Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883

Devils Lake jail ordered to reduce population, train staff

On Aug. 5, the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (ND DOCR) issued an order of non-compliance for the Lake Region Correctional Center (LRCC) in Devils Lake, after it failed to meet standards during an inspection on June 14-15.

Of the 108 standards reviewed during inspection, the LRCC was found to be non-compliant with 13, most of which related to a lack of staff training. As a result, the jail has been forced to reduce its inmate population to no more than 50 for at least 90 days, followed by a period of at least six months with no more than 80 inmates. The LRCC, located in Devils Lake, N.D., had been managing over 90 inmates for most of this year, and had one week to comply with the order.

The Transcript reached out to LRCC administrator Rob Johnson, who explained how they moved more than 50 inmates in a week. "We were able to achieve this within the week that they provided us by primarily having all contract (non-member) inmates removed, and working with Ramsey County to reduce their inmate population," explained Johnson. "We also suspended the admissions of intoxication management and mental health hold cases. We also suspended the admission of individuals court ordered to self-report to serve short sentences."

Non-member inmates are federally contracted to the LRCC to serve their sentences, while member inmates are those facing local charges from counties that the LRCC serves. Since their inspection in June, the jail has removed 17 non-member inmates from their facility and reduced their member inmate population by 42.

If deemed appropriate, member inmates were given alternatives to incarceration while they await their court dates, such as random drug testing, GPS monitoring and alcohol monitoring. Inmates who had federal charges, but were awaiting trial at the LRCC on local charges, were handed over to the ND DOCR and will be brought back for court hearings as needed.

As to the specific reason for the order of non-compliance, most of the 13 standards the LRCC failed to uphold were regarding proper training for staff. The LRCC was also found non-complaint with standards regarding a suicide prevention plan, use of force, security equipment, inmate observation, formal count and inventory of equipment.

Johnson explains their shortcomings as a simple matter of "staffing issues," which led to correctional officers cutting corners to get by. According to Johnson, they are authorized to have 16 total line staff within the jail, but had just 11 at the time of inspection, six of whom had been hired since March 1 of this year.

"Running that short and with that new of staff, we were not able to provide proper training, and staff were running to the point where they were cutting corners to get their work done," said Johnson. "In this industry you cannot cut corners without consequences."

Temporarily reducing capacity gives time for LRCC staff to receive the proper training and allows time for management to hire new correctional officers. To promote more hiring, the LRCC board approved salary increases effective on August 1, moving the starting salary for a new correctional officer from $17.28 per hour to $20 per hour. As of Aug. 27, the jail has made some progress hiring new staff, bringing their total to 13. However, the process of training them is a long one, as each new officer must complete a three-week correctional officer course in Fargo, N.D.

Despite the salary increase having the desired effect, another staffing problem still remains. "The salary increase has helped to increase the number of applications we are seeing for our open positions; however, the applicants have been primarily male, and we are now short on female staff," explained Johnson. "We currently have only four female line staff and should have no less than six, and preferably eight."

The LRCC is required by the Prison Rape Elimination Act, the 2021 North Dakota Correctional Facility Standards, and by their own policy to have an officer of each gender on duty at all times. To get within compliance, the LRCC is currently working on a social media push to solicit interest among potential female applicants.

In an effort to resolve staffing issues long term, LRCC administrators have re-opened discussions with the Peace Officer Training Program at Lake Region State College, in hopes that they will expand their program to include corrections-specific training for their facility, as well as other facilities in the state.

This isn't the first time the LRCC has faced disciplinary action. In 2017, they were inspected after failing to report an escaped inmate for over 30 hours, and an order of temporary closure was issued after numerous problems were discovered, including a lack of experienced staff.

"It goes without saying, but everyone is experiencing labor shortages," said Johnson. "Unfortunately, when those shortages occur in a public safety industry such as ours, we do not have the luxury of closing for a part of the day, or shutting down a part of our operations and only providing specific services."

The LRCC's ability to increase their inmate population after 90 days will depend on getting their existing staff trained and "up to speed," and in the 6 months that follow must prove their ability to maintain staffing and training levels long-term. The ND DOCR will be monitoring their progress throughout and will provide assistance and resources as needed. But as Johnson explains, the nature of the profession makes their success anything but certain.

"It is one of the most difficult and thankless professions there is," noted Johnson. "You work night shifts, work every other weekend, work holidays, birthdays, anniversaries and you [have] to work extra shifts because we [need] coverage 24/7/365. You deal with some of the worst people in society, and you deal with people at the worst point in their lives. It is an industry that is out of sight, out of mind, and nobody notices a correctional officer unless something bad happens. It truly takes a special and resilient person to be a correctional officer and those people are very hard to find."