Karen Pojmann Archives

Parson’s budget proposal would close half of housing units within Missouri women’s prison

February 18, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

The women’s prison in northeast Missouri’s Vandalia could have about half of its housing units permanently closed. Trevor Foley, with the state Department of Corrections (DOC), says Gov. Mike Parson’s new state budget proposal would make the change. Gov. Parson’s proposed $34.1 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning in July includes about $802 million for the Department of Corrections.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on December 2, 2020 (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

During a state House Budget Committee hearing this week, he says some of the inmates at the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Vandalia have already been transferred to the women’s prison in northwest Missouri’s Chillicothe.

“No one has lost their jobs, there’s been no layoffs,” he says. “And we have significant capacity in our female beds. Our other female institution is probably arguably our best staffed institution in the state. So, we were able to consolidate spots into that facility and close roughly half of this one.”

Karen Pojmann, spokeswoman for the department, tells Missourinet the Vandalia prison has been battling major staffing shortages. The change makes the environment safer for staff and inmates.

Missouri’s current women’s prison population is about 1,800 but the state has the capacity to hold about 3,000. The Vandalia institution’s current population is roughly 772. Chillicothe Correctional Center’s is about 1,050.

Within the past year, the clothing factory at the Vandalia prison was also closed and is in the process of moving to a men’s prison in eastern Missouri’s Pacific.

Vocational (career and tech) education programs, higher education programs and special programs will continue at Vandalia. Adult basic education, special education and high school equivalency test preparation will be offered only at Chillicothe.

“Essentially, this means Vandalia won’t house women who haven’t yet earned high school diplomas. The primary reason for this change isn’t related to cost saving; it’s driven by the difficulty in filling academic teacher positions in the Vandalia area. Because we have space at Chillicothe, it’s much more efficient to move women who need adult basic education to a location where the services are sustainable and staff are available,” says Pojmann.

The full year savings from the permanent closure of 981 general population beds at Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correction Center in Vandalia is $5.4 million and 95 full-time equivalent jobs. The department wants the savings, along with other savings the department has found, to be reinvested in:

• Pay plans – market minimums for DOC staff and a DOC recruitment increase the governor announced in his State of the State address

• An expansion of the Division of Probation & Parole’s Officer Safety and Arrest Pilot program, including training and equipment for probation and parole officers

• Conversion of the former Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron into a training academy, where custody staff can train in a setting similar to the setting in which they’ll be working

• A learning management system for staff training, using online modules

• An expansion of the department’s heavy equipment crew. The crew members complete construction projects within the prison system.

Pojmann says temporary housing unit closures for maintenance projects and staffing shortages may continue as needed, but she says there are no other permanent closures planned.

The Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Vandalia opened in 1998.

Missouri could soon catch up on its jail reimbursement debt

February 18, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

Gov. Mike Parson’s FY2022 state budget proposal requests $58 million in hopes of getting Missouri completely out of debt in county jail reimbursements. For years, the state has not designated enough funding to pay counties and the city of St. Louis for part of a defendant’s entire local jail stay if the individual ends up going to state prison. Over the past couple years, the Missouri Legislature has been working to dig the state out of this hole.

Missouri Capitol (Photo courtesy of Alisa Nelson, Missourinet)

Missouri is the only known U.S. state that pays its counties and the city of St. Louis for pre-sentencing jail costs.

During a House Budget Committee hearing Wednesday, Trevor Foley, with the Missouri Department of Corrections, says the governor’s budget request would help the program catch up on overdue jail bills.

“That projection is based on looking at FY20 and the first two quarters of FY21 and then factoring in a COVID bounce back basically for the requests for reimbursement to go back up a little bit. And hopefully by the end of FY22, we will have the arrearage gone,” says Foley. “I will point out that this is a very volatile program. In FY21, we received $52 million in total requests. In FY20, we received $39 million in total requests. It is very difficult to project what we are going to receive in requests from a year-to-year basis.”

The state currently pays county jails about $22.58 per day, but the county’s overall daily cost to house a defendant is much higher. Karen Pojmann, spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Corrections, tells Missourinet the Missouri Sheriff’s Association conducted a survey a year ago and reported to the State Auditor that the actual cost ranged from $25.45 to $110 per day, with an average of $49 per day.

Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, says she wants the state to pick up more of the local tab.

“The actual cost to house a prisoner is an average of $60 a day,” she says. “So, they go in the hole, every prisoner, every day, all year long. I would like to see that change.”

The governor’s request would also cover certain costs to transfer those offenders.

Previous stories:

Is Missouri sending the right people to prison? https://www.missourinet.com/2017/08/03/is-missouri-sending-the-right-people-to-prison/

(VIDEO) State owes counties $19 million in jail payments; Missouri sheriff feels the pain: https://www.missourinet.com/2017/09/25/video-state-owes-counties-19-million-in-jail-payments-missouri-sheriff-feels-the-pain/

Missouri falls six months behind in paying county jail bills: https://www.missourinet.com/2017/10/02/missouri-falls-six-months-behind-in-paying-county-jail-bills/

Legislator thinks Missouri should overhaul county jail payment system: https://www.missourinet.com/2017/10/09/legislator-thinks-missouri-should-overhaul-county-jail-payment-system/

Missouri prison system experiences significant drop in COVID-19 cases

February 8, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

In early December, the Missouri Department of Corrections began installing 1,400 air purifying devices and using disinfectant sprayers within the prison system. Since then, department spokesperson Karen Pojmann tells Missourinet the number of coronavirus cases has fallen by 80%.

