The Grand Island Independent
HALL COUNTY, Ga. — Hall County Corrections Director Fred Ruiz told county supervisors this month about a recent sexual victimization study that was done as part of the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, or PREA, which takes effect Jan. 1.
“When we first started this, I counted seven incidents that I was aware of where people had lost their jobs — two or three of them were referred for prosecution — and those are the ones I’m aware of,” Ruiz told supervisors. “The danger of that is, if I’m aware of six or seven, there’s probably twice as many that I don’t know about.”
In a PREA report that Ruiz presented to county supervisors Dec. 4, he listed that an “estimated 3.1 percent of jail inmates reported experiencing sexual victimization in the 12 months previous to the study.”
Ruiz’s report stated that 1.5 percent of all jail inmates report having suffered inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization.
“PREA addresses both staff-against-inmate and inmate-against-inmate,” sexual victimization, he said.
The federal government is requiring implementation of the PREA program by the first of the year for all jails, prisons, police lock-ups, juvenile facilities, immigration detention centers, court-holding facilities and community correction facilities including home monitoring, probation, parole and half-way houses, Ruiz reported.
“If we don’t agree to this and continue doing business (with the federal government,) we are in jeopardy of losing 5 percent of all federal contracts,” he told county supervisors. “That doesn’t mean just ours, but … the Road Department as well.”
That could mean an immediate $130,000 loss of $2.6 million of federal contracts for Hall County. Last year alone, the Hall County Jail brought in $1.7 million for holding federal detainees for the U.S. Marshal and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It’s money the county could lose without complying with the new law that was signed by President George W. Bush on Sept. 4, 2003, and implemented in regulation form by the U.S. attorney general this past August.
PREA establishes a “zero-tolerance” for sexual harassment and sexual assault, requires prison sexual violence collection and reporting, training for staff and inmates and anyone in jails, screening and risk assessment for potential aggressors and victims, a discipline and prosecution plan and accountability programs for jail administrators.
“We have an option to continue business with the federal government,” Ruiz said. “The other option is to say no and we don’t want to be involved with this program of PREA and don’t want to do business with the federal government.”
It’s an all or nothing proposition, he said. The county cannot follow “bits and pieces” of the PREA legislation.
“It’s pretty much a no brainer,” said Hall County board Chairwoman Pam Lancaster. “If we want the federal dollars, you need the policy, the person and the training.”
Supervisors will be asked to sign an agreement Tuesday to modify the county’s detention contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement stating it will comply with PREA.
So far, new policies have been written, procedures outlined and a job description drafted for what will be the PREA administrator, Ruiz said.
“The standards call for the PREA administrator to be an individual who has a background in criminal investigations and in particular, sexual assault investigations, not only with proficiency in interviewing, but collection of evidence, and preservation of a crime scene,” Ruiz said.
There’s only one individual at the jail now who has that background — Ruiz himself. He’s a former Nebraska State Patrol trooper and captain.
“I’m not going to do that,” Ruiz told supervisors.
Ruiz said under the requirements, each jail director is held responsible for meeting PREA standards, not boards of corrections, so having him serve as PREA administrator and oversee the jail wouldn’t work.
Instead, he wants to find a retired law enforcement officer with a criminal investigation background in sexual assaults — perhaps one looking to pick up county health insurance benefits — on either a part-time or full-time basis.
However, a full-time administrator is preferred.
The administrator needs to be knowledgeable in dealing not only with sexual assault perpetrators, but sexual assault victims as well, Ruiz said.
“PREA is going to require us to train all staff — we have 84-some staff that are going to require two hours per individual,” he said.
“Inmates will (be required to watch) a 20-minute orientation video before they go to general population,” Ruiz said. “Once they’ve been in the facility for 30 days, they’ll require a 30- to 40-minute orientation or instruction after that.”
The administrator also has to keep track of bookings every day and ensure that everyone in the jail — including contractors coming in to perform maintenance work — has the proper PREA training.
“It’s not going to be a position where they sit back and don’t get into very much,” Ruiz said. “They’re going to be pretty busy.”
The PREA administrator will be a new position, but it shouldn’t add to the jail’s overall staffing level. Ruiz said he will hold the next corrections officer position open to be filled with the PREA administrator duties.
“I think not only financially are we obligated to get this started, if you want to continue doing business with the federal government, but I think, as well, we have a commitment to the inmates to provide a safe environment and have PREA in place,” he told supervisors, who agreed.
Copyright 2012 The Grand Island Independent
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