Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Corrections Operations topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Douglas County corrections director reports $2.66M budget surplus, high pretrial compliance and plans for a mental-health unit
Summary
Director Michael Myers told the Board of Corrections Feb. 10 that the department is $2,663,933 under budget, saw $499,735 in January overtime, reported high pretrial compliance numbers and has begun operational planning for a mental-health unit opening in late 2026.
Douglas County’s director of corrections gave the board a detailed January 2026 operations report on Feb. 10, highlighting a multi-million-dollar budget surplus, staffing dynamics, pretrial program outcomes and plans for a new mental-health housing unit.
Michael Myers told commissioners the department was $2,663,933 under budget through the seventh month of the fiscal year and that January overtime totaled $499,735, a rise he attributed in part to three pay periods in the month. "We are $2,663,933 under budget," Myers said as he opened his report.
Myers reported staffing at 103% across correctional-officer ranks as of Jan. 31; 26 cadets began academy training Jan. 5. He said the records division processed about $760,000 in bond payments in January.
On pretrial services, Myers said 225 individuals were placed on pretrial release in January and 1,571 people were supervised on pretrial release across the month; he reported that pretrial release "theoretically saved Douglas County $719,640 in detention costs in January." Myers also cited measured compliance: "99.27 percent of all individuals on pretrial release remained arrest free," and 99.63% remained free of violent offenses.
Myers outlined medical and mental-health activity (1,054 intake screenings, 349 health assessments, four hospital admissions and multiple psychiatric and mental-health assessments), security deployments (seven crisis-negotiation incidents, 11 CERT deployments and several use-of-force and training injuries) and highlighted reentry results including placements and two former participants who reported positive outcomes.
He said the department is undertaking operational planning for a mental-health unit expected to open in late 2026, and that two captain positions will be refilled after the recent death of Captain Patrick West and an upcoming retirement.
Commissioners asked for more audit details and more historical pretrial trend data. On PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) audit follow-up, Myers said staff will produce a final report after meeting auditors' follow-up requests. On historical pretrial success rates, Myers said compiling older data will require a time-intensive manual effort to migrate records into the new vendor software, though the department can produce aggregate totals.
What’s next: The board accepted the report and adjourned the Board of Corrections; Myers and staff will continue audit follow-up, continue hiring and training plans, and proceed with operational planning for the mental-health unit.
