‘Some progress’ made on Douglas County Jail staffing shortage

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Jan. 2—DOUGLAS COUNTY — Officials are making some headway to fully staff the jail and reopen sections that were closed last year because of critical staffing shortages.

While the jail is still down five employees, it’s an improvement over the 12 vacancies that forced the sheriff to begin housing Douglas County inmates in other counties.

In May, as few as 20 jail officers were available to cover four 12-hour shifts in the jail normally operated by 34 people. With so few officers,

forced overtime and closing sections of the jail

became necessary.

At the time, 24 jail officers worked for the county, but one was on leave for military service, one for education and two to recover from incidents in the jail.

While reopening the shuttered sections of the jail isn’t likely to happen in the first quarter of the new year, Sheriff Matt Izzard said he’s optimistic that it will happen in the second quarter when construction of a secure guard station in the direct supervision unit is complete.

The unit, which has 68 beds that fall under the supervision of one jail officer, was closed earlier this year because of staffing shortages.

“We’re 96% staffed,” said Administrator Ann Doucette about positions across all county operations. “We’re still looking for about five jailers, a couple of dispatchers and a couple of child support investigators.”

Izzard said they are looking for five jail officers after two recent resignations.

“It’s one step forward and two steps back,” Izzard said.

However, he said progress is being made with four people recently hired.

“We’re making some progress, but now we’ve got to get everyone trained,” the sheriff said.

Jail officers in Douglas County undergo 13 weeks of training, including five weeks of jail officer training provided at Northwood Technical College, before they can work independently in the jail.

The staffing shortage has also meant the county has had to be more selective in housing inmates for other agencies, which typically generates about $1 million in revenue annually to offset the cost of operating the jail. The jail continues to house federal inmates because of its proximity to the federal courthouse in Duluth.

Earlier this year, Izzard said a resulting budget shortfall of $800,000-$900,000 was projected.

“I think we’ll come in at probably half of that,” Izzard said.

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