The Marathon County Corrections Crisis Revisited

Julie Christensen

In the spring of 2013, I wrote a series of articles regarding an incident which happened in the Marathon County Jail.  An inmate with a mental illness and not receiving medication punched and severely injured Correction Officer Julie Christensen.  Due to her injuries, Christensen was in a coma for a long time and in ICU for months.

Fortunately, Christensen has recovered and is back on the job.

This past week, the assailant, Frederick Morris, entered a guilty plea for attacking Christensen and another corrections officer. He is scheduled to get sentenced in September and is facing very stiff penalties for his crimes, as he should.

However, another person who has a lot of responsibility for this incident has thus far escaped any consequences.

Investigation into the assault showed that there was a lot of problems going on in the jail, all stemming from the austerity measures of Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger.  These austerity-generated problems included severe overcrowding, a serious staffing shortage, an inoperative intercom system, lack of training and failure to supply Tasers to the officers.

These problems led to other problems as well.  For example, due to the staffing shortage, inmates that were allowed out for work release were not being searched when they returned, leading to an influx of contraband, such as cigarettes, drugs and weapons.

Unbelievably, even though this was reported, Karger has done little to fix the problems he helped create.  An article regarding Morris' plea also reported this:

The issue of overcrowding remained one year later.

Brad Karger

Yet Karger hasn't even received as much as a slap on the wrist for allowing these conditions to develop  and continue thought to even today.

This might not remain so for long.  As noted above, Karger is the county administrator for Marathon County.  That means he is under a contract for his job, a contract that will eventually come up for renewal.

The question that I hope that Marathon County supervisors are already pondering is whether the problems Karger is causing makes it worth renewing that contract.

I would say that it most certainly does not.  They need to hire someone who will look out for the citizens and the taxpayers of Marathon County.

The Marathon County Fix Is In

If the gentle reader will recall, a few weeks ago, tragedy struck the Marathon County Jail.

Due to the predictable results of Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger's agenda of austerity, the county jail is severely short staffed and dangerously overcrowded, which led to extremely unsafe conditions.

Sadly, Correction Officer Julie Christensen ended up paying the price for Karger's austerity when she was savagely struck by an inmate.  She's been in intensive care ever since.

After the assault, Karger and Chief Deputy Scott Parks teamed up to cover up the role that their austerity and neglect played in the tragedy.  Parks was a willing partner in this because he was hoping that Scott Walker would name him to replace the recently retired sheriff.

Sad to say, corruption still reigns in Fitzwalkerstan, and it looks like Parks will get his wish granted:

For a very short time Monday, this photograph was posted on a Facebook page for Trinity Lutheran School in Wausau showing Marathon County’s Chief Deputy Scott Parks and his wife Theresa posing with Governor Scott Walker, indicating Parks has been selected to succeed Randy Hoenisch as Marathon County Sheriff. The posting was taken down after about an hour. 

Twitter postings have implied Governor Walker was planning an official announcement of Parks as the new sheriff this coming Wednesday. So far, no comment from Parks or Governor Walker.

As outrageous as this bit of news is, I have a feeling that Parks is yet going to learn the true meaning of the old adage: Be careful what you wish for - you just might get it.

If you wish to help Correction Officer Julie Christensen, there has been a trust fund established in her name at Integrity First Bank, 101 Grand Avenue, Wausau, WI 54403.  Their phone number is  (715) 845-0900.

Another Day Another Safety Risk Found At Marathon County Jail

As I have been writing about for a few weeks now, the Marathon County Jail is a very dangerous place to be, due to severely unsafe conditions which stem from the violently assaulted by an inmate.  She was knocked unconscious by a blow to the head and has been in intensive care ever since.
austerity agenda of the Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger.  As a result of Karger's austerity, Correction Officer Julie Christensen had been put in harm's way and was

Since the assault, it was learned that the jail was severely overcrowded, dangerously understaffed, had broken equipment and guards were denied tasers to protect themselves.  All this happened even though there was enough money available to address these safety concerns.

