[Editor's Note: This is part 3 of the Grant County Commission first work session of the month held April 9, 2024. It begins county reports.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

The first director report at the Grant County Commission April 9, 2024 work session, came from Detention Center Administrator Joseph Andazola. He said they had three officers in training, with four vacancies. "We did have an accreditation council meeting last month, and we did get approval for our application. It will go before the Accreditation Board and I am seeking approval to get our PARS (preliminary arraignment system) going."

He said once he gets the username and password, he can start uploading items for the PARS DMS (document management system). "It should take a couple of months, and then we can schedule an audit for the facility. As this is new to us, I will update you every month."

As of March 31, 2024, the population at the detention center stood at 86 detainees, with the March average daily population at 83. The R.I.S..E program in March had 24 participants, with 10 in the facility and 14 in the community.

For future projects, "we did meet with the IGNITE PROGRAM, which is a program for the National Sheriffs' Association initiative to help jails reignite a program that began in Gennesee County in Michigan. It offers a full education system, job certification and work opportunities and assistance to incarcerated individuals. It's called IGNITE, which is an acronym for inmate growth naturally and intentionally through education. We're looking to start this program in conjunction with our R.I.S.E. program. It also comes with some grant funding."

He said the facility would receive replacement of door sliders and placement of a Cuff pass (food port) in the recreation yard doors. The facility will get a card reader systems upgrade. "We've stabilized our supervisor positions, so we expect to soon conduct sergeant position testing and interviews. "

Andazola said May 5-11 would be National Correctional Officers Week, and they plan a celebration at noon on Friday, May 10 at the jail. Also at the end of April the first annual meeting with all R.I.S.E. programs would take place in Santa Fe. "We will share what we are doing with our programs and talk about the different ideas we have."

"We continue to update our five-year plan," he concluded.

District 3 Commissioner said she appreciated Andazola's leadership and staff "for getting us to this point, almost to accreditation."

DWI Coordinator Daniel Graves next presented his report.

"We recently held the Teen Maze," Graves said. "It was my first, so it was a learning experience. The event overall was a success. Over the three days of the event, we had six schools —Silver High School, Snell Middle School, Cobre High School, Aldo Leopold Charter School, La Plata Middle School and Cliff Middle and High schools—participate with 711 students going through the maze. And 22 difference agencies participated to help make the event a success."

He noted that they reached out to 1100 students, and had a good solid group of more than 700 go through the maze. "We plan in the future to maybe switch between middle schools one year and high schools the next in order to focus more on the issues for the particular age group."

District 1 Commissioner and Chair Chris Ponce thanked Graves for putting on the event. "I've heard nothing but good compliments on the event. I also appreciate all the agencies that participated. "

Graves also presented his DWI report. "We have contracted with an agency that is providing DWI School here in the county. They were able to get it up quicker than we could have. It's the Transportation Safety Foundation."

He said he is the DWI affiliate vice chair for New Mexico Counties and is working on the legislative bills that impact the program. "We are working together in support of bills in June to put together a bill that will not only work for both sides, but also pass the House."

Graves said he had been asked to take over the Hidalgo County Teen Maze, but just that morning the Hidalgo Health Council had offered to take it over.

He said they had participated in the Western New Mexico University Health Week events, and was late coming to the meeting because he was doing driver's ed at Cliff Schools. The Aldo Leopold and Cobre proms would be coming up.

Future projects include the acquisition of a DWI crash car to take to events to show the potential results of DWI driving. "The local crash is still under investigation, so we can't use it yet, but as soon as the investigation is complete, we will be able to use it. We are working on our prevention trailer design and possibly purchasing a new vehicle."

The next report came from Emergency Manager Scot Fuller. "One of the major projects we've been working on is the Hazard Mitigation Plan. We chose H2O Partners as the vendor. I had a long meeting with the project manager, and we're looking at a May timeframe for the kickoff meeting for the plan."

He said he had submitted an application to New Mexico Counties for a wildfire reduction plan grant. It was approved by the BLM (bureau of land management) and he was hoping to see it approved for funding in June.

For future projects he said he was looking to apply for funding for two generators as part of the hazard mitigation grant program, for the Conference Center, as the disaster operations center, to have backup generation. And as the county has agreed to purchase the former Aldo Leopold School building for his office and the sheriff's office, he would like a generator for that building, too.

He cited key event dates including the Tour of the Gila, which took place from April 24-28.

And "one last thing," for the IPP (integrated preparedness plan), Fuller planned to have revisions completed well before it was due at the end of the month. He said he tried to keep his report brief to hit the highlights.

The next report would come from the County Fire Chief Roger Groves.

To read the previous articles, please visit https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/84008-grant-county-commission-holds-work-session-040924-part-1; and https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/84035-grant-county-commission-holds-work-session-040924-part-2