The agency reports 7,612 staff and inmates have been infected with the virus since last spring – 147, or 0.4%, are active cases. Pojmann says most facilities have 0-4 active cases.

Missouri prison system experiences significant drop in COVID-19 cases

“The only prisons with more than four cases are the reception and diagnostic centers, where COVID-positive offenders are being sent from county jails, a situation that, unfortunately, is out of our control,” says Pojmann.

Forty-two prisoners and six employees have died from the virus. The rest have recovered.

Missouri’s prison population consists of about 23,000 offenders within 22 institutions.

The state is using federal stimulus dollars to pay for the $1 million cost of the air purifying devices, disinfectant machines, and materials that go along with them.

Pojmann says the state has also begun vaccinating staff and all of its facilities are ready to start vaccinating offenders in Phase 1B-Tier 2 (over 65 and/or with serious medical conditions) as soon as a supply is available; more than one-third of offenders are eligible in this tier. A vaccination event is being held Monday for staff at Algoa Correctional Center, Jefferson City Correctional Center, Probation and Parole offices in Jefferson City, and maybe for some in the central office.

The state is also testing the wastewater at all prison facilities, and Pojmann says COVID-19 in wastewater has declined to undetectable levels at nearly every site.

Virtual town hall tonight about COVID-19 within Missouri prisons

November 24, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The Missouri State Conference of the NAACP, American Civil Liberties Union and several other organizations are hosting a virtual town hall this evening at 7 p.m. to talk about COVID-19 outbreaks within Missouri’s prisons. Families of those impacted by COVID inside Missouri prisons will have the opportunity to speak directly to some state leaders.

Virtual town hall tonight about COVID-19 within Missouri prisons

Panelists include Dr. Randall Williams, Missouri Department of Health and Human Services, Tim Cutt, Missouri Corrections Officer Association, Dr. Cheryl Avant, Health Chair NAACP, Amy Breihan, Co-Director MacArthur Justice Center, Ingrid Burnett, MO Democrat Caucus, Wiley Price, the Black Caucus, and others.

Missouri Department of Corrections spokesperson Karen Pojmann tells Missourinet 758 prisoners and 254 employees currently have COVID-19. Twenty-seven inmates and four workers have died from the virus.

To register for the town hall, click here. You can also watch it live on the Jefferson City NAACP Facebook page.

Missouri prisons have had seven COVID-19 associated deaths

October 22, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

COVID-19 has claimed the lives of five state prisoners and two state prison workers. Missouri Department of Corrections spokeswoman Karen Pojmann says six of the deaths have happened since September. The other one happened in April.

Missouri prisons have had seven COVID-19 associated deaths

Pojmann says in all of the offender cases, the patients were older than 60 and had other serious medical conditions.

“Autopsies aren’t being performed on people who have tested positive for COVID, so we aren’t certain about the precise cause of death, but deaths that occur after a positive COVID test are classified as COVID-related deaths,” she tells Missourinet.

The department is not releasing information about which prisons the inmates and workers are from. Missouri has 22 prisons.

Data on the agency’s website shows a total of more than 1,300 inmates and workers are currently infected with the virus.

Missouri prison inmate tests positive for coronavirus

April 21, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The Missouri Department of Corrections (MODOC) has received notification that an inmate at Southeast Correctional Center (SECC), a men’s state prison in Charleston has tested positive for the coronavirus. A press release from the department says the offender has been held in an isolation wing at maximum-security prison since April 15, when he began exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, and continues to be treated there. His cell mate also remains isolated, separately.

Missouri prison inmate tests positive for coronavirus

The housing wing in which the offender previously was held has been in quarantine since April 15. According to MODOC, every resident of that wing, as well as the rest of the housing unit, is being individually screened for fever and other coronavirus symptoms. The department says any prisoners showing symptoms will be placed in isolation pending COVID-19 test results.

Three SECC staff members who tested positive for the virus earlier this month, as well as all staff with whom they had close contact, are in quarantine at home. MODOC spokeswoman Karen Pojmann tells Missourinet she does not believe any employees who tested positive for COVID-19 had direct contact with offenders.

Earlier this month, the state prison system announced that a former St. Joseph prisoner in northwest Missouri died from complications caused by the respiratory virus. The Western Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center inmate was diagnosed with COVID-19 after being transferred to a Kansas City area hospital March 19th. Though he later tested negative twice for coronavirus, he remained hospitalized for other medical conditions.

MODOC says a viral containment plan is in effect at SECC and all other state prisons. Each inmate interacts only with residents of his/her own housing unit at all times, including meals and recreation, avoiding contact with other offenders and staff. Large-group activities have been suspended.

According to the agency, protective face covers manufactured by Missouri Vocational Enterprises have been distributed to all staff and offenders at every MODOC facility. The press release says each SECC staff member and offender has been issued one or more of these face covers, which can be cleaned in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

To minimize exposure, the Missouri Department of Corrections says it has followed all safety protocols and has instituted operational changes:

• The department says it has implemented sanitation schedules at every facility, with ample access to cleaning supplies, and has designated a point person at each facility to enforce sanitizing guidelines and to ensure the availability of soap and sanitizer.

• The department says it has suspended visiting, volunteer and reentry partner programs, and regular offender transfers among facilities, except in extenuating circumstances.

• DOC says all staff are screened, with temperature checks, before entering a facility.

• The agency says Corizon Health provides around-the-clock on-site medical care at every prison, and medical staff have been trained in COVID-19 preparation and response.

• Isolation cells, wings and units have been designated inside prisons, MODOC says. Offenders with symptoms of COVID-19, the flu or other communicable diseases are isolated from other offenders.

• The department says COVID-19 testing is available at every prison.