Courthouses and jails enable justice to function,
because they are the places where much of the due process of law happens. According to state law, Counties in South Dakota are responsible to provide adequate court and jail facilities.
- make reports and recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners,
- help the public stay informed about these issues.
Videos & Quick Info Links
Overview plan of 2018 courthouse remodel (click on image below)
Computer rendering of how the added courtroom might look (click on image below)
Watertown Chamber of Commerce Election Forum.
The County Public Information Presentation starts at about the 7 minute & 30 seconds mark.
- Jail Needs Analysis
- Court Needs Analysis
- Approved Criteria
- Summary of Information available before the 2014 Vote
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: Why is the county still working on the jail and courthouse after the failed votes in 2014 & June 2017?
A: The County is obligated to address the problems we have with the jail and courthouse.
- South Dakota state law requires counties to provide adequate court and jail facilities (SD codified laws: 16-6-7, 16-12A-29.1, 24-11-2, and 24-11-23).
- Since both the jail & courthouse are inadequate in terms of security and size, the county is obligated, by law, to address this problem.
Q: Since the vote in June 2017 failed, what is the plan to solve the County’s justice facilities problems?
A: The county is still working to solve the problems it can with the resources it currently has.
- Using money that has been saved over the years, the County is currently in the process of remodeling space in the courthouse to add another jury courtroom and expand the clerk of courts space. This requires some county offices to relocate outside the courthouse. These offices are Welfare, Veterans’ Assistance and the County Nurse. They will be relocated in downtown Watertown.
- The County continues to work with other agencies, like the Court system, the City of Watertown and Human Services Agency to refine criminal justice processes and develop jail alternatives to control the growth in jail population.
- The county still needs a new 120-bed jail and will need to issue a bond in the future in order to build it.
Q: How does this benefit Codington County?
A: Some of the benefits to the County are:
- Increased Public Safety. A modern, properly sized jail provides safety for jail staff and enables the justice system to incarcerate those who are a risk to public safety.
- Increased Court Security. A new jail would include a small in-custody courtroom which would minimize the movement of inmates through public areas of the court house. This increases public safety and operational efficiency.
- Lessens Liability Risk. A safe secure jail helps against lawsuits for failing to meet basic jail housing standards.
- Keeps justice activity in downtown Watertown. This will keep and enhance economic activity in Watertown’s historic downtown.
- Keeps the current courthouse in use. This will allow the community to continue to use our courthouse into the future, while preserving its historical features.
- Long term cost effectiveness. The cost of operating a new jail will be lower than continuing to use old facilities. Also, the longer the County must wait to update its facilities, the greater the cost of construction becomes.
Q: Why should we build better housing for inmates?
A: This isn’t about building better housing for inmates. This is about providing a safer work environment for our officers and liability protection for the County. A new jail would be made of concrete and steel. The typical cell (see picture from a modern county jail below) will have two steel bunks, a steel toilet and sink with a small steel desk attached to the wall.
Q: What do conditions for jail inmates have to do with the County’s legal liability?
A: The County is responsible for the health and safety of jail inmates. This doesn’t mean that jails should be comfortable. It does mean that they must be safe and humane. Courts have found jurisdictions (like states & counties) liable when jail or prison conditions are too crowded, unsafe or unsanitary. Courts have based most of these decisions on the 4th, 8th and 14th Amendments to the US Constitution:
- 4th Amendment and the right to privacy. Inmates must have reasonable privacy
- 8th Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. Jail conditions cannot constitute cruel or unusual punishment. Numerous court decisions have placed specific requirements on jails, to include floor space minimums in some situations.
- 14th Amendment, which prohibits taking away someone’s freedom without due process. This is especially important for pre-trial incarceration. Inmates have a right to access the legal system. This means jails should have multipurpose space (known as jail “program” space), attorney client space, & access to legal library resources.
Q: Isn’t a lot of the problem due to housing other counties’ inmates?
A: No. The need for an updated jail is due to the increase in Codington County inmates and because the current jail is unsafe. Inmates from other counties are less than 10% of our jail population. The County will be able to raise the price of housing other counties’ inmates to cover a reasonable share of the cost of updating our jail.
Q: Will 120 jail beds be enough?
