Ben Pifher/PCT The Heart of America Correction and Treatment Center in Rugby, shown Tuesday, Oct. 29, has routinely taken overflow from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Administrator Mike Graner anticipates the facility will take on a larger role as the state penitentiary addresses its overcrowding issue.

Due to ongoing overcrowding at the North Dakota State Penitentiary, the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCR) has entered a period of “prioritization.”

According to a Monday, Oct. 28, release by the DOCR, North Dakota’s prison system has exceeded its maximum operational capacity of 1,624 male inmates in the last year, with the current population standing at 1,779. Despite partnering with county jails such as the Heart of America Correction and Treatment Center (HACTC) in Rugby to house inmates in unutilized bed space, the release stated those additional beds are now full and the waiting list for new admissions has grown.

The inmate admission prioritization plan is implemented when the average daily inmate population in a discrete month exceeds the maximum operational capacity, opening the door for the DOCR to refuse individuals who have been ordered to serve their sentence in its custody.

“Public safety continues to be our top priority as we enter prioritization,” DOCR Director Colby Braun said in the release.

The plan categorizes respective inmates based on their offense level, with Class AA, A and B offenses being the first in prioritization according to the release and nonviolent felonies and misdemeanors receiving a lower prioritization for placement at the state penitentiary. The prioritization period is expected to last until sometime in November, according to DOCR information.

Those inmates in the lower tiers of prioritization who are not selected to be transferred will have to remain in the jurisdiction of county jails. Deputy Director of Adult Services Rachelle Juntunen said if a county jail is unable to hold the lower level offenders themselves due to their own overcrowding issues, they will follow their own prioritization plan to locate an available spot at another facility. While the option does exist for an overflow inmate to be released into the public, Juntunen said this scenario would likely only occur for individuals awaiting trial who would then fall under the supervision of pretrial services personnel in the appropriate jurisdiction.

“This is an opportunity going into the Legislature to have an honest conversation about who is in prison. I think the general public hears about people getting out of prison or that prison is full, there’s a sense of fear. The majority of people in prison aren’t there for a violent crime. They’re there for substance abuse,” Juntunen said. “Having an opportunity to look at that and see if there’s something else we could do that’s cheaper and more effective to treat substance than sending them to prison, hoping they’ll get treatment through that route.”

Mike Graner, HACTC administrator, said he foresaw the prioritization period would likely have a neutral or positive effect on the Rugby facility, saying the 142 available beds would enable HACTC to take on additional overflow.

“We rely pretty much solely on contracting out most of our beds because of our size and location. It’s a relatively large facility for a very rural area like Rugby. The model has always been to get into boarding contracts with other jurisdictions, so we contract with a number of counties and a couple of cities,” Graner said. “We are usually able to pivot quickly to help out those jurisdictions.”

Graner said HACTC historically worked with the U.S. Marshal Service and in the last three weeks supported the Bottineau County Jail to house its inmates while its staff completed certification training.

“We have 23 DOCR residents here on overflow status right now. I can see us taking that number up a little bit to help them out a little bit more. But as with anywhere, we are limited by our own staffing constraints. If our staffing can be stable, we can see that number increasing,” Graner said.

Graner said when he first began working at HACTC 11 years ago, the average daily inmate population was around 110 inmates a day, but since the COVID pandemic that number has dipped to 78 inmates as a daily average.

“On that side, it would be a positive effect for us because we’re able to assist the state department out in this case. We’re able to generate some additional revenue for our facility and fill some of our beds that would otherwise be empty,” Graner said.

Graner said HACTC doesn’t have the resources available to cure the DOCR’s crowding ills on its own, but it is in a position to possibly take on an additional 25 inmates.

“That’s kind of where we’d settle in at. We’re basically there. But that doesn’t mean we can’t consider taking over another unit possibly or intermingling them with our current population to give them even a little more relief. But based on the projections they have, we would not be able to help overcome those types of projections,” Graner said.