Auburn Area Recreation and Park District

The Sheriff's Office initiate use of the unused 106 beds as soon as possible. Response: ➣ The County Executive Officer agrees that despite approved funding and position allocations to expand jail capacity, recruitment and retention challenges have resulted in staffing shortages at the jail, delaying use of the additional 106 jail beds. Staff from the Sheriff's Department, Personnel and the County Executive office has implemented a number of innovative approaches to strengthen the County's ability to recruit and retain qualified correctional employees (detailed below), and the Sheriff's Department anticipates that the additional 106 beds will be fully staffed and operational by early 2006. Findings:

Without use of the 106 beds, early inmate releases continue at an alarming rate.

The jail has a significant staffing shortage and has major challenges in getting and retaining adequate staff numbers. Response: > The County Executive Officer agrees that the tasks of recruiting and retaining high-quality candidates to fill correctional positions have been significantly hampered by low local unemployment rates, skyrocketing housing costs, strong competition among neighboring jurisdictions, and retirements. Findings:

Some exterior walls are in need of repair. Response: > The County Executive Officer agrees with the finding. The problems observed by the Grand Jury regarding the exterior walls of the Main Jail are the subject of litigation initiated by the County. In the meantime, Facilities Services is in the process of contracting with an engineer to determine the scope of the needed repairs. 13