Now, yet another safety issue has been found:

The central Wisconsin jail where two corrections officers were attacked last month performs only limited searches of inmates returning to jail from work-release programs, despite a 2011 recommendation to increase searches, according to a published report.

About 80 of the Marathon County Jail's 279 inmates are in the facility's work-release eligible section, the Daily Herald Media reported (http://wdhne.ws/10dgf9o ). When those inmates return to jail each day, they pass through a metal detector and are patted down for weapons. However, jail officials say they don't have enough staff to do strip searches, which means inmates could potentially sneak in weapons or other contraband.

Wisconsin's Huber Law, the nation's oldest work-release program for jail inmates, allows inmates to leave for up to 12 hours a day, six days a week, the Marathon County sheriff's department said. About 70 percent of those who leave are working, and the rest leave to search for jobs, perform community service, attend school or provide child care, former jail Administrator Bob Dickman said.

Dickman, who resigned last week in the wake of the March 27 attack on the corrections officers, said there are only limited searches because of a lack of manpower.

"We just don't have the staff," he said. "We did request an additional officer, just for searches, but right now, we don't do searches nearly enough."

Naturally, Karger denies this, claiming he went through seven years' worth of requests, but couldn't find one. Yeah, right.

Dickman, who was scapegoated by Karger and Deputy Sheriff Scott Parks, has no reason to lie about this. He's already out of a job.

Karger, on the other hand, doesn't want to give up his $117,000+ salary. It's pretty apparent that Karger's faith in austerity stops with his own paycheck.

Another reason that Karger would want to sweep the trouble under the rug is that his buddy Parks is in the running to be picked to be the new Sheriff. It just wouldn't do to have problems being brought up time and time again as Scott Walker is interviewing the candidates:

Then again, since Walker is the Archbishop of Austerity, Walker might think the more problems they have, the more austere they must be, and will earn his approval.

But just to be safe, Parks better have made sure he gave Walker a lot of campaign cash.  Nothing gets Walker's attention like money, and the more money you give Walker, the more of his attention you get.

If you wish to help Correction Officer Julie Christensen, there has been a trust fund established in her name at Integrity First Bank, 101 Grand Avenue, Wausau, WI 54403.  Their phone number is  (715) 845-0900.

The Marathon County Corrections Cover Up Continues

Two weeks ago, I reported about a corrections officer, Julie Christensen, who worked at the Marathon County Jail.  She was viciously assaulted by an inmate who was reportedly not receiving proper care for his mental health issues.

Christensen has been in intensive care ever since the attack.

The kicker was that Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger knew for more than six years that the conditions at the jail were dangerous. Reports done by independent experts clearly pointed out that the jail was overcrowded and understaffed.  To make matters even worse, it was also revealed that the county had the money to at least partially address the safety concerns, but Karger sat on it because austerity!

Days later, it was revealed that the jail intercom system was not working and had not been working for years.  And as the staffing issue, it turns out that Karger had the money budgeted for it's replacement for three years, but again sat on that money because austerity!

To "address" the dangerous conditions at the jail which Karger created through his austerity agenda, the county announced they were going to create a citizens panel.  When the panel was announced, it raised red flags all over.  The panel was clearly designed to help cover up the role that Karger and his austerity played in this tragic, but completely avoidable, incident.

The cover up continued this week, with Karger and friends sinking to even lower depths.  They are putting on great airs of pretending to finally listen to the correction officers.  The hypocrisy in this is sickening when one considers that the guards have been asking for changes for years, only to have Karger to deny them time and time again. The reason for his callousness was, of course, austerity!

Even more egregious, Karger forced the jail administrator, Bob Dickman, to resign, because he suddenly "lost faith" in his ability to do the job.  It is obvious that Karger is going to use Dickman as the scapegoat for Karger's own willful failure.

The assailant has been charged with aggravated battery with the intent to cause bodily harm and battery by a prisoner, both felonies.  However, due to his ill thought out agenda of austerity, Karger should be held just as liable for his role in this.

He intentionally withheld funds which could have decreased the risk of such an incident occurring.  He had the wherewithal to increase staffing and properly maintain vital safety equipment, but chose not to.  That isn't being austere, that is being intentionally and grossly neglectful.