A: While no one can predict the future, projections of inmate population using data from 1985 indicate that 120 beds should be enough for years to come. The County is taking precautions in case the jail population increases faster than projected:
- A 32-bed expansion has been included in the site plan (building footprint) to ensure there is space for expansion
- The County, along with the Court, law enforcement and the community, is continually looking for alternatives to jail (see next FAQ) to slow jail population growth.
Q: Why don’t we use ankle monitors to reduce the jail population?
A: The County uses and looks for more effective alternatives to incarceration that prevent an offender from committing more crimes. Ankle monitors are less effective at preventing an offender from committing more crimes.
- Currently the county uses a more effective incarceration alternative for drug and alcohol offenders: the 24/7 program.
- 24/7 provides person-to-person interaction & verification of behavior. Offenders have to check in with jail staff at frequent intervals.
- Since implementing 24/7 in 2007, jail population grows more slowly.
- The number of people on the 24/7 program usually exceeds the jail population.
- Other jail alternative programs that the County uses and supports:
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- “Teen Court” helps prevent juvenile offenders from entering the criminal justice system
- The County participates in nation-wide initiatives to reduce juveniles in jail and to reduce the number of those with mental illness in jail.
- The County is working on more ways to reduce pre-trial confinement without compromising public safety. The goal is keep people awaiting trial out of jail as long as they aren’t a risk to public safety and are likely to show up for trial. This will need to be a county/court solution.
- That said, ankle monitors may be appropriate as an alternative to some types of juvenile detention or possibly as an enhancement to work release. The County recently obtained some ankle monitors to explore this possibility.
Q: Can we expand the current jail into a bigger jail?
A: We have examined that possibility and found that remodeling the current jail into a safe jail that meets modern standards would be too expensive and would limit long-term expandability. However, the current jail can be cost-effectively repurposed into court/county office space, which is being proposed as part of this project.
Q: I understand how a new jail would help with our jail problems, but what about the court?
A: The key ways this would help with court space problems:
- With the current remodeling project, Justice system space in our current court house will be increased from 13,141 square feet to roughly 22,000 square feet.
- When a new jail is built, it would likely include a small courtroom. This would eliminate most of the need to move inmates through the public areas of the current courthouse.
CCJAC Public Information Meetings
Justice Facilities Public Information Meetings
Previous Presentations:
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- June 28th, 2016 – Public Presentation
- Slides shown during presentation,
- Click on “Quick Info Links & Public Awareness Videos” above to see the videos shown during this public presentation.
- Presentation
- Q & A
- September 8, 2016 – 6:30 PM, Public Presentation
- Slides used during presentation
- Click on “Quick Info Links & Public Awareness Videos” above to see the videos shown during this public presentation.
- Presentation
- Q & A
- December 6, 2016 – 6:30 PM, Public Presentation Lake Area Technical Institute, Room 512/514
- Slides used during presentation
- Presentation, Q & A
- June 28th, 2016 – Public Presentation
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CCJAC Meeting Minutes
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- February 19, 2015 – Minutes Approved
- March 12, 2015 – Minutes Approved
- April 9, 2015 – Minutes Approved
- May 12, 2015 – Minutes Approved
- June 16th, 2015 – Minutes Approved
- July 21, 2015 – Minutes Approved
- August 18, 2015 – Minutes Approved
- September 22, 2015 – Minutes Approved
- October 20, 2015 – Minutes Approved
- November 17, 2015 – Minutes Approved
- January 19, 2016 – Minutes Approved
- February 3, 2016 – Minutes Approved
- February 16, 2016 – Minutes Approved
- February 23, 2016 – Minutes Approved
- March 1, 2016 – Minutes Approved
- March 29, 2016 – Minutes Approved
- April 13, 2016 – Minutes Approved
- May 25th, 2016Minutes Approved, Attachments to Minutes
- June 21st, 2016 Minutes Approved, Attachment to Minutes Jail & Sheriff Operations Program, Attachment to Minutes – Site Footprint Refinements
- August 08, 2016 Minutes Approved, Attachment to Minutes – Discussion slides (updated to reflect discussion)
- August 25, 2016 Minutes Approved
- October 11, 2016 Approved Minutes
- November 30th, 2016 Approved Minutes
- January 5th, 2017 Approved Minutes
- February 2, 2017 Approved Minutes
- February 21st, 2017 Approved Minutes
- March 7th, 2017 Approved Minutes
- April 4th, 2017 Approved Minutes
- May 2nd, 2017 Approved Minutes
- June 27th, 2017 Approved Minutes
- August 8th, 2017 Approved Minutes
- October 10th, 2017 draft minutes
- November 7th, 2017 Approved Minutes
- December 18th, 2017 Approved Minutes
- February 13th 2018 Approved Minutes
- April 12, 2018 Approved Minutes
- June 19th, 2018 Approved Minutes
- Draft Minutes August 14, 2018
- Draft Minutes November 29, 2018
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Upcoming CCJAC Meetings & Agendas
- November 29th, 2018 – 6:10 PM Lake Area Technical Institute. Agenda 20181129
Please check often as meeting details can change!
