 |
1999 Press Releases
Oct. 18, 1999 -
Idaho to transfer 108 inmates to New Mexico facility
Sept. 20, 1999
- IDOC director names two new administrators
June 1, 1999 - Treatment
program for Idaho inmates recognized
May 26,
1999 - Hispanic high school students to participate in prison program and tour
April
14, 1999 - Idaho inmates housed in Texas to be transferred to New Mexico
facility
April
1, 1999 - Probation/Parole Officers play major role in finding methamphetamine
labs
March 19, 1999 - Inmate
medical co-pay program a success
Jan. 21,
1999
- VFW names Steve Little as Idaho Correctional Officer of the
Year
 Back
to Main Press Releases Page
Idaho to
transfer 108 inmates to New Mexico facility
BOISE - One hundred and eight Idaho inmates will be sent to a prison in New
Mexico within the next 30 days to ease overcrowding, the Idaho Department of Correction
announced Tuesday (Oct. 19).
The IDOC is currently seeking volunteers for the transfer to the Cibola County
Corrections Center in Milan, New Mexico. The latest transfer will bring to 400 the number
of Idaho inmates incarcerated at the New Mexico facility. It is the only out-of-state
prison housing Idaho inmates.
The cost of transporting the inmates to New Mexico will be covered by Corrections
Corporation of America, a Nashville-Tenn. based business that operates the Cibola
facility. The inmates are expected to remain at Cibola until a new 1,250-bed prison south
of Boise opens. The projected opening date is July 2000.
Back to Top
IDOC director names two
new administrators
BOISE - Two administrator positions at the Idaho Department of Correction have
been filled by IDOC Director James Spalding, it was announced Monday (Sept. 20).
Bona Miller, warden of the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center, was appointed
administrator of the Division of Prisons. Glenn Carpenter, manager of the District 4
Probation and Parole Office in Boise, was appointed administrator of the Division of Field
and Community Services.
Miller, a 26-year veteran of the Department, has been PWCC warden since 1994. In her
new position, Miller will oversee the operations of seven prisons.
Carpenter has worked for the Department since 1989. He replaces Eugene Larson, who
retired in July. As FCS administrator, Carpenter will oversee the operations of seven
district probation and parole offices, 16 satellite offices and five community work
centers.
The Idaho Board of Correction supports the appointments and believes the appointees are
well qualified and ready to take on future challenges.
Back
to Top
Treatment program for Idaho offenders recognized
BOISE – The Bureau of Offender Programs of the Idaho Department of
Correction has been recognized for its extensive efforts in providing treatment services
for offenders statewide.
The Bureau received the 1999 Recognition Award for outstanding community service during
the 15th annual Idaho Conference on Alcohol and Drug Dependency. More than 300
people representing about 20 private and pubic providers attended the conference, held May
24-27 at Boise State University.
"We are proud to receive this recognition," said Mark Gornik, bureau chief.
"Idaho has developed a broad array of excellent programming for inmates, parolees and
probationers and is recognized as one of the leaders in the field on the subject. The
bureau, which has always fostered a one voice, one message philosophy, provides research,
training and program delivery which is now used by many of the agencies that attended the
conference."
Gornik said a lot of energy has been put into developing partnerships with other state
agencies and the private sector to address the substance abuse problem in Idaho.
"The Board of Correction and I are extremely pleased with this award," said
IDOC Director James Spalding. "It is appropriate that hard work and excellent
treatment programs are being recognized."
Back
to Top
Hispanic high school students to participate in prison program and tour
BOISE – The Idaho Department of Correction and the Commission on Hispanic
Affairs are teaming up to provide Hispanic youths a realistic dose of prison life.
Beginning at 9 a.m. Friday (May 28), about 50 high school students from Nampa will
participate in a four-hour program/tour at the Idaho State Correctional Institution south
of Boise. The program includes a panel discussion with inmates, a debriefing with prison
staff, lunch, a K-9 demonstration, and a tour of two housing units, Correctional
Industries and the education/programs building.
The students were a motivating force behind the visit, says Dan Ramirez, executive
director of the Commission on Hispanic Affairs.
"We had a conversation with the students and they thought it would be good to see
the institution first-hand," Ramirez explained. "We want them to know that life
in prison is not as rosy as it is portrayed in the movies and on television. We want them
to think twice before getting into trouble."
Here’s how the prison visit came about: The Commission, along with
the Boise State University Distance Learning Center, conducts an on-going mentoring
program with Hispanic high school students in the region. Ramirez, during a tour of the
prison, met with a Hispanic correctional officer and thought the officer would be a great
role model for the students. The officer agreed to talk to the students via
teleconferencing at a recent Friday morning mentoring session.
Ramirez said the students were impressed with the correctional officer and decided a
visit to the prison would be beneficial.
Joe Ponte, administrator of the Division of Prisons, said he was looking forward to
developing a good working relationship with the Commission on Hispanic Affairs. Such a
partnership will have a positive impact both with the public and inside the prisons.
"Dan and I agree on the importance of educating high school students about the
reality of prison life and the long-term effect that poor decisions, made at a young age,
will have on their futures," Ponte said. "At the same time, Dan has agreed to
assist our Division to develop and improve programming for Hispanic inmates, whose numbers
are increasing in our prison population."
Back
to Top
Idaho
inmates housed in Texas to be transferred to New Mexico
facility
BOISE – A contract to transfer 200 inmates from the Frio County Detention
Center in Pearsall, Texas to the Cibola County Corrections Center in Milan, New Mexico was
signed Wednesday (April 14) afternoon, the Idaho Department of Correction announced.
