myers concluded by noting workforce and wellness items: 14 staff used the wellness and retention office in April, four staff were referred to external mental‑health resources, and the department is planning a corrections wellness fair for Sept. 17. He also highlighted two GED graduations held in April — one for the jail and one for community corrections.

No formal action was taken on the report. The board earlier approved the Board of Corrections minutes for April 15, 2025 (motion by Rogers, second by Morgan, vote 6‑0) and later adjourned the Board of Corrections meeting (motion by Morgan, second by Rogers, vote 6‑0).

The board did not vote on procurement or deployment of any specific anti‑drone technology during the public report portion of the meeting, and Myers indicated additional research and potential interagency steps would be required before pursuing operational changes.