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Sheriff reports staffing shortfalls, training, and plans for jail EMR and RFID to reduce liability
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Summary
The Dickinson County sheriff told commissioners the agency is short three detention officers, has upcoming academy graduates, completed use-of-force and taser training, and is exploring jail RFID and an electronic medical record to improve documentation and limit liability; staff cited a case where a jail's records helped defeat a $5 million lawsuit.
The Dickinson County sheriff briefed the commission on staffing shortages, training and technology needs. He said the department is down three detention officers, expects an academy graduate on May 1 and is scheduling interviews for additional hires. The sheriff described recent controlled-force and taser training and said jail staff are being cross-trained to serve warrants and complete arrest reports.
The sheriff said the jail currently records medical information on paper and is exploring an electronic medical records (EMR) system for the jail to improve clinical documentation and reduce liability. He described a jurisdiction that used an electronic signature and audit trail to defend against litigation and said the county's planned RFID system would log medication distribution, meals and transfers into an auditable digital record. "They told me that they had saved themselves basically a $5,000,000 lawsuit just by using that program," he said.
He also described the Northwest Shuttle program, a cooperative transport network that saved the county money on out-of-state prisoner transports. The sheriff reiterated that body and vehicle camera systems are configured to trigger automatically during specified events and said the department is moving toward more integrated reporting and archived records.
Commissioners thanked the sheriff for the update and asked staff to continue recruitment and to coordinate training and technology procurement within budget priorities.
