Concurrent Grand Jury Calls For New Vocational Schools, Adding 4th Criminal Court Judge

  • Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Members of the Hamilton County Concurrent Grand Jury are recommending reopening of trade and vocational schools in high school education.

A final report from the panel headed by Jimmy Anderson says the trade schools would "provide training and develop skills for productive workforce employment beyond minimum wage jobs that are not adequate to sustain an individual trying to live independently on his/her own."

The report says, "An overwhelming percentage of the cases we heard involve gangs, and/or drugs in our community. In at least 40 to 50 percent of the cases, the age of the defendant was below 35 years. We believe that work can be a deterrent to joining gangs or getting involved in mischief and/or illegal activity and therefore more opportunities for work programs and employment to become a productive member of society are needed."

The Concurrent Grand Jury also recommended creating a fourth Criminal Court judge position in Hamilton County, saying it would reduce time to handle cases and help with jail and workhouse overcrowding.

The panel praised the Drug Court, saying only seven percent of its graduates become repeat offenders.

The group, who heard cases over four months, applauded the step of placing a time limit on each case in an effort to minimize or reduce procedural time delays.

Here is the complete Grand Jury report:

The Honorable Barry Steelman Judge, Criminal Court, Division I Hamilton County, Tennessee

Judge Steelman:

As with every Grand Jury that I have had the privilege of guiding through their term, I can say that they will be missed. They came to the courthouse just as they were summoned to do, anxious about what to expect and willingly took on their civic duty. Serving on the Grand Jury has been an informative and enlightening experience for them and they believe their service to the community to be an honor.

This panel is so diverse that I believe they cover most of what it takes to run a community. We have engineers with GE and Whirlpool; a Surgical Technician at Tenova Medical Center; a Registered Dental Assistant with Webb Orthodontics; a Registered Sleep Technologist at Erlanger Hospital; a Project Manager with CBL & Associates; a Spanish Instructor at St. Nicholas School; a Consultant in Project Management with TVA; a Soldier in the TN Army National Guard; A Juror in sales with Infiniti of Chattanooga; an Emergency Room Registrar at Parkridge Hospital; as well as a Retiree from the finance world and our self-employed Juror.

During their term they heard 496 cases. They were given many tools and an education to help them make the decisions they needed in order to carry out the charge they were given on selection day.

Here is a summary of one of my Juror's thoughts on the Grand Jury experience and Facility tours:

I have found my time on the Grand Jury to be very educational, emotionally draining and an invaluable, worth-while experience. I think everyone should serve on a grand Jury at least once in his or her life. Too many of us are blissfully ignorant of our justice system, how it works, and all of its components. I am grateful for the opportunity to listen to police officers, detectives, Judges, those in Corrections and our Foreperson share their knowledge and expertise with us. On Monday, June 27 we, the Grand Jury, under Foreperson DeAnna Anderson toured the Juvenile Detention Center and Courts.

The facility certainly showed its age but seemed in good repair. As we were told they could use more beds for the juveniles. The educator at the Detention Center Mr. Bill Weaver, seemed to have the juveniles best interest at heart and when asked what was on his "wish list" he once again said he needed updated GED software.

Judge Philyaw spoke passionately about his job. Listening to him speak of the cases that come before him was heart wrenching.

On Tuesday, June 28 we toured the Hamilton County Jail. It was clear that the infrastructure and technology that the Corrections Officers have to deal with is to say the least, antiquated and does not make for a safe work environment. It is imperative that a new state of the art facility is needed and as were told is in "talks."

The number of officers to inmates continues to be a problem. Safety is imperative for those officers but sometimes hard to keep in check when there are 2 officers on a floor of over 50 inmates.

It is often hard, even when given funds to hire more Corrections Officers to keep officer burnout down which in tum leads to a high rate of turnover. They are asked to deal with so much while taking care of this part of our society. They work for low wages and are often put on mandatory overtime.

We were made aware that officers may earn vacation time, but have that time denied due to lack of personnel to substitute during their absence.

Depending on the shift they work, they have to pay for their own parking. Due to the parking accommodations that are available, they often have to work to pay and walk several blocks at all hours of the day/night. A simple perk like free parking might go a long way for officer moral.

I was saddened to learn of the high number of inmates that have mental illness. The County Jail is not equipped to serve as, nor should it be used as a mental health facility. I believe there should be a full time mental health professional to take care of those inmates, write prescriptions and help train the Corrections Officers on how best to interact with those individuals.

