[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6287790,"mediaKeyId","2546827-d0e4d6b4370eb1df57895dbc0be8bfba","parentId",2546827,"title","Officials warn placement restrictions would shift treatment costs back to prisons as inmate population grows","audioSeconds",6201,"startMs",3763000,"endMs",9964000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2546827-d0e4d6b4370eb1df57895dbc0be8bfba&start=3763&end=9964","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2546827-d0e4d6b4370eb1df57895dbc0be8bfba/thumbnail_3763000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6287790/North-Dakota/Officials-warn-placement-restrictions-would-shift-treatment-costs-back-to-prisons-as-inmate-population-grows","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6287790-a05fdb5d48babd3ae11d0867dc73fe23/orig.mp4?Expires=1771146352&Signature=mg3mIYKT1mzd1RqzMaWqlCBENwnikAiEIBcMZj6TzPjQsLvCUJK~uWY6mm3yhpdLYAkgLuCbuVcJoKWJ9eiNG9~gg19pqT8Eo3ltfdZwCoLplcG1Cv4ZQScoSpRk-yN4g7k-~IB-SuYWPELwsoYajc7k3ydeRMYLlB7ZZsYeUdFph9QXOhV6IQS0r~CKaNEDeRP2BIo6sooT8kPjuqEqw4UsaedIL13wmMI3dB~ithg0CEZ4s4elBDKoU1K30PWQjaCs7aTHWivmsVTJ4RaKgHWq~cp3lGrV7Zqizsv7YyCZ-UM45Hf6KYBzOyWfSR5G0ves7l0QiPTLSRTdJT7KUQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","North Dakota State Legislature","date","2025-03-11T00:00:00Z","article","Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Director Colby Braun told the committee that a pending bill (discussed in the hearing as “20 one‑twenty 8”) contains language, cited to section 10 in committee discussion, that would limit DOCR’s placement authority for transitional facilities and remove those programs from the statutory definition of confinement. Braun said the change would restrict the department’s current ability to place people in transitional settings and could require prisons to assume more treatment delivery.

Braun told legislators the bill’s draft language would, if enacted as presented, prevent the department from using specific transitional facilities ‘‘as inmate placement’’ and would constrain the parole board’s discretion by requiring longer in‑custody terms before parole eligibility in some cases. He warned that the bill could shift treatment that currently occurs in transitional facilities into higher‑cost prison settings and that a portion of the fiscal impact depends on how the parole board chooses to exercise discretion under the new language.

Committee members pressed how the state would handle capacity if transitional placements were curtailed. Braun and other witnesses said DOCR already pays counties to hold state prisoners under contract and that the department had budgeted about $16,000,000 for county jail housing in the coming biennium plus roughly $1,500,000 to try to bring programming to those county facilities. Braun said DOCR also uses limited interstate swaps (about 30 people were cited as presently housed out of state under swap arrangements) rather than standing out‑of‑state contracts.

Lawmakers and department officials discussed tradeoffs between warehousing people and providing programming. Braun said the state’s transitional facilities and community placement tools are intended to provide treatment and reentry preparation, and that removing those options by statute would likely increase in‑prison treatment burdens and fiscal costs. The committee did not record a formal vote on placement legislation in this hearing.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Appropriations - Human Resources Division Tuesday, Mar 11, 2025 8:25 AM - 11:32 AM","oneSentenceSummary","DOCR briefed the committee on proposed placement‑authority changes in a pending bill, the fiscal uncertainty if transitional placement is curtailed, and the department's current use of county contracts and limited out‑of‑state swaps to manage capacity.","taxTitle","Appropriations - Human Resources Division, House of Representatives, Legislative, North Dakota","taxId",28888,"location","North Dakota","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6287794,"State penitentiary budget seeks body cameras, tasers and ballistic vests; tattoo‑removal grant not awarded",874,6842000,7716000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2546827-d0e4d6b4370eb1df57895dbc0be8bfba&start=6842&end=7716","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2546827-d0e4d6b4370eb1df57895dbc0be8bfba/thumbnail_6842000.jpg","/articles/6287794/North-Dakota/State-penitentiary-budget-seeks-body-cameras-tasers-and-ballistic-vests-tattooremoval-grant-not-awarded","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6287794-b2050ad0f872c6a73ac5c1a6cd09b5c7/orig.mp4?Expires=1771146352&Signature=TQf6Xjp-cPU0yWMhJhujyvibW3OuQkvdO4XmRGo1ST66vNyexFmd~5TNF24KDTbmasslQ1tq8PvWuvUt2hWVc9DcNBeNBReuNU0jSpkoUVsVvtWjBbKoA0hpaej928HYC9NSwfUxJAExPrmFVdUjRkEjkory7p9i71babE2t0gbcmUHNlmYlcdjtdxTfNmeJwieZwrEHfouAAprsxOYRPxpB1d~G~ABfqAprfNKlSCQ~Yps26ydGzv1tybrZx1bHPReIEzMknVFVqrBVKf3DuvR7YRoltcW1tPA7N13AYLpfAUzMZnT7HXNJtz7c0hhXNrD6cZlxlT-NpiLEb9CQTg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials told the Appropriations committee that the North Dakota State Penitentiary’s base budget is about $42 million and the executive recommendation is roughly $52 million, largely driven by salary and fringe increases.

Michelle Zander said NDSP’s operating request includes about $7.8 million for food, clothing and other operating items and listed several decision packages that would restore temporary and overtime pay and add safety equipment. The penitentiary requested body cameras and tasers in a package the department estimated would cost roughly $739,000; staff said they would seek federal grant funding for the cameras and that a one-time state investment would be required if the grant does not come through. Zander said the department previously applied for related grants and had been denied.

