Please read the public announcement below about an important meeting on Corrections taking place tomorrow at 3pm. The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee will be seeking input on the Department of Corrections. Assuming that next month the Superior Court Judge rules in our favor to uphold the Arbitrator’s decision that the 8-hour shifts are a violation of the contract, the Legislature could be the next stop in the battle. ACOA has let Legislators know how the 8’s have failed, but hearing it from Officers is very important. The meeting tomorrow involves public testimony. If you are in a position where you can speak out, please call and let Legislators know how the 8’s have disrupted the running of your institution, including the FTO program.
Other issues you might discuss are staffing and the increase in inmates. As you all know, there may be more Officers overall, which the Department loves to state publicly, but there are less Officers on each shift. It is the shift minimums that matter, not the fact that that there are more Officers overall. There are more Officers because of the opening of Goose Creek. Let them know about the increase in inmate counts and the corresponding violence that has followed. Let them know that the DOC completely ignored the last Legislative audit in 2010 that called for more Officers and instead further cut shift minimums statewide.
Please consider taking 3 minutes to call in to help this Legislative Committee understand the situation in Alaska’s correctional system. Thank you.
Here is the entire public announcement for tomorrow’s meeting:
“The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee will be holding a public hearing on the performance of the Department of Corrections in accordance with AS 44.66.040. The hearing will take place in Anchorage on April 29, 2014, at 3:00 PM at the Anchorage Legislative Information Office, 733 W. 4th Ave, Suite 100, Anchorage, AK, 99501.
The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee invites members of the public to provide comment on the performance of and interactions with the Department of Corrections. The Department of Corrections is currently undergoing a performance review to assess how effectively and efficiently it fulfills its core mission and serves the citizens of this state. The purpose of the public hearing is to take public testimony on the operations and interactions of the Department of Corrections, its facilities, and its community programs and resources. During this discussion, we will not be gathering information on sentencing, wrongful prosecution, or complaints about the court system, judicial system, or juvenile justice system, as these are outside the scope of the Department of Correction’s responsibilities. In order to ensure everyone with a desire to provide testimony is able to speak, public members will be asked to limit testimony to 3 minutes.
To participate in this meeting, please attend in person or visit your local Legislative Information Office (LIO). If the local LIO is closed, or if there is no LIO in your community, please call the Juneau LIO at 907-465-4648 for further instructions. The Juneau LIO can provide a phone number to call to join the public hearing via teleconference. Members of the public can also listen to a live audio stream of the meeting at www.akl.tv.
For more information, please contact Laura Pierre, staff for Senator Fairclough, at 907-694-8944 or Laura.Pierre@akleg.gov.”