And if the Marathon County Board doesn't take action to address Karger's malfeasance, they are also as liable.

The real kicker is that even if people had supported Karger for saving them a few bucks in the short term, they are going to pay much, much more in the long term.  Not only will the taxpayers be on the hook for her medical care and any long term disability, but you know there will be one or two lawsuits filed regarding this incident.  One for the obvious failure to address the known safety concerns in an appropriate and timely manner.  The other would be if they truly were neglecting the inmate's mental health issues.

The latest report is that Christensen has been in an induced coma and is only starting to be allowed out of it.  The doctors see a long road of rehabilitation ahead of her.

If you wish to help Correction Officer Julie Christensen, there has been a trust fund established in her name at Integrity First Bank, 101 Grand Avenue, Wausau, WI 54403.  Their phone number is  (715) 845-0900.

Is Marathon County Meltdown Becoming The Marathon County Cover Up?

Last week, I reported on a tragic incident which occurred in the Marathon County Jail, in which a corrections officer, Julie Christensen, was brutally struck by an inmate and knocked unconscious.  To make the tragedy all the more senseless and outrageous, we have learned that it stems from the acts of austerity by Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger which led to overcrowding and understaffing of the jail.  It was also revealed the Karger had the money to address the issue, but didn't use it.

Christensen is still in critical condition and has been described as "clinging to life."

To resolve the issue, Karger and Chief Deputy Scott Parks are taking only two steps.

One is to finally allow the correction officers to carry tasers, like they've been asking for for years.

The other is to name a citizen panel to "study security conditions at the jail."

At the time, I expressed concern on who would pick and who would be the members of this panel:

And while the citizen panel is a good idea, I would question how it will be decided who will be part of that panel.

If Karger is in charge of it, forget it. He's the idiot that caused this mess and he's already trying to escape accountability for his malfeasance.

The most responsible way to handle this would be to have the County Board appoint the panel, but there should be some voice given to the union, either in selecting some of the panel members or being on the panel itself.

The panel has now been named and, unfortunately, my concerns were well founded.

Parks has named the members of this panel. They are:

•  Former Rothschild Police Chief Bill Schremp who was willing to close down his own police department and merge it with Wausau's police, in order to save money;
• Mount View Care Center administrator Lori Koeppel who was praised by the Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce for her cost cutting in the care of vulnerable adults;
• Intercity State Bank President Randy Balk - c'mon, he's a bank president! Where do you think his priorities lie?  Not to mention he's on the executive committee for the local Chamber of Commerce;
• LandArt owner Paul Jones who is also a director at the Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce; and 
• Daily Herald Media General Manager Michael Beck - The Daily Herald is a Gannet owned paper.  Gannet papers were the ones that practiced McCarthyism on public employees as well as their own employees, that is when they weren't busy laying them off.

Not one union voice was included in the decision making or in the panel itself. Likewise, the County Board was left completely out of the loop.

But, as with all things austerity related, there is more.  There is always more.

It come pretty obvious pretty quickly that Karger and Parks are working together on covering up the effects of their agenda of austerity by appointing these people.

Take a look at what each of them had to say about this panel:

"The intent wasn't to get a panel of experts about jails. What we want is people who are capable of understanding the information presented to them," Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger explained.

[...]

"The correctional facility is a lot like a business, and we're looking to be successful in that business and these individuals bring something to the table to show they've been successful," Parks said.

One of the panel members, Jones, also iterated the business theme.

This automatically puts them on the wrong footing. Prisons are a governmental operation and do not necessarily correlate well with a business paradigm. If they did, we wouldn't have seen all the riots in private prisons in which guards were beaten, raped and/or killed.

The reason that Karger and Parks picked these people instead of experts in jails is that they want their austerity justified and to absolve themselves of their role in Christensen's injuries.

But Parks has another motivation as well.

He has put his name in to replace Sheriff Randy Hoenisch, who had recently retired under suspicious circumstances.  Governor Scott Walker is expected to name the replacement Sheriff in May.  Being a good acolyte of austerity, being dismissive of public workers and making this serious problem just go away would elevate him in Walker's eyes.

