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Winnebago sheriff reports staffing updates and says county will bill state agencies for inmates awaiting placement
Summary
John Watts reported on sheriff's staffing, corrections hiring, and a DHS MOU for competency restoration. Watts said the county will charge responsible state agencies for housing people awaiting state mental-health beds, using the $60-per-day jail rate and issuing invoices on a case-by-case basis.
John Watts briefed the Winnebago County Judiciary and Public Safety Committee on staffing, corrections vacancies and the county's approach to inmates who are awaiting beds at state mental-health facilities.
Watts told the committee the sheriff's office is filling vacancies, has deputies starting between Jan. 19 and March 2 and is using a paid internship program as a recruitment pathway. On competency restoration placements, he said the county has a geo-based MOU with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services that allows people waiting for beds at Mendota or Winnebago Mental Health to begin receiving state services while in county custody.
"We're going to charge the state," Watts said about housing people who are the state's responsibility while they wait for a bed. He characterized the county's plan as case-by-case invoicing for the daily cost the county charges other jurisdictions, and said the sheriff's office would send invoices to the responsible state agencies.
An analyst who identified herself as Amber gave a snapshot of recent cases and said that three inmates awaiting placement had accrued billable days that she estimated would amount to roughly $20,000 in charges; the transcript did not provide a single consolidated, precise day count for the three individuals. Committee members asked whether the county receives compensation for people it houses who are awaiting state placement; Watts said the county does not currently receive state reimbursement for that waiting time and that the county will pursue invoicing.
The committee also discussed longer wait times for sentenced inmates transferred to the Department of Corrections: Watts said transfers that historically took about 10 days during normal operations have in recent periods taken 60 days or more. "We are going to charge state, from the time that they're sentenced until the time that they leave," he said, noting the county plans to send bills for the county's per-day housing rate.
What the committee decided: members approved a departmental realignment resolution later in the meeting (moving a program from Human Services to the District Attorney's Office) after a motion and second; the vote was recorded by voice as "Aye." The sheriff's staffing and reimbursement policies were presented for committee awareness and potential follow-up rather than final committee directives.
Next steps: Watts said he would monitor developments and bring any formal proposals (including budget implications) back to the board or committee as appropriate.