I was greatly impressed with the kitchen Supervisor, Jim Hughes. He teaches the inmates to bake bread and prepare meals, which in tum may help some of them with skills they could use out in society. He leads them in cooking 3 healthy meals a day for over 600 inmates, while keeping costs down and the kitchen clean and orderly.

Captain Swope gave us multiple examples of how he and his team have learned from previous mistakes in dealing with inmates, and have made the necessary changes. He shared with us some of what it takes to keep a facility running smoothly including; not accepting the lowest bidder for important safety items, making sure inmates get exercise to let off steam, cutting down on contraband coming into the jail by using video visitation, giving inmates privileges such as television for good behavior and revoking privileges for bad behavior.

I think there should be some way to attract more good candidates to Corrections positions and keep them there. That might be higher pay, better benefits, free employee parking, guaranteed vacation/relief and a safer work environment. These are the people who are helping to keep our community safe. They have a very important, difficult, demanding, and dangerous job. They have mine and my fellow jurors' admiration and our sincere thanks at the very least.

Michelle Bertani

Elementary Spanish Instructor St. Nicholas School

A FINAL THOUGHT

As Foreperson, I have learned that Grand Jurors come to their service with varying degrees of respect for Law Enforcement. Without fail, most leave with a whole new sense of what Officers in Law Enforcement endure on a daily basis.

With the climate of our country being what it is in regards to the men and women who proudly wear the badge, I feel it important to share this with others.

 Below are some of the comments given to me in their required written thoughts on Grand Jury service and facility tours.

"With the extreme diversity in our society, it is imperative that we stand with those in Law Enforcement."

"Their daily risk of life cannot be repaid."

"I found those in Law Enforcement while testifying before us, to be professional, trustworthy and polite."

"Due to what I learned while on Grand Jury, I plan to thank every Officer of the Law that I meet."

"Imagine how it would be without them."

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to thank the following people:

•      Criminal Court Judges Barry Steelman, Don Poole and Tom Greenholtz, as well as, Sessions Court Judge Christy Sell for taking time out of their schedule to educate us on the Courts system.

      Assistant D.A. West for his legal assistance; his guidance in the rules of law was imperative to our decision making.

      Court Liaison's Sgt. Kevin Akin and Sgt. Jeff Rearden of the Chattanooga Police Department, for getting our witnesses in, as well as testifying on CPD Officers' cases in order to expedite the process and save on resources.

      Don Klasing for keeping our witnesses organized.

      Sheriff 's Deputy Daniel Headrick for escorting us to our facility tours.

      Larry Henry and staff of the Circuit Court Clerk's Office; along with Assistant Jury Coordinator Margo McConnell and Julia Kinser of the Criminal Court Clerk's office . We appreciate everything they do for us.

      The administration and staff who conducted our tours through Silverdale, the County Jail and Juvenile Detention Center.

      Investigators' Lee Wolff and Vernon Kimbrough for the education into the drug world and other illegal activities that go on in our community.

      Captain Coppinger and Sgt. Harvey for the interesting class on contraband and safety in the County jail.

      Jim Hughes and his staff for the delicious lunch served to us in the County Jail.

      Michelle Bertani for doing an awesome job as official note taker.

      Our Permanent Alternate Janaria Mcintosh for filling in when needed.

Respectfully  submitted, Regular Grand Jury

REPORT OF THE CONCURRENT GRAND JURY

August 30, 2016

PRESENTED TO

 THE HONORABLE BARRY STEELMAN JUDGE, CRIMINAL COURT

DIVISION I

The Honorable  Barry Steelman Judge, Criminal Court, Division I Hamilton  County, Tennessee

Judge Steelman

The Concurrent Grand jury for the May - August 2016 term presents the following  report.

Report  Content

Summary

Silverdale Workhouse

o      Observations, Commendations, Concerns, Recommendations

Juvenile Court & Detention Center

o      Observations, Commendations, Concerns, Recommendations

County Jail

o      Observations, Commendations, Concerns, Recommendations

Community Corrections Program

o      Commendations, Concerns, Recommendations

Hamilton County Judicial Process

o      Commendations, Concerns, Recommendations

This report reflects the opinions of the Concurrent Grand Jury members and is based on 1)  hearing and deliberating on charges on over 500 cases,  2) tours of Hamilton County jail, Silverdale workhouse and Juvenile Court and detention center and 3) interactions with Hamilton County Criminal Court Judges and Juvenile Court Judge, Law Enforcement and Community Corrections Administrator.

