Milwaukee pushes rehousing County Jail and Juvenile Justice Center overflow in Racine
In an effort to alleviate ongoing overcrowding at the Milwaukee County Jail, the county has opted to consider rehousing the jail's overflow in Racine County.
The controversial move among board members won a crucial 6-1 vote at Milwaukee County's Committee on Finance on Thursday. Some committee members, as well as Milwaukee residents and incarceration reform advocates, questioned how much oversight and accountability Milwaukee County would have, including in the event of a death at the Racine County Jail.
"The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office can investigate the jail on demand," Milwaukee Corporation Counsel Margaret Daun told the Journal Sentinel. "Depending on the facts of a particular case, either Milwaukee or Racine County would bear more relative responsibility."
The Sheriff's Office will end the year with a projected $5.8 million overtime deficit — which has gone up $1.2 million since May — as the jail faces plummeting staffing levels.
Following a court-ordered consent decree reached in 2001, there is a maximum capacity of 960 people that can be housed at the Milwaukee County Jail. As of Sept. 15, there were 958 individuals housed there, with 88% of the individuals awaiting trial. There were 144 correctional officers on Sept. 19 — just over half of the 251 positions that are authorized.
In this tentative agreement with Racine County presented by incoming Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball, Milwaukee will temporarily rehouse an undetermined number of individuals in the County Jail's custody at the Racine County Jail. The agreement would not fall under the consent decree, according to Daun.
The agreement is set to last until Dec. 31, 2022, and would be paid for by $497,000 of the county's $4.1 million unallocated county funds as of July 31. The county is also looking to send youth held at the Vel R. Phillips Youth and Justice Center to Racine County.
"This is a result of a capacity issue," Ball said. "If it's not approved, we have no other choice."
While the Milwaukee County House of Correction (HOC) has previously provided a relief valve for the County Jail, that is no longer an option as it is plagued by similar shortages in staffing and hiring numbers have dropped for correctional officers.
As such, this agreement with Racine County would be a "temporary measure," according to Ball, going on to explain: "This was a way in which to house them humanely so they are not waiting hours and hours to be processed."
Supervisor Ryan Clancy told the Journal Sentinel he does not see an end to the time-limited agreement between the two counties.
"I'm hesitant to send someone from a terrible situation in our jail to a terrible situation in another jail, if there are other options," he said.
The Racine County Medical Examiner was unable to provide the number of deaths at the County Jail between January 2019 and September 2022.
Media reports show that, in 2021, the Racine County Jail was the site of at least two in-custody deaths, with two young men reported as dead within three days of each other. No criminal charges were filed.
The Milwaukee County Jail has had four in-custody deaths between January 2020 and April 2021. No criminal charges were issued. Most recently, 21-year-old Brieon Green died at the jail in an apparent suicide in June. The investigation into his death is being carried out by the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department and still remains open.
Understaffing, overcrowding at Milwaukee County Jail lead to 'deplorable' conditions
With only 3 ½ months until the end of the year, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office is projecting a 2022 overtime deficit of $5,837,967. The projection is up from the $4.6 million reported in May.
This comes as the jail, wrestling with one of its most dire staffing shortages among its correctional officers, is also in the grips of a retention and hiring crisis.
The Journal Sentinel previously reported in August that individuals at the Milwaukee County Jail have faced sleeping on the floor, cramped cells, endless lockdowns and long booking times due to an ongoing backlog of criminal court cases built up during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Individuals housed at the jail, advocates and officials all have noted the use of makeshift, plastic beds with thin mattresses — also known as "boats" — at the site in order to house the growing number of individuals who are pre-trial.
Under the consent decree, individuals cannot be held for more than 30 hours without being assigned a bed and no one will be required to sleep on a mattress on the jail floor or the floor itself.
Milwaukee County Jail commander Inspector Aaron Dobson, however, told the committee: "We have no other options and that's why we're in kind of dire straits with overcrowding in our booking room, serving hot meals in the booking room, having occupants down there for several days at a time, throwing mattresses on the floor."
In her presentation, Ball also noted that occupants are "now spending much more time in the booking room, up to 50 hours at times," because of the limited availability of beds at the jail.
Representatives of the ACLU of Wisconsin also recently visited the jail and found it was not in compliance with the consent decree, according to Robert Thibault, an organizer with Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee.
"The conditions of the jail are deplorable," he told the county committee. "The HOC has the ability to house more residents and house them in appropriate ways. It's been done before. Why not use these proposed funds to support the House of Correction?"