For people like Karger, it's all about the money and power, no matter who gets hurt.  Always has been and always will be.

If you wish to help Correction Officer Julie Christensen, there has been a trust fund established in her name at Integrity First Bank, 101 Grand Avenue, Wausau, WI 54403.  Their phone number is  (715) 845-0900.

Was Marathon County Meltdown Preventable?

Earlier this week, I reported about a horrific incident which occurred in the Marathon County Jail.  Correction Officer Julie Christensen was brutally attacked and knocked unconscious by an inmate.

It was reported that county officials, namely Marathon County Administrator Brad
Karger, had a report in their hands which warned them that the jail was severely overcrowded and dangerously understaffed.

The next day, we learned that the intercom system was broken.

Karger and jail authorities are denying that any of these issues were factors in the incident, even though it's obvious that they were very much factors.

And all of these factors stem from the fact that Karger is an acolyte of austerity and puts money before the safety of his employees.

Karger admitted as such when he confessed that they did have the money at hand for increasing the staffing levels at the jail:

Reports were released six years ago that the jail was understaffed.

The sheriff’s department says they have some money to re-staff their faculty.

"If there are improvements that are needed, for safety in the jail, we’ll have to reprioritize," said Marathon County Administrator, Brad Karger.

"They do less on the lower priority items. So the answer is yes, but there’s not just a pot of money sitting there unallocated."

As equally outrageous is the way that the authorities were trying to spin the facts to make themselves look better, such as when they claimed that they were training the COs to use tasers:

But what if inmates get their hands on a taser? That was a concern, but Marathon County officials say officers are being trained on what to do if that happens and how to prevent it.

"We need to take this very seriously working in the correctional facility," Chief Deputy Parks said.

Sheriff's officials hope this step will improve safety and keep attacks, like the one last week, from ever happening.

What they aren't telling the public is that the officers were already trained to use the tasers and had been asking for them for a long time before the incident happened.

Again, it leads straight back to Karger's love of austerity and not giving two damns about the safety of his own people.

And it's not just the corrections officers that Karger is willing to sacrifice for the sake of the Almighty Dollars.

Cog Dis has learned that there are only two security officers to cover five court rooms, all of which could be having hearings at any given time. And as the incident shows, these inmates are not being held for jaywalking or throwing candy wrappers on the ground. These are violent people with nothing to gain by behaving themselves, thanks to Scott Walker's Act 28, which removes any chance for early release for good behavior. Any requests to increase staffing was consistently met with denial on the excuse that it was "too much spending."

Karger has created the perfect conditions for tragedy to happen and that is exactly what has occurred.

Sadly, Karger will probably not be held accountable for his role in this tragedy, with the possible exception of a lawsuit by the injured officer and her family.

However, I hope that the public is paying attention and realizing that it's their safety as much as that of the corrections officers which are being put at risk and that both will start holding Karger's feet to the fire until the situation is rectified.

I would remind the gentle reader that a trust fund in the name of Correction Officer Julie Christensen has been set up in her name at Integrity First Bank, 101 Grand Avenue, Wausau, WI 54403. Their phone number is (715) 845-0900.

More On The Marathon County Meltdown

Yesterday, I wrote about a horrible incident which occurred at the Marathon County Jail.  In said incident, Correction Officer Julie Christensen was struck in the head by an inmate and rendered unconscious.

I also pointed out that the jail has long been understaffed and overcrowded, even though Marathon County Administrator Bradley Karger has been trying to deny it.

It's not surprising that Karger is downplaying the role that the understaffing and the overcrowding has played, since it was his austerity measures that has led to this unnecessary and completely avoidable tragedy.  Of course, Karger's demand for austerity ends when it comes to his own benefits and pay.