Under the terms of the contract, Corrections Corporation of America, which owns the
Cibola County facility, will provide essentially the same services (such as educational
opportunities and programming) as were provided at the Frio County Detention Center. Idaho
inmates have been in Texas since spring 1997.
CCA will charge the Idaho Department of Correction $39.75 per inmate per day – the
same rate the Department pays Correctional Services Corp., which manages the Frio County
Detention Center. CCA will also pay the cost of transporting the inmates from Texas to New
Mexico. The transfer is expected to occur within the next 30 days.
IDOC Director James Spalding, Department administrators and a representative from Gov.
Dirk Kempthorne’s Office recently completed an extensive tour of the Cibola County
facility. Minimum- and medium-security Idaho inmates currently housed in Texas will be
sent to the New Mexico facility.
CCA is under contract with the state of Idaho to build and operate the new prison. The
prison will be completed this fall, and an opening date hasn’t been set. CCA also
will pay the costs of transporting inmates from the New Mexico facility when the new
prison is opened.
Back
to Top
Probation/parole
officers play major role in finding methamphetamine labs
BOISE – In Idaho’s war against methamphetamine manufacturers,
probation/parole officers are a vital source of information to law enforcement agencies
and visa versa.
The probation/parole officers, trained to detect illegal drug activity during routine
home visits or searches, have been very successful in discovering meth labs. In 1998,
probation/parole officers statewide found 23 labs. In addition, illegal drugs were found
in 67 searches.
A recent meth lab discovery occurred March 18 in the Boise area. A probation/parole
officer decided to follow-up the activation for supervision of a parolee with an in-home
visit. While driving to the residence, the parolee admitted to buying a chemical used in
the manufacture of the illegal drug.
Parole/probation officers discovered precursors to a lab at the residence. As per
policy, law enforcement was contacted. Authorities confirmed the presence of a meth lab.
"Probation and Parole can be a very cost-effective alternative to
incarceration," said Eugene Larson, administrator of the Division of Field and
Community Services. "The probation/parole officer’s responsibility is to provide
protection for society and opportunities for individual offenders to develop the ability
to live within the norms and mores of society."
The probation and parole officer assists the offender in successfully completing the
special conditions the court and/or parole commission may impose. The officer develops a
supervision plan that provides a proactive way achieving specific objectives, designed to
help the probationer/parolee to function as a law-abiding citizen. The probation and
parole officer monitors behavior and activities and if the offender returns to
inappropriate behaviors or violations of the law, the probation and parole officer
"changes hats" and works independently or with local law enforcement to arrest
and remove the individual from the community.
The Idaho Department of Correction has about 170 probation and parole officers
supervising about 7,200 clients in the communities of Idaho. In addition to monitoring
behavior, law violations, transfers, employment status and residence of offenders, the
officers have a variety of other duties. Those duties include counseling clients,
designing and implementing case plans and monitoring progress, dealing with crisis
situations, and conducting searches of persons and property and securing evidence if it is
determined that a crime has been committed.
More than a fourth of those currently on probation and parole were convicted of a drug
crime. While it’s hoped that clients convicted of drug crimes will stay on the right
side of the law, the reality is that many will fall back into their old ways. The
probation and parole officer’s challenge is to motivate the offender to change their
behavior to law-abiding members of the community and to identify those who continue to
break the law and return them to the court or parole commission for review and/or removal
from the community.
Back
to Top
Inmate
medical co-pay program a success
BOISE – An inmate medical co-pay program implemented last November has
resulted in a sharp decrease in self-initiated sick call visits, the Idaho Department of
Correction reported.
In addition, the amount of money collected from the program is running well above
projections.
During the first four months of the program, the number of self-initiated sick call
visits dropped by 30 percent and approximately $26,000 was collected from inmates. The
Department projected annual collections of about $40,000. The funds are transferred to the
state’s general fund.
"The co-pay program requires that inmates share in the fiscal responsibility for
their medical care proportionate to their financial ability," said Jake Howard,
administrator of Institutional Services for the Idaho DOC. "In doing so, it promotes
good correctional practices by increasing personal accountability and by reducing
malingering."
The co-pay policy, approved by the Idaho Board of Correction last September and enacted
Nov. 1, is designed to promote and encourage responsibility and accountability for inmates
in the participation of their personal health. Prior to the policy, inmates did not pay
for medical care.
Under the policy, an inmate initiating a sick call visit pays $3. Each prescription or
prescribed over-the-counter medication costs $2. The Department ensures that every inmate
has access to medical, dental, optical and mental services whether or not he or she has
the financial resources to pay. Many inmates are provided the opportunity to hold a paying
job while incarcerated.
The decline in time spent on sick calls has allowed medical personnel to spend more
time into other activities, such as chronic care clinics, patient education and other
services, said Jim Ruman, regional manager for Correctional Medical Services. The St.
Louis-based company provides contracted medical care to Idaho DOC inmates.
Back
to Top
VFW names Sgt. Steve Little as Idaho Correctional Officer of the
Year
BOISE - Sgt. Steve Little of the St. Anthony Work Camp will be honored as 1998
Idaho Correctional Officer of the Year during ceremonies Saturday (Jan. 23) morning in
downtown Boise.
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Department of Idaho, is honoring Little
for his professional skills, dedication to duty and unselfish contributions to the
community. The awards ceremony is scheduled for 9 a.m. in the ballroom of the Owyhee Plaza
Hotel, 11th and Main streets.
Cpl. Steve Muhonen of the Idaho State Police also will be honored as 1998 State Police
Officer of the Year.
Sgt. Little began working at SAWC in June 1992. He currently is in charge of security
at the facility.
Back
to Top
|
 |
