Yolo County Grand Jury Final Consolidated Report a Report for the Citizens of Yolo County, California

Recommendations 8

• R1
  Because of the critical need for ongoing training in all areas, the Elections Office should maintain documentation of all training classes and individual instruction that includes, at minimum: signatures of individuals attending with date and topic covered. CANCELLED: Visitation policies at the Monroe Detention Center Page | 22 EXHIBIT C: Yolo County Sheriff’s Response to the 2019-20 Grand Jury, November 20, 2020 CANCELLED: Visitation policies at the Monroe Detention Center Page | 23 CANCELLED: Visitation policies at the Monroe Detention Center Page | 24 EXHIBIT D: Press Release from the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office, March 13, 2020 Yolo CountY Sheriff’S offiCe 140 tonY Diaz Drive, WooDlanD, Ca 95776 (530) 668-5280 WWW.YoloCountYSheriff.Com “Honored to Serve” tom a. lopez Sheriff ~ Coroner publiC aDminiStrator
• R2
  - The Yolo County Board of Supervisors should allocate funding for implementation of an online system for making visiting appointments (to be implemented by Dec. 31, 2020, with evidence of planning by Oct. 31, 2018)
• R3
  - The Yolo County Board of Supervisors should allocate funding for implementation of a video visiting system (to be implemented by Dec. 31, 2020, with evidence of planning by Oct. 31, 2018) The Yolo County Sheriff’s Office responded in May 2018 that the “recommendation requires further analysis” and in July 2018 the Board of Supervisors invited the Sheriff to apply for funding for an online system under an “IT Innovation Fund”. The 2019-20 Grand Jury again wrote to the Sheriff’s Office on January 23, 2020 to request an update on this inquiry. The Sheriff’s Office replied on February 4, 2020 stating the Sheriff’s Office had purchased a “Jail Management System (JMS)” that “is scheduled to go live at the end of 2020” and it is “therefore expected that scheduling for visitation will be an option for family and friends of inmates in 2021” (Exhibit B). In the same February 4, 2020 response, and concerning video conference visitations, the Sheriff’s Office responded that “while the Detention Center is not currently equipped to handle videoconference visitations, this is a technology that will be included with the upcoming jail expansion”. The Sheriff’s Office further stated that the system would be completed in phases so that “inmates would not lose any privileges” and concluded by stating “we anticipate the conversion project to be completed within the next 6 months barring any major setbacks.” The schedule described meant completion by roughly August 2020. The Sheriff’s Office on November 20, 2020 further responded to the 2019-20 Grand Jury that the JMS would “go-live” in March of 2021 (Exhibit C). The Sheriff’s Office stated the visitation scheduling and video visitation would be delayed since the module required to implement them would require a different contractor as the JMS contractor was exiting the inmate telecommunications industry. The Sheriff’s Office stated in this November 20, 2020 response that neither recommendation has been implemented “but will be implemented in the future, within a year”. According to the Sheriff’s Office timeline, this system should have been available by November 2021, nearly 15 months after the initial August 2020 pledge. The Sheriff’s Office has not revised their February 4, 2020 statement that “inmates would not lose any privileges”, even though the Sheriff’s Office has terminated all social visitation by press release of March 13, 2020 (Exhibit D). CANCELLED: Visitation policies at the Monroe Detention Center Page | 14 The 2021-22 Grand Jury wrote to the Sheriff’s Office on October 15, 2021, calling for a status update by December 30, 2021. On December 6, 2021, the Sheriff’s response included the following (Exhibit E): “The expected implementation date of our new Jail Management System (JMS) has been pushed back to the end of April 2022. The reasons for this postponement include continuing headwinds cause by pandemic induced staffing challenges, the vendor’s inability to complete data conversion, and Records Management System/JMS integration testing that found significant errors. For GTL to begin video visitation and online visitation scheduling, an interface between the JMS and GTL software must be active and correct. The Sheriff’s Office has chosen not to invest in a costly interface with the current JMS because it will become obsolete in less than a year. A new interface has been developed and tested between GTL and the new JMS and will be ready at inception.” The Sheriff’s Office response of December 6, 2021 did not explicitly state any date for implementation of social visitation (live or virtual). The grand jury was later informed through the investigative process that implementation of the JMS would not necessarily result in simultaneous visitation resumption. This latest development places the visitation appointment system and video visitation system behind schedule and with no estimate for when to expect these systems to be available for use. Again, no mention is made of the March 2020 termination of all social visitation. The termination of live visits and failure to implement video visits effectively ended all family and friend visitation at the MDC.
• R4
  The Sheriff’s Office should update the grand jury on the progress of implementation of the promised video visitation system
• R5
  The Sheriff’s Office should update the grand jury and the public on the status of the contracts fulfilling the Jail Management System and Video Visitation System by September 1, 2022. REQUIRED RESPONSES Pursuant to Penal Code sections 933 and 933.05, the Grand Jury requests responses from the Yolo County Sheriff Findings F-1, F-2, F-3, F-4, and Recommendations R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, and R-5. CANCELLED: Visitation policies at the Monroe Detention Center Page | 19 EXHIBIT A: Excerpt from 2017-18 Grand Jury Report ( ) FINDINGS
• R6
  Official Visitors: U.S. Attorneys, law enforcement agents, military personnel conducting investigations, U.S. Court officials, U.S. Probation Officers, Consulate representatives, and staff from the Federal Public Defenders office will be permitted to visit upon presentation of appropriate identification. These individuals are required to clear electronic screening procedures and will be required to sign the appropriate log books. Any questions regarding the above officials will be directed to the Facility Manager during normal duty hours, and the on-call Jail Administrator after normal duty hours.
• R7
  Special Non-Social Visits: Non-law enforcement personnel requesting to visit inmates must submit a written request in advance and receive written approval from the appropriate Facility Manager prior to entering the institution. These individuals include, but are not limited to: court appointed psychologist, medical personnel, Minister of Record, clergy, educational and religious volunteers, and representatives of the media. All such visits must be reviewed by the Facility Manager and approved by the Jail Commander or designee. a) Minister of Record: An inmate wanting to receive visits from his/her minister of record must submit a written request, blue card, to the Jail Commander. Upon approval, unit staff shall add the name and title (minister of record) to the inmate’s visitor list. b) An inmate may only have one minister of record on his/her visiting list at a time. The addition of the minister of record will not count against the total number of authorized regular visitors an inmate is allowed to have on his/her visiting list and will not count against the total number of social visits allowed. c) Clergy: Visits from clergy (other than the minister of record) will be in accordance with the general visitor procedures and will count against the total number of regular visits allowed. d) Ordinarily, clergy visits will not be accommodated unless requested by the inmate. However, the Jail Commander or designee may approve a visitation request initiated by the clergy if the inmate wishes to visit with the clergy. e) The Facility Manager may establish a limit to the number of minister of record and clergy visits an inmate receives each month, consistent with available resources.
• R13
  Loss of Visiting Privileges: Upon a finding of guilty for violating institution regulations, inmates may be subject to disciplinary sanctions as outlined by policy, i.e., loss of visiting privileges for a specified period of time. k) 14. Special Rules for Children: Visitors are responsible for their minor children. Children may not be disruptive in the waiting visiting room and should remain seated at all times with their parents/guardians. There is no play area available for children. ____________________________________