Drugs in Prison
 
According to the Corrections Yearbook, Oregon had the best track record in the nation in 1996 regarding drugs in prison with only 0.9 percent of random drug tests showing positive. In the first eleven months of 1997 the rate of positive urinalysis reports on a randomly selected five percent of the prison population remained less than one percent. Five canine teams and two investigators assigned to the Drug Investigations Unit, part of the Inspections Division, work closely with prison staff to eliminate illegal drugs in the state prisons.
 
Bed Count
 
Some statistics on prison beds in Oregon:
1980´s Expansion: Between 1983 and 1991, 3450 beds were built. Snake River Correctional Institution(SRCI) in Ontario was sited for 3000 beds; 648 were built in the initial phase, and funding for operating those beds was phased in in the early to mid-90´s. Full SRCI build out will be complete in August 1998 for a total of 3000 beds. The SRCI expansion was part of the 1980´s siting effort.
 
Facilities sited in 1996 and 1997 will add an additional 9200 beds to the state prison system over the next twelve years or so. The grand total of beds built and/or sited and planned, including those in existing institutions, is approximately 18,750. Room for expansion also exists; with forethought to future needs, some of the new men´s prisons were sited for more beds than the department has immediate plans to build.
 
Jail Management System Project
 
The DOC is developing a new partnership with county jails based on mutual benefits and needs. Working with the Oregon State Sheriff´s Association, a committee was formed to design a jail management system to assist jails with daily operations, provide local management information and electronically transmit data to the Department of Corrections needed to evaluate SB 1145. A vendor was just selected under a statewide agreement to create and deliver the custom designed system to those jurisdictions requesting, and paying for, this service. Through this statewide effort between county jail systems and the department, now even small jails may have a sophisticated jail management system.
 
Good Deeds
 
In the past few months the DOC has provided inmate work crews at reduced or no cost for several community service projects. For instance, inmates built a new playground in Aumsville. They removed an accumulation of brush in Turner. They also improved soccer fields in South Salem. Since local money was scarce, these projects could not have proceeded without inmate labor.
 
Private Partnerships
 
1994´s Ballot Measure 17 cleared the way for the department to form alliances with profit-making companies in the private sector that wish to use inmate labor. Five private partnerships to date have been approved by the Prison Industries Board. Inmates are now working for Pantec, Trussbilt, the Array Corporation of the Yoshida Group, Metropolitan Disposal Corporation and PSC. Speaking of Yoshida´s, during their first month running the Prison Blues garment factory, 8,160 pairs of jeans, 2,340 shirts and 2,016 T-shirts were produced. Sixty inmates were assigned to the factory during the month of November logging a total of 5,748 hours.
 
Prison Advisory Committees
 
Prison Advisory Committees (PAC´s) have been established in the future prison host commmunities of Lakeview, Madras, Ontario, Umatilla and Wilsonville. PACs are non-political entities with no agenda in the promotion of, or opposition to, any governmental or community organization. Call 503-373-1572, ext. 7107 for more information about upcoming meetings.
 
PACs serve as communications conduits between host communities and the DOC. They advise the DOC on activities and programs that impact their communities. PACs are non-political entities with no agenda in the promotion of, or opposition to, any governmental or community organization. Call 503-373-1572, ext. 7107 for more information about upcoming meetings.
 
Year 2000 Update
 
The DOC has long been aware of potential problems caused by the approaching millennium. Because of sentencing considerations, the DOC main database was originally designed with a four-digit year. Over the past eighteen months, DOC Information Services staff have been actively seeking solutions to other date-related programming problems.
The DOC has hired contractors to assess, fix and test the integrated programs that keep essential data flowing. Costs were originally estimated at $9.7 million. Current projections indicate a $7.3 million price tag, but the project team is working aggressively to lessen fiscal impact while assuring that systems will function correctly when the calendar turns to 2000.
 
County Performance Reviews
 
The Community Corrections Division  is in the process of conducting performance reviews on each county´s community corrections programs. Reviews are based on site visits to county programs and contact with local program personnel and criminal justice leaders.
 
Wilsonville Update
 
Last month´s Supreme Court decision cleared the way for DOC to proceed to the Legislative Emergency Board with a package of funding requests to move the Wilsonville prison complex forward. With cost estimates finalized, the site team is concentrating on the completion of schematic designs, review of building re-use, and development of bid packages. Staff are concurrently writing an activation plan to specify tasks needed for institution start up and operation.
 
Additionally, we have been negotiating with the city and other regional and county representatives on infrastructure issues. We see many of these becoming "win-win" for the city and the department in terms of improvements to roads, access to water and other infrastructure needs. The next Prison Advisory Committee meeting is February 4, 6:30 p.m., at Wood Middle School, Wilsonville.