Sewer system failure fouls Deer Ridge inmate moving day

On Tuesday, the 774 adults in custody at the Deer Ridge Correctional Institution near Madras were shifted from the minimum-custody facility to the unused medium-custody facility, as planned. But a sewer system failure made for some challenges, officials said.

This move was in response to the October prison population forecast generated by the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, which shows an increased need for additional men’s beds, the state Department of Corrections said.

The DRCI medium-facility has greater capacity and will operate as a minimum-security facility, officials said.. This means that even though the facility was designed for medium-custody housing, it will only house minimum-custody inmates.

The Department of Corrections will staff it as with any minimum-custody facility. The DRCI minimum-security facility will no longer house inmates at this time, but the building will be utilized for program space and Oregon Corrections Enterprises work opportunities.

An agency spokeswoman confirmed a report to NewsChannel 21 from an inmate’s family member of a sewer system problem after the move was made.

Around 5 p.m., the sewer system in one of the now-minimum-security housing units failed as “the drainage system was not functioning properly,” said DOC Communications Manager Betty Bernt.

“The water was immediately turned off, and the individuals in that housing unit were moved to another unit,” Bernt wrote in an email. “The move was complete by 6 p.m., and the systems in that unit are fully operational.”

Bernt also disputed a report of new, severe restrictions on the inmates after the move to the new facility. Instead, she said they involved temporary “emergency operations” during and after the move, for the safety and security of all involved.

The steps include suspension of programs, including classes and recreation, restricted movement and limited inmate work activities.

“This is standard practice for anything major that occurs outside of normal operations,” Bernt wrote. “Once the move was complete, we slowly began to restore normal operations. Today (Wednesday), additional work opportunities were brought back online and meals were served in the dining hall. Tomorrow (Thursday), DRCI expects to be back to full regular operations.”

DRCI was built as a multi-custody facility four miles east of Madras. The minimum facility began receiving inmates in September 2007. DRCI provides a range of correctional programs and services including, education, drug and alcohol treatment, mental health treatment, cognitive programs, and inmate work crews.

—

Earlier announcement:

The Oregon Department of Corrections is proceeding with plans to move nearly 800 inmates from the overcrowded minimum-security prison at the Deer Ridge Correctional Institution east of Madras and into the adjacent, never-opened medium-security building, which becomes a new minimum-security facility at a cost of $2.5 million.

The move to the larger building, proposed last fall, will occur “sometime between now and March 1,” agency spokeswoman Elizabeth Craig confirmed to NewsChannel 21 in an email late Sunday. It is part of efforts by the agency to deal with an unexpected rise in future prison population projections that arose last year.

The agency is asking lawmakers at the February state legislative session for that funding – and for another $7 million to place another 200 inmates, if needed, at the Deer Ridge facility the current inmates are being moved to.

Both facilities were completed in 2007, with the men’s minimum-security prison set at a supposed maximum of 644 prison beds, and the adjoining medium-security facility holding up to 1,228 inmates.

About $2.5 million is being spent to furnish the long-mothballed building and replace what was removed and sent to other institutions for use over the years. The other $7 million is needed if another 200 inmates will be housed there, for staff and items like medical and food services. The currently used facility would stay empty, for at least time being.

“We will be asking for the full $9.5 million during the February session,” DOC spokeswoman Elizabeth Craig told NewsChannel 21 by email Sunday. “But we are hoping that we will see our (inmate) intakes decrease to the point where we won’t have to open those additional 200 beds and spend that $8 million.”

The Portland Tribune reports some lawmakers have suggested they might have to raid a $40 million Justice Reinvestment fund, dedicated to paying for county-level support services designed to keep offenders out of prison. Other lawmakers object, as county officials have said that could deal a deadly blow to that two-year-old program.

An effort has been underway recently to help counties curtail the number of offenders judges send to the state prison system. That might head off the need for the 200 added beds at Deer Ridge. While that has been helping to drop the prison’s intake numbers, a lawmaker said people are not leaving the prison system as quickly as projected, causing the total population to rise.