Deputy Warden Sean Foti described operational effects of body cameras, telling the committee the devices can help de-escalate incidents and sharply reduce investigation time for contested allegations. Colby Braun, DOCR director, and lawmakers also discussed ballistic vests: the department requested federal dollars and one-time state infrastructure funds as a potential match to replace expiring vests used by perimeter and specialized teams.

Zander told lawmakers the department sought public safety retirement funding for correctional staff and that the NDSP portion of that request was about $645,000; the departmentwide public safety retirement request was presented as approximately $6.45 million. Other NDSP items discussed included a modest capital equipment request of $11,000 for a commercial burger‑patty press (department officials said the equipment would allow the facility to make patties in bulk and pay back the purchase within a year) and that a proposed tattoo-removal machine had not been funded after unsuccessful grant applications.

Lawmakers questioned whether the department should rely on federal grants for equipment that supports officer safety and asked staff to return with options if grant applications fail. No formal vote on these NDSP decision packages was recorded in the transcript.","Department of Corrections officials asked the committee to fund body cameras, tasers and new ballistic vests for staff and described other NDSP budget changes including resident payroll, a small capital request and an unfunded tattoo‑removal proposal.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6287799,"Lawmakers, corrections officials debate pretrial, parole and probation staffing as caseloads rise",1753,515000,2268000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2546827-d0e4d6b4370eb1df57895dbc0be8bfba&start=515&end=2268","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2546827-d0e4d6b4370eb1df57895dbc0be8bfba/thumbnail_515000.jpg","/articles/6287799/North-Dakota/Lawmakers-corrections-officials-debate-pretrial-parole-and-probation-staffing-as-caseloads-rise","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6287799-bdb97d55a2ae75306aa8dd375b4ed80d/orig.mp4?Expires=1771146353&Signature=AuTtjN83CaV8Mptj-7-h4Puv1rLEKgZsPzDQ67lxfD0Hgl~~B3wEzBbMsowg5PEnxS09I-hPYNjsGXJCEydH16noS751Cp5EW45QRWdeQYqqqGegTGpDHcqzImChtGBkw3NqprJCtOvgq5oGqI6OKsUuD9Q3o3GsB4gGiVaIYXZlsK92cRVhknAN2AOflAYTLLFG7Ix3L1DE9q0aerJudUtW29I77MKhPx4R-sayncOo74-2NmPKuprdHoPT-~FCsH2kIJ~MPg8GwnpemX7C-JJW3---YYENBCfg7qKBO0ohMLd5rBTu1NhJHoH81DAGhKDyyX7EcIM1zyWa490m5Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Chairman Nelson and members of the Appropriations — Human Resources Division heard March 6 from Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials about staffing requests for pretrial services and for parole and probation, and about rising community supervision caseloads.

Michelle Zander, chief financial officer for DOCR, told the committee the pretrial program’s base budget is $2,600,000 and that the agency requested three new full-time positions—one in the South Central Judicial District (Bismarck/Mandan), one in Minot and one in Fargo. She said the Senate’s version of the budget removed the Fargo position. Zander also said the department will seek a federal Justice and Mental Health Collaboration grant to offset operating costs and noted the department applied previously but did not receive the award.

Tom Earhart, chief probation and probation officer, presented a March 6 caseload snapshot and said the department’s combined adult community supervision caseload has increased to roughly 7,100 people statewide. He read a staffing table showing, among other lines, about 51 front-line probation officers/case managers with an average caseload around 70 and about 14 pretrial staff with an average caseload around 46. Earhart said specialized caseload officers (drug court, sex-offender work, domestic-violence caseloads) carry lower averages and added the American Probation and Parole Association’s recommended ratios were used as context.

DOCR Director Colby Braun told lawmakers that pretrial services expand most quickly where the program is funded full time and used regularly by judges and local stakeholders; he said Burleigh (Bismarck)/Morton County use has grown because pretrial was funded full time there. Committee members pressed whether Fargo’s reduced position would hurt capacity; members and department staff said expanding full‑time coverage in judicial districts tends to increase program use.

On parole and probation, Zander said the base-level budget was roughly $26.8 million and the executive request included two positions that convert long‑term temporary community corrections agents to authorized full‑time positions (one in Bismarck, one in Williston). The department also told the committee it secured a roughly $2.5 million federal drug-court grant and budgeted a $186,000 state match to hire temporary coordinators; the grant increased the department’s temporary payroll request for the biennium.

Lawmakers raised the long‑running question of supervision fees. Committee members and department witnesses said the state bills about $6 million in supervision fees each biennium but collects about 23–25 percent of that amount (roughly $1.5 million in collections). The department said converting special-fund fee revenue to general fund support was included in reentry-related bills being considered by the Legislature and that the budget and those bills are interdependent.

Committee members repeatedly pressed staff on officer safety and on whether caseloads exceed recommended levels. Earhart said officers frequently work alone in remote areas, sometimes without cell coverage, and that the department issues radios and cell phones, trains staff in scenario-based safety practices and has not had a recent staff assault in probation and parole. Lawmakers also asked the department to provide interstate and out‑of‑state comparisons for caseloads; Earhart said he would gather that data.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the requests during the session transcripted here. Members asked staff to return with more detail on caseload trends, results from the drug-court grant and the practical effect of the Senate removal of the Fargo pretrial position.","The Appropriations committee reviewed Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation requests for additional pretrial and parole-and-probation staff, discussed rising caseloads and grant funding, and noted the Senate removed one proposed pretrial position for Fargo.","actionData","errors"]

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Officials warn placement restrictions would shift treatment costs back to prisons as inmate population grows

State penitentiary budget seeks body cameras, tasers and ballistic vests; tattoo‑removal grant not awarded

Lawmakers, corrections officials debate pretrial, parole and probation staffing as caseloads rise