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.