The ACLU of Wisconsin did not respond to requests for comment.
The House of Correction is not an option due to staffing shortages
The HOC is run by the county, and not the Sheriff's Office. It mostly houses individuals serving sentences, many of whom have release privileges for work, school, treatment, among other activities, or are entirely on electronic monitoring bracelet.
In August, the HOC was "still taking overflow cases from the jail when they have the appropriate staffing to do so" and were "accepting transfers," according to Brandon Weathersby, spokesperson for Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
As of Sept. 15, the HOC's current population was at 715 — 31 individuals on work release and the remaining 684 in the building. The HOC can hold 1,766 people.
The HOC cannot take overflow as it also faces similarly straining staffing shortages.
"We are experiencing a staffing crisis, which prevents us from taking
on more residents at this time," said HOC Superintendent Chantell Jewell. "We currently take two buses a week from the jail. We just are not able to help with population control from the jail as needed at this time."
Jewell reported that the HOC has a roughly 40% vacancy rate — with 239 of the 394 staff positions filled — and that it is "not for lack of effort," as the department has held nine recruitment events this month. The HOC now projects a $1.9 million overtime deficit. This is due to having nearly 100 correction officers vacancies throughout the year, Jewell said.
"They're working (double shifts) back to back," "tensions are very high" and that "mandatory overtime is driving people out the door," according to Jewell.
This year, the County Board approved a 2% raise overall and some lump sum payments for all Milwaukee County employees, which includes correctional officers, but not deputies.
The board also signed off on a pay raise for correctional staff, making a $3 hourly premium permanent that was first added for officers who had received the COVID-19 vaccine.
The current hourly rate for a correctional officer at the HOC is up to $24.44.
In July 2021, the Racine County Board approved a boost in the minimum hourly pay for correctional officers, pushing it up to about $29.25.
Why was Racine County selected to house Milwaukee County Jail occupants?
The Racine County Jail provides some benefits to its occupants, including 20 minutes of visitation time and 15 minutes of free calling per week. That's unlike Milwaukee County, which has not allowed in-person visitation since 2001, has inconsistent and limited free calls and has seen families pay $5.1 million per year for calls with loved ones at the jail.
Under Wisconsin state statutes, Milwaukee County and Racine County are permitted to enter into an intergovernmental cooperation agreement for the temporary housing of certain Milwaukee County Jail occupants.
Ball assured the committee they would not send anyone to Racine who was experiencing any mental health challenges.
"We are very cognizant of people we send," Ball said. "So, those that have mental health issues or severe health issues or disciplinary problems and things like that they would not be sent to Racine."
The agreement between the two counties lays out that:
Milwaukee County would have to pay Racine County $70 daily for each individual rehoused.
Milwaukee County would be responsible for transporting all occupants to and from the Racine County Jail.
Milwaukee County would have the right to inspect the Racine County Jail at any and all times, including access to records concerning those rehoused in the jail and staff.
Any death of an individual housed at the Racine County Jail under this agreement would be carried out by Racine County's internal policies and procedures.
Milwaukee County would be responsible for 50% of any costs incurred for performing an autopsy. Racine would be covering the costs of transportation of the deceased back to loved ones.
"The Racine County Sheriff holds the ultimate authority to control the Racine County Jail, just in the same way that our sheriff holds ultimate authority to control our jail," Lael MacLellan, contract manager with the procurement division of the Department of Administrative Services, told the committee.
Youth offenders at Vel R. Phillips juvenile center could also go to Racine
Department of Health and Human Services leaders have requested a similar partnership that would see the transfer of youth offenders to Racine County to alleviate the county's overcrowded Vel R. Phillips Juvenile Justice Center. In a 6-1 vote, the committee voted to recommend to the County Board.
The partnership would last through Dec. 31 of this year and use $350,000 in unallocated county funds.
The 127-bed juvenile detention center hit a record of 150 youth in May. As of September, that number has dropped to 115 youths, according to Kelly Pethke, who heads DHHS's Children, Youth and Family Services division.
In 2017, Maricella Chairez died while in custody at the Racine County Juvenile Detention Center. The 16-year-old died by suicide. A Journal Sentinel investigation found authorities had repeatedly failed Chairez for years and that county workers did not often find her proper mental health care.
The Milwaukee County Board is set to take up the requests on Sept. 22.
If approved, Racine County would need to vote and approve the agreement.
Contact Vanessa Swales at 414-308-5881 or vswales@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Vanessa_Swales.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County moves to rehouse jail, juvenile overflow in Racine
