Milwaukee County supervisors want shift in House of Correction control (UPDATE)

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Milwaukee County supervisors gave Sheriff David Clarke control of the House of Correction and now they want to take it away.

County Executive Chris Abele is actively recruiting for a superintendent to replace Clarke as head of the HOC. But the hiring process has been compromised by Clarke’s lawsuit against the county, in which the sheriff seeks to retain oversight of the facility.

In a suit filed last month, Clarke claims oversight of the HOC falls under his constitutional authority to operate the county’s jail.

During 2013 budget negotiations this fall, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors decided to hire a superintendent to oversee the HOC and replace Clarke. The county used to have a superintendent to run the HOC, but transferred that power to Clarke in 2009, when it was unhappy with the work of then-superintendent Ron Malone.

Now, Supervisor Mark Borkowski said, concerns about the way Clarke has run the HOC spurred the board to shift back to the superintendent model.

Borkowski said Clarke isn’t committed to rehabilitative programs, such as electronic monitoring, that supervisors want to see at the HOC. Last time he checked, Borkowski said, only about five of the 200 inmates eligible for electronic monitoring were in the program.

Clarke was not immediately available for comment.

Milwaukee County Executive spokesman Brendan Conway said Abele would like to see more inmates on electronic monitoring, as well. It’s cheaper, Conway said, to allow an inmate to live at home under electronic supervision than to pay to house that inmate at the HOC.

County supervisors plan to shift control of the HOC to a new superintendent April 1, but now Abele is asking that the deadline be pushed back to an unspecified date that would fall four months after a judge issues a decision on Clarke’s lawsuit.

The pending lawsuit is complicating hiring, Conway said, because candidates are not sure if a judge will rule in favor of Clarke, omitting the need for a supervisor to run the HOC.

“There have been some people, qualified candidates,” Conway said, “who have taken themselves off the table because this is so unclear.”

The April 1 deadline for transferring power also is a concern, he said, because county money for the superintendent position isn’t available until that day, which leaves no time for the person hired to learn the ropes before taking responsibility.

The county’s Judiciary, Safety and General Services Committee held over Abele’s deadline change request 4-1 at its Thursday meeting based on a motion by Supervisor John Weishan Jr. The committee next meets March 7.

A scheduling conference for Clarke’s lawsuit against the county is set for Feb. 5, said Mark Grady, deputy corporation counsel.

Weishan said he wasn’t comfortable agreeing to delay the transfer of power before more information about the lawsuit’s expected timeline was available.

Weishan described Clarke’s lawsuit as “frivolous,” however, and said he fully expects the judge to rule the HOC cannot be considered the type of jail Clarke has authority to run under the state’s constitution.

“We gave the sheriff the house,” Weishan said, “we can take it away.”

Borkowski, chairman of the judiciary committee, said he understood the lawsuit could impair Abele’s ability to recruit a superintendent. When the postponement comes up again in March, he said, he’ll likely vote in favor of it.

“This is too important,” he said. “I’m willing to give the executive as much time as he needs for this decision, for this hire.”