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Sheriff: Jail near 'crisis mode'

Hill County officials met Wednesday morning to discuss a pressing issue: the Hill County Detention Center's critical state.

"We scheduled this meeting this morning to discuss the issues and concerns of the detention center," Commission Chair Mike Wendland said. " ... The biggest issue we have is probably the staffing shortage."

He added that in visiting with other counties, he does not think that Hill County is the only one experiencing these problems.

He said they met with Gina Dahl, the county attorney, to talk about their responsibilities to the detention center - how they are to move forward, what responsibilities they have to the contracts they have with various government agencies and other issues.

"It seems to me that the detention center is either at or on crisis mode and has been for some time," Dahl said. "I don't think I need to point out the issues that makes for the county in a variety of ways - not only for the inmates, but for the staff."

She said that it is up to commissioners to decide

what happens in the

future of the detention center. She added that Hill County Sheriff Don Brostrom has the choice of farming out inmates to other detention facilities or hiring more detention officers.

"I think the only way to do that is some pay incentives," she said. "They need to be paid higher wages."

She said Brostrom's only option if the department is unable to employ more people is to start sending inmates to other facilities and that "the financial impact of that is going to be pretty significant."

Brostrom said that budgetwise, the detention center is authorized to have 10 officers. A minimum of eight is needed to run the facility and that is how many are employed there now.

However, two of those eight employees are headed to other jobs. One has gained employment with Missoula County and is just waiting for his background check. The other has interviewed with

Cascade County in pursuance of a new position.

Brostrom said that Cascade County also has staffing issues.

"Right now, we're running at the bare minimum,"

Brostrom said. "We don't have anybody extra if someone gets sick, if we have to send somebody to training, or if someone takes a vacation."

He said that he has talked to the commissioners about having a conversation with the union officials to see if they can not acquire raises for the detention staff. One of the issues with this is that if they give raises to the detention staff, they will have to give raises to other employees who are in the same matrix as them. The possibility of separating the detention staff into their own pay matrix was discussed.

Brostrom said they have also thought about hiring bonuses to attract more people and get back former employees.

"I'm at a point where we can't continue to run the facility in its present condition with the lack of staffing," he said. "It's not safe and secure for the inmates, it's not safe and secure for the staff and it's not safe and secure for the community. We need to do something."

He added that even if people came up to him the next day seeking employment, there is still a two- to three-month training period in which they would have trouble if they were short-staffed. There is a three- to four-week detention officer training that the current, newest employees have to go through to complete their training.

Brostrom said that people use the detention center as a stepping stone before acquiring different jobs and this might be because of the lower wages. Former detention staff took jobs from companies and institutions like BNSF, Blaine County Sheriff's Office, Havre Police Department, Hill County Courthouse after putting in some time at the detention.

"They're on to bigger and better things, and I don't blame them," Brostrom said. "We need to attract them to work for the county."

He said he does not have the authority to just give everyone raises - only the commissioners can do that.

He also expressed concern about the commissioners seeking a solution late in the game. Any step that is to be taken should have been taken weeks ago, he said. Even if they get an application, by the time they are fully trained, the detention center will be critically short-staffed.

Much of the current staff has been working 12-hour shifts for months and the jail is going to lose people because of this, he said.

Recently, Blaine County Sheriff Glenn Huestis said that his department is going to have to start sending their inmates to Valley County starting March 1. This was due to a confusion in documents shared between the two counties. There was no official decision made as to turning away Blaine County; it was just part of a discussion of options the Hill County facility has had.

Blaine County Commissioner Frank De Priest said they have not yet figured out how much this is going to cost Blaine County to make the switch. However, they have made alternative plans, he said.

He added that he does not know exactly how much Blaine County was paying Hill County to let inmates into the HCDC, but that the amount was more than $100,000.

Brostrom said that his office has exhausted every avenue it could take to attract detention employees, including going through job service and reaching out to criminal justice programs at universities.

They have gone five to six weeks without seeing an application.

Commissioner Mark Peterson suggested they look at the possibility of having people trying to become a Hill County deputy put in time at the detention center before they are taken on.

Brostrom said he did not think it was a good idea, in part because of the low turnover at the sheriff's office, but also because he does not want to dissuade good people from applying.

"We have a situation that's getting critical - that's already getting critical," Brostrom said. " ... We're going to have to make some tough decisions on what we're going to do."

 

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