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Council creates correctional facilities task force to recommend meal and nutrition standards
Summary
The council adopted CR 6 to form the Healthy Prince George's County Correctional Facilities Task Force, charged with recommending meal, nutrition and culturally appropriate standards for jail and detention meals and delivering recommendations within a year; members debated open‑meetings status and participation by incarcerated individuals.
The Prince George's County Council voted Oct. 29 to establish the Healthy Prince George's County Correctional Facilities Task Force to develop nutrition and meal‑service standards for county jails and detention centers.
Council Member Fisher, reporting for the Health and Human Services and Public Safety Committee, said the task force would recommend standards aligned with the Good Food Purchasing Program and that the committee had considered a range of operational questions, including the role of the Department of Corrections, how vendors would meet new procurement standards and whether including currently incarcerated individuals was logistically feasible. "The committee's discussion focused on the task force composition, particularly the process for selecting the chair," Fisher said during her report.
Office of Law counsel questioned a provision in draft 2 that would exempt the task force from the Maryland Open Meetings Act; Fisher said the committee did not oppose including the exemption if necessary, and committee members discussed virtual access to allow participation by incarcerated individuals where feasible. The task force was asked to deliver recommendations within one year for council consideration.
Council members voted to substitute draft 2 and then adopt the resolution; the roll-call results were recorded as unanimous. The resolution directs the council, sitting as the board of health, to consider the task force's recommendations once submitted and to monitor follow-up steps for procurement and departmental compliance.
