Legislature(1993 - 1994)
04/24/1993 09:36 AM Senate JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
April 24, 1993
9:36 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Robin Taylor, Chairman
Senator Rick Halford, Vice-Chairman
Senator George Jacko
Senator Suzanne Little
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Dave Donley
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
-- CONFIRMATION HEARING: J. Frank Prewitt, Jr., Commissioner
Department of Corrections
SENATE BILL NO. 26
"An Act relating to the location of the convening of the
legislature in regular session; and providing for an effective
date."
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 26 - See Community & Regional Affairs minutes dated
1/28/93, 2/4/93, 2/9/93 and State Affairs
minutes dated 2/17/93, 2/19/93 & 2/24/93.
WITNESS REGISTER
J. Frank Prewitt, Jr.
12620 Saunders Road
Anchorage, AK 99518
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 93-52, SIDE A
Number 001
Chairman Robin Taylor called the Judiciary Committee meeting
to order at 9:36 a.m. He stated the only order business would
be a confirmation hearing on Governor appointee Frank Prewitt
as commissioner of the Department of Corrections. He noted
the hearing was being teleconferenced in a listen-only mode
to various teleconference sites.
FRANK PREWITT, in his opening statement, said that he was not
a stranger to the Department of Corrections and not a stranger
to the State of Alaska in public administration. He served
for the state for approximately 12 years with the Department
of Corrections.
Mr. Prewitt said the Department of Corrections has been
experiencing some instability with decline in revenues and an
escalating budget, and a year ago they were faced with how to
develop a correctional system and chart a course for the
future that would bring spending under control and yet protect
public safety. The result was difficult for the department,
particularly difficult for the Kenai area where they had to
scale back the Wildwood Correctional Center.
Mr. Prewitt said the charge given him by the Governor is to
stabilize the Department of Corrections, to go forward with
an aggressive program of intermediate sanctions and to see if
they can get a responsible budget.
Number 116
SENATOR LITTLE asked what he saw as the major problems facing
the department today and how he intends to deal with them.
Mr. Prewitt responded that the major problem right now is
staff morale. He said the Department of Corrections is
lacking continuity of management, and when there is that lack
of continuity there isn't a vision, there isn't a plan. Of
equal concern is the budget, and they don't know what kind of
impact the development of intermediate sanctions will have on
the operating budget. However, a lot of other states have
been able to at least curb or slow down the growth in the
budgets through these alternatives. He said they need to get
the budget under control and his hope is that this budget will
give them the resources necessary to do that.
Number 160
Senator Little asked how he intends to improve the morale of
the department employees. Mr. Prewitt answered that he thinks
there is a crisis in confidence on the part of the employees,
and he does not have any magic plans. However, he would like
to go back and remind correctional staff of the importance of
their jobs, remind them that he has served them with integrity
in the past and he will continue to do so.
Number 195
Senator Little asked how he felt about sending prisoners
outside of the state. Mr. Prewitt responded that sending
prisoners out of state has always been an option of last
resort. It would not be exercised unless the department was
faced with the total inability of balancing their budget. He
added that, at this point, he does not see that the option
will be necessary.
Senator Little asked if was his intention to keep the Wildwood
facility open. Mr. Prewitt answered that the Wildwood
facility is open, but they will not expand the Wildwood
Correctional Center beyond its present operations until they
have assurance that the environmental concerns over employee
safety and inmate safety are addressed. Once those concerns
are addressed, that facility will be ready to expand at the
point that is necessary to meet hard bed needs.
Number 251
SENATOR JACKO asked for Mr. Prewitt's comments on "Operation
Hope." Mr. Prewitt answered that he knows very little of
Operation Hope, but his understanding is that it is a project
that will focus on the Point McKenzie farms that are in
disarray and deteriorating. He said it makes sense that
prison labor and prisoners could be used both for reformation
purposes and stewardship purposes. His understanding of that
project is that there is a desire that the deteriorating
resources at Point McKenzie be placed back in at least
saleable condition, that there be a caretaker for those
resources, and, in process of that, there may be some
opportunity to provide some employment, training skills,
construction type skill, etc. He noted that the Governor
stands behind the concept of Operation Hope.
Number 290
SENATOR LITTLE asked Mr. Prewitt if has any plans to close any
of the state's prisons in the next year or so, and Mr. Prewitt
answered that he did not.
Senator Little commented that there are approximately 2,000
people who have been sentenced and are waiting to serve their
time in the state's prison facilities, and she asked how he
expects to deal with that problem. Mr. Prewitt answered that
right now the City of Anchorage has a problem and it is the
state's problem because the state has a legislative mandate
to help fix the problem. He said they plan on introducing
intermediate sanctions such as day reporting centers,
community work service, etc., to help reduce the backlog that
exists not only in Anchorage but in other parts of the state
as well.
