Douglas County Corrections director reports budget underrun, credits pretrial program with $799,340 in March savings

Director Michael Myers told the Douglas County Board of Commissioners on April 28 that the Department of Corrections is tracking $2,106,994 under budget after nine months of the fiscal year and that March overtime costs dropped to $276,531.

Myers, the county’s director of corrections, said the department processed more than $1,000,000 in bond payments in March, lost five officers below sergeant rank (including one retirement) and is currently staffed at roughly 101 percent across correctional-officer ranks. "We had $276,531 were spent on overtime costs in March. That is down nearly $90,000 from the previous month," Myers said.

The department also reported operational metrics from March: 1,402 admissions, 1,422 releases, a high count of 1,133 and an average daily population of 1,094. Myers said pretrial-release programs — including GPS supervision and sobriety programs — are reducing jail bed days. "Pretrial release saved Douglas County $799,340 in detention costs in March," he said, and later estimated that, when annualized, the savings amount to "several million a year." He added that 99 percent of people on pretrial release remained arrest-free during the month and 99.3 percent remained free of violent offenses.

Commissioners pressed for further detail and context. "If we could do that and then get an annual figure for that, that would help us with our budgeting," Commissioner Kavanaugh said, asking staff to translate bed days saved into per-diem costs. Myers said the March figure is provided in the report and that he can supply annualized calculations and supporting spreadsheets.

The presentation also covered medical and mental-health services: Myers reported 43 individuals sent out for emergency medical care, 18 hospital admissions (66 hospital days), 393 initial mental-health assessments and 98 individuals placed on suicide precautions in March. He said Lincoln Regional Center placements have improved, with 15 on the waiting list and 21 individuals currently placed at the center.

Myers described ongoing investments in staff development and the department’s mental-health housing addition. McCarthy Construction estimates the building will be substantially complete in October and turned over to the department in December, with moves into the new addition expected in January. "Having that credential of having successfully completed CIT will be one of the criteria for people to be eligible to work in that area," Myers said, referring to crisis-intervention training planned for staff who will work in the new unit.

Several commissioners raised concerns about jail demographics. "It's troubling ... in an overwhelmingly white county, we have an overwhelmingly not-white jail population every single month," Commissioner Kavanaugh said, urging a broader discussion involving city, law enforcement and justice partners to explore causes and responses. Commissioner Friend urged caution about implying operational misconduct and recommended a collaborative, cross-jurisdictional review.

The report concluded with an offer from Myers to provide detailed spreadsheets on pretrial outcomes and regional-center wait times and with commissioners thanking him and his staff for the work reported. No formal action was taken; commissioners requested follow-up data to inform budgeting and policy discussions.