We would like to thank our foreperson, Jimmy Anderson and our Assistant District Attorney, Jerry Sloan for their guidance during the grand jury process and for explanation of the law in needed situations.

It has been a privilege to serve and participate in the grand jury process. The breadth of the cases heard allowed us to deliberate and discuss as citizens many aspects of community life. We have developed a better understanding of the judicial process, a deeper appreciation for the daily challenges facing law enforcement and greater insight into crime within our community.

We respectfully submit our report.

Summary

••   We recommend  reopening of trade and vocational  sd1ools  in high school education  to provide training and develop skills for productive workforce employment beyond minimum wage jobs that are not adequate to sustain an individual trying to live independently on his/her own.  An overwhelming percentage of the cases we heard involved gangs, and/or drugs in our community. In at least 40-50% of the cases, the age of the defendant was below 35 yrs. We believe that work can be a deterrent to joining gangs or getting involved in mischief and/or illegal activity and therefore, more opportunities forwork programs and employment to become a productive member of society are needed.

••  We recommend creation and appointment of a 4th Criminal Court Judge position in Hamilton  County. A 4th Judge position could reduce the overall time it takes for cases to be processed which in tum, could relieve over -crowding Gail, workhouse) in other parts of the system. We believe a 4th Judge isjustified by the county case load and could allow more persons to be put in the drug court and mental health court programs.

••    We commend the effortsofthe Drug Cow·twith stats of  only  7% of  drug court graduates being repeat offenders. We believe that once offenders have the opportunity to experience a stable lifestyle (work, meet obligations, staysubstance free, have family support) by obtaining such through their own perseverance and effort, there is a greater likelihood that they will make a choice of this lifestyle over a criminal and/or imprisonment

••  .We applaud the step ofplacing a time limit on each case in an effort to minimize or reduce  these procedural time delays. The delay in case proceedings should be reduced. The delays (manytime caused by the defendant by the defendant's legal counsel, etc) can result in defendants serving jail time longer than the sentence for the charge.

••  We commend the personnel at the Juvenile Cowtand Detention Center. We observed dedicated and passionate personnel and a detention program that emphasized education and structure for these juveniles.

•• Silverdale Workhouse is a good alternative to penitentia 1y. However, we recommend that an  inmate is allowed to participate inthe work program pre-sentencing aswell as post sentencing.  We recommend increased guard staffing to improve the guard to inmate ratio. We believe that checks and balances are needed in an outsourced arrangement such as between the County and CCA. An oversight or checks & balance system might ensure the right balance between private profit and facility cost.improvement is maintained and profit atthe expense of incarcerated individual and facility safety is not the result.

•• Over-anwding ithe County Jailwas aconcern. Both the inadequate size of the cmTent jail and the delays in court processing contribute to this problem. We recommend that construction of a new jail facility takes into account future incarceration needs . A right sized jail combined with improvements in reducing comt delays should address the over-crowding.

••  The Community Corrections Program is a good alternative to incarceration for non-violent offenders. Not only is the program cost lower ,but the exceTien recidivism rate of 5°61 is commendable and is a measure of success. We recommend aggressive expansion of this program to lower system cost, reduce current over-crowding in the County jail and Silverdale workhouse.

Silverdale Detention Center:

Observations, Concerns -

-. The facility was clean and orderly on our tour route.

,,.i.. The older units (B, C, D) were not as functional in design for effective guard monit01ing. Also, the office areas and control rooms had evidence of water leaks and mold. We observed missing/ broken/ outdated equipment in several areas in the "older units". We observed in B unit, several cell doors were open but we were told thiswas a lock-in lock-out facility. This seemed to be common practice which was in violation of standard operating procedures.

'*- The assignment ofa lone female guard (unarmed supe1visor) in direct contact situation over

40/40/40 inmates poses a concern for her safety and welfare.

Dorm style unit blocks observed in the women's area seem to increase risk of personal safety violations.

 

The food is delivered and unloaded in the hot sun. There is only one pallet jack to move food into the facility. Major concern for perishables sitting in the heat until they can be inside and stored. There is a potential for food to spoil, which poses a financial loss orworse still, be served to inmates which could lead to food poisoning.

,:.i,_  At the workhouse, only sentenced inmates can work (75% of the population) which means the other inmates just "hang out or lie on bed" all day when not in educational class or break time.

