Judiciary & Public Safety Committee
Wednesday, June 2, 2004 – 9:00a.m.
DRAFT MINUTES
Members Present: Dave Wern, Chairman; Merwin Armstrong, Kurt Behrenfeld, Larry Cornell, Kay Breed, Marilyn Brown - Absent: Tom Hartnett
Others Present: Scott Schrader, County Administrator; Lee Price, Sheriff; Roy Lewis, Sheriff’s Department; Jane Goldner, Probation Director; Dianna Claflin, A.T.I. Director; Angie Wyatt, Secretary to Scott Schrader; Cara Hoffman, Cortland Standard
The meeting was called to order at 9:02a.m. by Chairman Dave Wern.
MOTION BY LARRY CORNELL TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES FROM THE MAY 5, 2004 MEETING – 2ND BY MARILYN BROWN – ALL VOTED IN FAVOR – PASSED
RESOLUTIONS
Justification: The grant funds are available from Deployment Funding for a Recorder upgrade. They need to add another bank with the City Police coming into the 911 Center. The present recorder is full.
DISCUSSIONS
Fire Advisory Board Report-Merwin Armstrong – Merwin did not report because he was unable to attend the last meeting.
Probation Department-Jane Goldner-Jane asked if there were any questions on the 2003 Probation Annual Report. Jane then explained the Probation Procedure and advised the committee that there are 603 people on probation. Members of the committee inquired about ankle bracelets. Jane briefly explained how electronic monitoring devices work. Larry Cornell asked if there are any grants available. Scott Schrader and Jane Goldner did not believe so. It was agreed that using these electronic monitoring devices, it would cut down on overcrowding at the jail. A.T.I. needs to assess if there would be candidates for this and if judges would be amicable to it. A.T.I Director, Dianna Claflin will be contacted to let her know that the committee would like to pursue the electronic monitoring devices and that Scott will be making a presentation at the A.T.I. meeting in July.
Upon Lee Price and Jane Goldner briefly discussing the Justice System Report and indicating there there are many issues such as probation programs, state mandate issues parole violators, A.T.I. issues and who they want in jail, the committee agreed that a Criminal Justice Group should be formed. Members would include the A.T.I. Advisory Board and representation made up of judges, District Attorney’s Office Representative, Public Defender’s Office Representative, Law Enforcement Agencies, etc. Since the A.T.I. Board only meets quarterly, Kurt Behrenfeld feels that this new group should meet more often to discuss future issues. A SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE JUDICIARY & PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE AND A.T.I. ADVISORY BOARD WILL BE HELD WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2004 AT 8:00A.M. IN ROOM 304 OF THE COUNTY OFFICE BUILDING TO DISCUSS FORMING THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE GROUP.
Sheriff’s Department-Lee Price- Lee informed the committee that Verizon has not yet moved the wires over to the new building at the Virgil Tower site. He also advised the committee that the dispatching for the City Police Department will start soon. Lee wants to be sure everything is working well before they move it the new system. Captain Roy Lewis, Jail Administrator, gave a brief update on the jail. State Ready Inmates are getting out more quickly now but the Parole Violators are still a problem because Hearings for Parole Violators are slow. It was reiterated that the jail is overcrowded.
MOTION BY LARRY CORNELL TO ADJOURN – 2ND BY MERWIN ARMSTRONG – ALL VOTED IN FAVOR – PASSED – MEETING ADJOURNED AT 10:10A.M.
Minutes Prepared by Angie Wyatt, Secretary to Scott Schrader.