IPRTF approves two work groups to study jail length-of-stay and funding options

The Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force on June 22 approved two work groups to produce recommendations on jail sizing and on revenue for implementation projects. Co-chair Peter Frazier and committee members endorsed charters that set membership limits, timelines and deliverables.

Heather Flaherty, who introduced the charters, said the first group will study average length of stay (ALOS) and average daily population (ADP). The work group’s scope includes examining pre-trial ALOS and identifying system levers—case processing and case management—that can shorten stays. Flaherty said the group should sunset by the end of the year, with a progress report due in August and a final report due in November.

Flaherty outlined an initial membership slate that would include the sheriff, the prosecutor, the public defender, a presiding judge and representatives from health and community services, community-based providers and people with lived experience. She recommended limiting in-meeting membership to between two and ten IPRTF members while allowing additional subject-matter experts to attend for specific topics.

The second work group will examine the sales-tax revenue split established in the enabling public safety sales tax ordinance (the “50/50” commitment that initially directed a portion of proceeds to jail capital and another portion to 14 implementation projects). Flaherty said the group will compile revenue options —including proceeds from a possible sale of the La Bounty Road property, grants, reimbursements and excess revenues above conservative baselines—and produce a clear accounting of revenue needs for those projects.

Members discussed meeting cadence and staffing constraints. Flaherty said the teams will aim to meet at least every other week during the summer, with a smaller committed subgroup meeting more frequently. Several members urged including municipal judges, county finance staff and executive-office designees on an as-needed basis.

A motion to approve the two charters was made and seconded; members were asked to register votes by raising hands on video for the meeting record. One member announced an abstention on behalf of the executive; the chairs declared the motion passed. The meeting record did not include a roll-call tally for the vote.

The work-group reports are to return to the full task force and will inform County Council decisions about budget caps and capital planning. The task force said deliberations and recommendations from the work groups will be reported publicly through the IPRTF and to the County Council.