Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Corrections topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Douglas County Corrections reports staffing gains, GED graduates and falling average length of stay
Summary
Director Michael Myers told commissioners the corrections department finished March under budget, added cadets, reported dozens of GED graduates and recorded a lower average length of stay; staff and commissioners discussed substance detection, contraband and program metrics.
Michael Myers, Director of Corrections for Douglas County, delivered the department's March 2025 report to the Board of Corrections on April 22, saying the jail was $1,267,995 under budget through the ninth month of the fiscal year and that overtime rose by $340,403 largely because of personnel matters and an added security checkpoint.
Myers said a class of 26 cadets began the academy the prior day and that more than $1 million in bond payments were processed by records staff. He reported 1,460 admissions in March, 1,383 releases and an average daily population of 1,012 (down five from the prior reporting period). The department recorded an overall average length of stay of 22.5 days, with 47.5% of inmates staying longer than 72 hours (their average length of stay was 46 days) and 52.5% released within 72 hours (average 1.3 days).
Myers highlighted community corrections and reentry services: the Sanction Center and Transitional Discharge Center placed people into community corrections and therapeutic housing, and 187 individuals were supervised via GPS monitors, a figure the department estimated saved 4,323 bed days and a theoretical $734,910 in detention costs.
On health and behavioral metrics, Myers said there were 1,167 intake screenings, 370 physical-health assessments, 126 initial psychiatric assessments and 315 initial mental-health assessments in March. He reported 107 suicide precautions, 205 individuals placed on drug-and-alcohol detox protocols, 11 people on a waitlist for the Lincoln Regional Center and 13 individuals housed there. The department recorded five individuals who received Narcan and a total of 16 doses.
Myers also reviewed security operations: the Crisis Negotiation Team deployed four times and the Corrections Emergency Response Team (CERT) 15 times; there were searches that turned up minor contraband (tampered batteries, social media usernames, marijuana concealed in a shoe) and suspected liquid designer cannabinoid (K2) discovered in a nasal-spray bottle.
The report included education and reentry highlights. Heather Robinson, educational and vocational supervisor, and Karen Shelton, educational and vocational specialist, described the department's GED and vocational programs. Robinson said the department's GED program produced 36 graduates over the past year and that the jail operates a Google Classroom for people on house arrest or at home, plus vocational classes that offer electrical-safety and forklift certification. Shelton described the program's role in recovery and reintegration and introduced former student Jonathan Bowles, who addressed the commissioners about his recovery and completion of the GED and treatment programs.
Commissioners asked for additional budget and per-capita detention-cost information for a future report; Commissioner Friend requested that Director Myers present county-dollar investment and a one-year per-capita cost to compare program spending against detention costs. Myers agreed to provide more detailed fiscal and pretrial-release data as new pretrial software comes online.
The Department of Corrections noted an upcoming National Commission on Correctional Health Care audit in the second half of the year and that pretrial-services staff will begin using a new vendor's software in the coming months.