Commendations, Recommendations -

_.  Overall, the facility was clean and functioni ng well on our tour day.  In particular, the main corridors and general common areas were very clean. We hope this level of cleanliness and order is the daily standard and not "for tour day" only.

"'*- We recommend Silverdale institute the practice of same gender guard/inmate for supervisor and surveillance monitor.

"*- Impressed with the educational se1vicesprovided to the inmates. We would recommend

reinstatement of classes and materials that support a GED program for inmates who choose. The warden and county officials were knowledgable about the facility and procedures.

'*- We recommend increasing the priority of D&R (dismantle and remove) projects to improve conditions in office areas and control rooms in older units..

We believe that checks and balances are needed to ensure the right balance between profit and cost for "privatized" detention or prison systems do not become skewed soheavy towards profit that individual and facility safety is compromised.

Juvenile Court & Detention Center:

Observations, Concerns -

.._  Overall, the facility was clean and functioni ng well on our tour day.

,._  We observed juvenile defendants in an engaged classroom environment. The fact that all nine (9) juveniles detainees were in the classroom with none choosing to sit out in their rooms was a good sign that the program is on the right track.

Commendations, Recommendations -

"*- Staff and personnel atthe Juvenile Detention Center demonstrated pride in the facility and in the

structure they provide to youths in the program.

,._ Judge Philyaw provided a very good overview of Juvenile Court and shared examples of the breadth of cases that come before his court. We were impressed with his passion, compassion and tough love views.

County Jail:

Observations, Concerns -

,.j.. The jail is extremely over-crowded. The jail was cleaner than we expected it to be. We believe the chaplain needs assistance. He's on call 24/7 with over 1,000 inmates. When we visited the medical unit, one lady had come in on her day off to help catch up on paperwork Need additional help.

'* The kitchen area was clean and very organized. The food was very good. They are saving money by making their own bread, plus teaching inmates how to cook and provide for themselves when they go home which is a good life skill.

Commendations, Recommendations -

'-* We commend the kitchen st.aff. The kitchen was clean and very organized.

-i. We recommend that future expansion or new build of a jail anticipates future capacity or increase use of other community programs to eliminate over c-crowding.

,.We recommend that provisions are made to retain current employees if a new jail is built and no longer run by the county but outc;ourced or privatized to CCA  We further recommend, that in such situation, their contract terms regarding pay and pensions should be grandfathered.

Community Corrections Program:

-$ The Community Corrections Program appears to be an effective alternative sentencing program versus incarceration for non-violent felons (C,D,E felony).

'-* We believe that the program's emphasis on work in Phase 1and school/work in Phase 2 are ideal for providing routine, stability and the means for non-violent felons to make restitution and get a fresh start The fact that each person is working with a Corrections Officer is a good approach .

.,._ By all measure, this program appears to be successful :

       One-twelth the cost of incarceration (Savings of $65/day/non-violent felon)

       Low recidivism rate of 5% by community corrections felons We recommend the program be expanded to all non-violent felons.

Ha milton Cou nty Judicial Process:

Wwelcomed the interactions with the Criminal Cou rt fudges and the Juvenile Cou rt

.lmlgg_. In all instances, the judges responded to our questions, demonstrated their passion and scheduled time out of their day.

i-    Many of the cases heard during the term involved felony charges of "possession of a firearm". While we believe in second chances, we are concerned about this when a gun is involved. We believe that if a juvenile is involved in a crime involving a gun for a second time, it should be grounds for automatic reprimand to adult court.

'* We heard many cases of repeat offenders where charges did not seem to be commensurate with the off enses of the repeat criminal.  We recognize that our justice system is guided by statutes and the law.  But it seems that in these instances, the statute may be out of step with current needs for certain crimes. We believe that the grand jury panel (broad group of civic minded mem bers of the community) may be a good forum to provide input for legislature redirect on statutes.

:l.- The four month term of the Hamilton County Grand Jury allowed us to hear and process over 500 felony and misdemeanor cases.  Ideally, the Grand Jury process deals with only felony cases. However, the inclusion of misdemea nors cases should continue since these cases are relatable to most members of the grand jury and set the groundwork to discuss and deliberate on the less familiar but more severe felony cases.

We believe the four month term is an appropriate length of time to serve on the Grand Jury. If the term was shorter, greater difficulty in establishi ng panel rapport, which facilitates open discussions and understandi ng of the process. A longer grand jury term would result in less willingness to serve in this civic duty.


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