Judiciary & Public Safety Committee

February 12, 2008 at 10:00AM

 

DRAFT MINUTES

Committee Present: Tom Williams, Chairman; Chad Loomis, Tom Hartnett, Don Spaulding, Danny Ross, Tony Piombo – Gene Waldbauer:  Absent

Other Legislators and County Staff Present:  Scott Schrader, County Administrator; Angie Wyatt, Secretary to County Administrator; Budd Rigg, Jail Administrator; Nick Wagner, 911 Dispatch Coordinator; John Troy, Legislator; Larry Cornell, Legislator; Sandy Price, Legislator; Carol Tytler, Legislator; Lee Price, Sheriff; Dave Hartnett, District Attorney; Bob Duell, Director – Fire/Emergency Management Office; Keith Dayton, Public Defender; Jane Goldner, Director – Probation Department; Mark Suben, County Attorney; Sue Morgan, Clerk of the Legislature

Others Present: Dirk Oudemool, Attorney; Eric Mulvihill, News Director – WXHC Radio; Ida Pease, Reporter – Cortland Standard

The meeting was called to order by Chairman, Tom Williams at 10:25a.m.

MOTION BY MR. LOOMIS – 2ND BY MR. HARTNETT TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 15, 2008 – ALL PRESENT VOTING IN FAVOR – MINUTES APPROVED

**At the request of District Attorney David Hartnett, Ms. Wyatt asked that the New York State Police be included as an integral part of the Cortland County Drug Task Force as part of the January 15, 2008 Judiciary & Public Safety minutes.  The State Police was inadvertently left out in the discussion**.

RESOLUTIONS:

Courts

  1. Appoint Member Jury Board - MOTION BY MR. ROSS – 2ND BY MR. PIOMBO – MR. ROSS, MR. PIOMBO, MR. HARTNETT, MR. WILLIAMS & MR. LOOMIS VOTING YES – MR. SPAULDING VOTING NO – MR. WALDBAUER ABSENT -  MOTION PASSES

Discussion:  Mr. Spaulding asked why someone from this Committee was not appointed.  Mr. Williams answered that the appointments to the Jury Board is the choice of the Chairman of the Legislature.

Sheriff’s Department

  1. Amend 2008 Budget Sheriff's Department (Child Passenger Safety Program)
  1. Amend 2008 Budget Sheriff's Department (Forfeited Proceeds)
  1. Amend 2008 Budget Sheriff's Department (Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee – S.T.O.P.P.E.D.)
  1. Authorize Agreement/Amend Budget (Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee – STEP)

Sheriff's Department

Mr. Williams requested that Resolutions 2 through 5 be voted on as a group.  The Committee agreed to do so.

MOTION BY MR. SPAULDING – 2ND BY MR. PIOMBO TO APPROVE RESOLUTIONS 2, 3, 4 AND 5 ABOVE – ALL PRESENT VOTING IN FAVOR – MOTION PASSES

DISCUSSION/COMMITTEE ACTION

JPS Committee Meeting Time – Mr. Williams asked the Committee if they would like to move the Committee meeting to a different day and time due to the General Services and Highway Committees running longer than an hour.  Everyone wanted to leave it as is for now.

Alarms received on the Keltron System- Sheriff – Sheriff Price and Dispatch Coordinator, Mr. Wagner advised the Committee that the 911 Center is presently monitoring business and private alarm systems and would like to terminate this service because it makes the County liable.  They would like to send a letter to all businesses and private individuals that have alarm systems that are monitored by the Dispatch Center and advise them that the Sheriff’s Department/911 Center is terminating the service.  Sheriff Price indicated that monitoring the alarm systems is a big liability.  Mr. Loomis asked for a list of the businesses and individuals that use the 911 Dispatch Center to monitor their alarm systems.  Sheriff Price indicated that he will email the list.  A Resolution will be prepared for the next meeting to terminate the monitoring of business and private individuals’ alarm systems.

Stewart Place Property – District Attorney Hartnett indicated that at this point, he cannot discuss this issue in case there is a criminal charge pending.  State Police Investigator Hall has given a report to D.A. Hartnett.  Mr. Hartnett does not believe that any criminal charges will be filed but he plans to meet with Chairman of the Legislature, John Daniels; County Attorney, Mark Suben; Judiciary & Public Safety Committee Chairman, Tom Williams and Human Services Chairman, Sandy Price to discuss this matter.

County Jail – Sheriff Price distributed previous jail studies and information to Committee members for their review and comments.  Mr. Williams indicated that he could call a special meeting just to discuss these reports if needed.  Requests have been made to the Courts, Probation and Alternatives to Incarceration to determine their present activity and what plan, if any, they have for the future (i.e. Electronic Monitoring-Ankle Bracelets Program:  what their future projections are).  Sheriff Price indicated that they were told to do everything possible to try to shrink the jail population.  The Sheriff further stated that the studies were done to develop information.

Sheriff Price:  We need to build for the future.  We need a Public Safety Building with a Jail built to be utilized by the Sheriff’s Department, City Police and State Police.  Building on to the existing Jail is the wrong thing to do.

Mr. Schrader:  It is going to take time to build a Jail.

Mr. Williams:  We need to get all the players involved.  The Courts are a key component.  We need to do our homework, check trends and talk independently with the Courts.

Courts – Mr. Williams advised the Committee that the County Court Judges would like to be invited to the next meeting and that it would be a good idea to also invite the City Court Judge and the Town of Cortlandville Judge.

Law Department – Mr. Williams indicated that creating a County Law Department issue has been forwarded to the County Budget and Finance Committee.  The Judiciary & Public Safety Committee will not be discussing it.

MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS PENDING LITIGATION WAS MADE BY MR. PIOMBO – 2ND BY MR. HARTNETT – ALL PRESENT VOTING IN FAVOR – THE COMMITTEE WENT INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 10:55A.M.

With no further business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned immediately following the Executive Session.

Minutes Taken and Prepared by Angie Wyatt, Secretary to Scott Schrader

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