Senator Little asked if he feels there is enough money in this
year's budget to implement some of the programs he is talking
about to save money in the long term. Mr. Prewitt replied
that the budget has a significant amount of money in it for
these alternatives, but he does not know if it is enough. The
department will go forward and he wants to introduce some
efficiencies into the system.
Senator Little spoke to the frustrations of the employees at
the Wildwood and Spring Creek facilities and her concern about
the volatile situation. She asked how he intends to address
that situation. Mr. Prewitt answered that his understanding
is that part of the reason that some folks ended up at Spring
Creek was because of layoff preference. He added that it is
inconceivable to him that in the future Wildwood would not be
expanded if it is still true that it is an efficient facility
and provides our fastest opportunity to accommodate prison
growth. He noted that it is his intention to go down to Kenai
and hear from the people themselves.
Senator Little asked if he intends to have a new academy for
training personnel. Mr. Prewitt answered that he holds
training as a very high value. However, the amount of dollars
in the budget for training is not an adequate figure, and he
will probably use some creative innovation to address those
needs. He is considering using one of the facilities as a
training facility.
Senator Little asked if Mr. Prewitt or any of his family
members serve to benefit at all from any intermediate
sanctions put forward. Mr. Prewitt answered that he does not.
He has been a public servant for 12 years, and he doesn't own
any stock in any kind of a private corrections entity. He
also said he believes that perception is because he supports
the concept of community corrections and he recognizes and
supports that there is a joint venture that is developing
between the private sector and government in what has
conventionally been off limits for the private sector.
Number 470
Senator Little thanked Mr. Prewitt for his candid answers and
said she agrees with many of the things he has said.
Number 475
SENATOR TAYLOR congratulated Mr. Prewitt on his appointment
as commissioner and said he thinks he will serve as a fine
role model for many people who may find themselves somewhat
frustrated right now with the state of affairs in state
government.
Senator Taylor asked Mr. Prewitt if he thought contract jails
should remain within the Department of Public Safety or should
they be placed within the Department of Corrections. Mr.
Prewitt answered that Alaska's is a unique system. There are
only two or three states that have multi-purpose facilities.
In most systems, the county sheriff runs the jails and the
state runs prisons. At one point, he discussed with some of
the department's mangers the notion of creating a division of
jails and a division of prisons within corrections because the
jobs are so very different. He said right now, the Department
of Corrections doesn't have the resources to take that on, but
he understands that a task force has been formulated by the
Department of Public Safety to look into that issue.
Number 505
SENATOR LITTLE asked Mr. Prewitt if he intended to relieve any
of the department's employees from their jobs. Mr. Prewitt
responded that he does not have intention of bringing anybody
into an exempt service from outside of the system. There is
likely to be some movement as he builds a management team, but
that is very different than saying that heads are going to
roll.
Senator Little asked if there were flaws in the process that
ended up purchasing the Wildwood facility. Mr. Prewitt
replied that, at the time, because the department was quite
embroiled with a real serious operating budget, it was
suggested by the facility management people that there was an
opportunity to purchase the Wildwood facility that would
ultimately save money on the lease, and it presented that the
bond proposition would be the best way to do that. Since that
time, there has been some controversy about the propriety of
purchasing Wildwood through bond rather than through the
legislative capital budget process. He said it is new
information for him and it is something he needs to look at.
Number 555
SENATOR TAYLOR said there has been a lot of experimentation,
but there hasn't been anything institutionalized within the
state that has provided the bench with a viable and creditable
system that they can easily turn to. He said from his
experience, about 90 percent of all the misdemeanant prisoner
population don't need to spend any time in jail. He
encouraged Mr. Prewitt to develop alternative systems that
will provide for something more meaningful for the bench to
readily turn to.
TAPE 93-52, SIDE B
Number 005
SENATOR HALFORD stated his pleasure that Mr. Prewitt was
heading up the Department of Corrections.
Number 020
SENATOR TAYLOR thanked Mr. Prewitt for his participation in
the hearing. He then recessed the committee until
approximately 5:00 p.m.
TAPE 93-53, SIDE A
Number 001
SENATOR TAYLOR called the meeting back to order at 5:13 p.m.
However, due to the lack of a quorum, he stated SB 26
(LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS TO BE IN ANCHORAGE) would be held over
for the next meeting. He then adjourned the meeting at 5:15
p.m.
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