Staffing issues at the state's correctional facilities have come under public scrutiny after a series of incidents at the Lincoln Hills juvenile correctional facility in Irma led to a federal and state investigation.
But reduced inmate levels at the Oneida County Jail has led to a reduced staffing level approved by the Oneida County Board. The board's Public Safety Committee approved a one person drop in jail staffing and sent the recommendation to the full board to approve. Hess says to meet their budget, one position needed to be eliminated. Hess says the state recommendation was five corrections staff for the first shift and four for the second shift.
Supervisor Bob Mott asked Chief Deputy Dan Hess about the staffing reduction...
"....(Mott)...there have been headlines in the papers about staffing at state facilities and safety issues. Is safety a concern when you are dropping staff numbers?(Hess)...we believe at this time our staffing levels are commensurate with what we have for inmate population..."
At one point, state corrections overflow prisoners were housed in the 200 bed facility in Rhinelander. The state stopped housing prisoners in county jails,so the current inmate count is 72. The board unanimously approved the one position staff reduction.