CCJAC Work
The County Commissioners have instructed the CCJAC to carry out four basic tasks (shown below).The results of this work are shown in the reports linked under each task. These reports are posted as they are completed. The CCJAC is currently focused on the second task. Key documents are in bold type.
(1) Review the work done prior to the election in November 2014 to determine the need for further analysis.
(2) Further analyze or recommend ways to obtain needed analysis. This is intended to assess the need for court and jail space into the future.
Jail Analysis
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- Bill Garnos’ Jail Assessment Proposal
- Jail Assessment (Garnos) Contract
- Codington County Criminal Justice Statistical Indicators
- Codington County Inmate Population Trends
- National Institute of Jail Operations Jail Facility Analysis
- Final Jail Needs Assessment Report
- Inmate Population Trends update with 2015 data
- Inmate Population Trends update with 2016 data
- UPDATE to Jail Needs Assessment Report through June 2017
- UPDATE to Jail Needs Assessment Report through 2017
- Jail & Sheriff’s Operations Program as of June 21st, 2016
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Court Analysis
(3) Recommend criteria to use in evaluating options to resolve court and jail space needs. This will include such things as minimum space (type and size) requirements, construction costs, operating costs and efficiency. These will be developed from information gathered in the second task.
(4) Recommend options for resolving court and jail space needs. This will develop options to meet Codington County’s justice space needs. The criteria from the third task will be used to screen and compare these options.
Learning about possible options
Developing options
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- Option Development as of September 2nd, 2016
- Soil Boring-report-Auditorium Block , Soil Boring-report-West US 212-site
- Pre-Design Architectural Agreement
- Pre-Design Proposal from BKV
- Pre-Design RFP for Architectural Services
- List of Pre-Design Proposals Received
- Additional proposal information: Current Justice Facility Floor plans
- FAQ about the RFP
- Bond Advisor Contract
- Bond Counsel Contract
- June 2017 Option proposed to voters
- Architect Contract for Courtroom & Clerk of Courts Remodel
- Feb 20th, 2018 – Construction Document Design Working Meeting Minutes
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Exploring Options for Cooperating with other Counties
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- Initial working discussion (July 8th & 15th, 2016) meeting materials/notes
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CCJAC Origination Documents
Committee Members
Voting Members:
Megan Olson
Larry Wasland
Al Koistenen
Matt Kranz
Sheriff Brad Howell
Commissioner Troy VanDusen
Commissioner Lee Gabel (Chair)
Non-voting Members:
The Honorable Robert Spears
Chief Corrections Officer Matt Blackwelder
Court & Jail Space Needs Information (assembled before creation of CCJAC)
Court Analysis
Jail Analysis
Meeting Notes
Summary Recommendations
Summary Presentation (includes conceptual drawings)
Consultant Contracts
Useful links
South Dakota Codified Laws
Standards, Best Practices – Courts
National Center for State Courts’ Guidelines for Best Practices In Court Security
National Center for State Courts’ Steps to Best Practices for Court Building Security
National Sheriff’s Association Courthouse Security Checklist
National Center for State Courts Planning and Design Guide for Court Facilities
National Center for State Courts report on Courthouse Violence 2010-2012
Michigan Court Planning and Design Guide
Standards, Best Practices – Jails
National Institute of Corrections’ Jail Design Guide
American Corrections Association Core Jail Standards (linked from correction.org)