Sheriff: Jail needs more staff

Sheriff Kelly Lake requested five additional staffers in 2024 during Monday's budget presentations to the Carlton County board.

In outlining a nearly 10 percent staffing increase for the public safety department, Lake asked for three additional corrections officers to help staff the new jail that's part of the new $75 million justice center under construction in Carlton.

On the sheriff's office side, Lake argued for another investigator and a civilian data analyst to help handle the influx of computer and web-based evidence being processed as part of nearly every criminal investigation.

"We are falling behind on the technology piece," Lake said. "There is a piece of technology in every case we make."

A generation ago, a handful of photographs could provide evidence to support a case. Now, cases can include a multitude of electronic images, Lake said, relaying an increase in time spent on child pornography cases, for instance. Reliance on task forces and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to process evidence has faltered of late, too, with so many agencies in the same boat, seeking the same services.

"We have real victims in the county," Lake said. "And we're not doing them justice trying to keep up with the amount of investigations we have."

Criminal sex cases and child pornography cases are among the types of crimes that have seen "exponential" increases in the amount of investigative attention being received. Even the time it takes to process a simple harassment restraining order is lengthened by having evidence buried in text messages and smartphones, Lake said.

Lake outlined a staff that already includes three investigators - two investigators for general crimes and one focused on narcotics crimes.

To help offset costs, Lake estimated a one-time, legislature-generated increase of $484,000 in public safety aid coming for 2024. The county's public safety budget was $11.6 million in 2023 and $11.1 million in 2022. Public safety was tied for the third-largest expense in the county's $73.9 million budget in 2023, trailing human services ($22.5 million), highway ($18 million) and tied with general government ($11.6 million).

Lake anticipated higher jail costs coming in 2024, given the transition into a new facility in spring. She projected an increase in contracted and professional services, including medical costs, given the increase to an 80-bed facility.

With construction half-completed, Lake and her department have begun considering transition needs associated with the jail. The three additional staffers, Lake said, was a number signed off on by the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

"If we do not add additional staff, we cannot open that new jail," Lake said.

Because the new jail will feature a more-open layout than the old "linear" jail, Lake said staffing will be more efficient in the new jail, with a single officer being able to cover more jail inmates. She described needing at least four people on 24/7 to operate the new jail - a booking/intake post, posts overseeing male and female portions of the jail, and a control center post.

During the day, the jail will be more populated with administration and other staff.

The request for additional corrections officers is being made at a time of declining morale within the department, Lake said. Recently, two corrections officers resigned, citing forced overtime among the job stressors.

"That has never happened before," Lake said. "We usually have long-term staff and not a lot of turnover, but we're starting to see turnover."

Burnout, and less-senior workers being forced to come in on vacation days is not uncommon. A culture of staff members covering shifts for one another has disappeared. Instead, workers are finishing their own shifts, recognizing the mental toll, and going home.

"For our staff mental health, we need to keep our staffing up," Lake told the board, later adding, "It's not a real positive place to work to begin with; we have to work hard to make it as positive as we can."

Costs associated with overtime could pay for an additional staff member plus more, county coordinator Dennis Genereau said.

The commissioners seemed moved by the situation.

"So, if you get these three people, will that reduce this problem?" commissioner Dick Brenner asked Lake.

"The overtime and morale?" Lake said. "It will absolutely help that. Because we won't have as many people being forced in."

Jails across the country are struggling with staffing issues, Lake said, with agencies poaching staff from one another. The state's corrections department is also offering higher salaries in response to the worker shortage, hurting the job market for local jails, Lake added.

"We have been fortunate so far," Lake said. "But we're starting to feel it, and our staff are, too."

As of this year, the sheriff oversaw a 53-person office, which includes jail personnel, court security, 911 dispatch, emergency management functionaries, and 24 licensed law enforcement officers, including the sheriff.

The five additional staffers would increase the total to 58, though Lake noted the office has gone short-staffed for some time, partly because it's been increasingly difficult to get new hires to reach competency in regular duties. Some hires are leaving during training, she said.

"You guys have approved to fill some vacancies, but we just have not had the greatest luck getting people in the door," Lake said. "Some have decided it's not a career for them. It takes a long time to find the right person."

The county board figures to approve a 2024 budget in the fall. Lake's staffing requests were part of an afternoon full of departmental presentations to the county board.