Newstrack: How the Linn County Jail reduced overtime and resignations

CEDAR RAPIDS — Changes made to the way federal inmates are transported to appointments outside the Linn County Correctional Center has reduced complaints about overtime and deputy resignations.

Background

Earlier this year, the Linn County Correctional Center reached a new agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to change the way federal inmates are guarded outside of the jail.

The move came amid employee resignations and complaints about mandatory overtime.

Previously, when a federal inmate had to leave the jail for doctor’s appointments or hospital visits, two Linn County deputies were required to accompany that inmate. This requirement, as well as other staffing concerns, was causing stress for the jail deputies, Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said.

Jail employees cannot to be scheduled for more than 16 hours — excluding mandatory training or meetings — in a 24-hour period. They are paid time and a half for any work that exceeds 40 hours per week, according to the contract between the county and the local Public Professional and Maintenance Employees Union.

The jail did not exceed its overtime budget for fiscal year 2022, but deputies had been complaining, and some had resigned as a result of the mandatory overtime, Gardner told The Gazette in August.

To address the problem, Gardner reached a new agreement with the U.S. Marshalls and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The federal agencies are now required to transport federal detainees to and from doctor’s appointments, as well as take over watching a federal inmate within eight hours of the inmate being admitted to a hospital unexpectedly.

The changes fall within the parameters of the existing contract the jail had with the federal agencies, which states that the local government agrees to provide transportation for federal inmates “subject to the availability of its personnel.”

The federal government pays Linn County $86 per inmate per day to house federal inmates. It also pays $43 per hour for time spent by Linn County deputies transporting and guarding federal inmates outside of the jail.

The jail’s difficulty filling open positions was adding to employees’ stress. There were five open positions in August.

What’s happened since

The change has been effective in reducing overtime and employee stress in recent months, Gardner said.

“This (change) has been very successful as it relates to us providing security to (United States Marshal Service) inmates once they are admitted to the hospital,” Gardner said. “Currently, our staff only provides security for eight hours or less once (United States Marshal Service) inmates have been admitted, which has significantly reduced the overtime burden.”

No employees have resigned from the jail since the changes were made, Gardner said. One jail commander did retire, but that had been planned for several months.

Three of the five open deputy positions have now been filled, and one conditional job offer is pending, though it could take several months to be finalized, Gardner said.

“Complaints about overtime have been going down, as the deputies are seeing the results of providing limited (United States Marshal Service) hospitalized inmate security, which has been very positive for staff,” Gardner said.

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