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Corrections director outlines jail staffing, vocational programs and new-facility benefits
Summary
The county corrections director reported recent hires, vacancies, and expanded inmate programming — including a welding curriculum provided by BZI — and said programming will improve outcomes and contracts when the new jail opens.
Shalon, who presented the corrections report, told the commission the department has hired five employees over the last three months and has three newly approved additional staff positions; staffing remains affected by annual training, military leave and FMLA absences.
Shalon described new and existing inmate programs that will continue in the new jail facility. BZI provided an instructor for a welding program that uses virtual welding equipment; of 16 starters, 12 were expected to complete the course. She said the department runs "Inside Out Dad," a parenting program, a financial literacy class with the State Bank of Southern Utah, Carson Reed’s Investing Basics and an Edovo tablet-based education program that produced about 5,100 learning hours in the last three months. A six-week welding track and other offerings are intended to increase inmate employability and to improve behavior while incarcerated, Shalon said.
Shalon said the department is coordinating with jail construction schedules and hopes the new facility’s additional programming spaces will make expansion easier. She said that in a larger, purpose-built facility, well-run programming reduces recidivism and improves staff satisfaction; commissioners and the auditor previously discussed project bids and financing for the new jail.
No formal commission action was requested at the time of the report.