Today, there was a press conference held by Karger and Chief Deputy Scott Parks:

Watch live streaming video from wdhlocalnews at livestream.com

As you can see, they are still in denial regarding the impact of the drastically low staffing levels. But on my previous post, there was a comment that confirms this to be false:

There is no incentive for potential new employees to want to work or apply to the Marathon County Jail. When act 10 was passed, Brad Karger and the County Board felt everyone had too many luxuries, and decided to strip a majority of them. One including overtime. In Corrections, Officers work a 4 day on, 2 day off rotation- 8 hour shifts. With the reduction of staff, Some days we are required to work 12-16 hours for coverage then return 8 hours later to work our normal scheduled hours. Typically these are mandatory. In order to get overtime we must work over a certain number of hours in a 28 day period, however you don't get the additional 1/2 pay until the following pay period. Many of us are used to working long hours but the price we pay is fatigue, stress, and the sense of being overwhelmed. The only reward we have for our hard work is our own sense of dedication. Someone has to do this job!

Brad Karger now shows such concern for our safety, however not long ago he was heard saying our job was "easy!" in fact "A monkey could do that job!" Brad, have you ever been in the jail and seen what we do or deal with?? That would be NO!

Everyday we go to work, kiss our families and tell them we love them because that could be the day we don't come home.... So yes Brad, each and everyone one of us think of our mortality when we put on the uniform.

Another comment that just came in as I am writing this post is even more telling:

For one thing, the Marathon County Jail does not have 47 Full time employees. It has 33. The inflated numbers are including officers who work at the Juvenile Detention facility, which is approximately seven

Bradley Karger

miles away from the jail, officers who have been deployed to war and a few on light duty. We have been running the jail with an average of seven officers on the floor at a given time. Seven officers for 280 inmates! It is insane to say staffing levels did not contribute to last Wednesdays attack and the really sad part is there is no foreseeable solution in the next year. No one wants to work at Marathon County. Corrections officers haven't had a pay raise in at least four years. They make less now than ten years ago. There is no one on the waiting list to be hired. No union. You have to work over 171 hours in a 28 day period to earn time and one half. Any time off you take during that period counts against your total hours.

We had to beg Administration to let us carry Pepper spray. Only supervisors were allowed to carry a taser until three days ago when officers threatened to walk out. Inmates are targeting certain CO's and many were thrilled when Officer Christensen was assaulted.

The blame lies with the County Board, Karger and the Jail Administrator and I pray to God there isn't another incident.

I have also been informed that the jail administrator has decided to "fix things" by changing the scheduling pattern. Last Friday, he informed the correction officers that they would start working twelve hour shifts, effective Saturday. No extra staff to address the dangerous conditions, just longer hours, which all but guarantees that there will be more burn out, more mistakes and more assaults.

To add to this, it was confirmed that the intercom system in that area was not working.

They again denied that this had anything to do with the incident because they also had portable radios.  Common sense tells you this is so much bullshit.

If you have officers in a dangerous situation, they could end up wasting valuable time trying to call for help on a system that is not working.  When you have officers in an already perilous situation, there is no excuse why every piece of equipment is not available and functioning.

So, let's recap this situation.

The marathon jail was severely overcrowded, holding about a third more inmates than it was designed to hold.  Furthermore, the inmates don't have any incentive to be on good behavior because Scott Walker took away any reason to with his Act 28.  To add to this, the inmate who attacked the officers has a history of mental health issues and it is questionable if he was receiving proper care, including medication.

Besides the jail being severely overcrowded, there was a dangerously low staffing level of officers, which were not properly equipped and what equipment they did have did not function properly.

The reason for the overcrowding, understaffing and other unforgivable lapses was due to County Administrator Bradley Karger's adherence to the Teapublican ideal of austerity.

And because of Karger's love of austerity, there is a woman lying in the hospital, "clinging to life."  Because of Karger's love of austerity, there are dozens of other officers that are at great risk as well.

So what are they going to do to fix this?

Nothing that will help the situation immediately:

Now, six days after the attack, sheriff's officials are talking about preventing this from happening again.

"All of our officers have been trained on using tasers and now all of them are equipped with one and will be immediately in effect," Parks said.

But what about staffing levels? A 2007 report to Marathon County showed the jail was dangerously understaffed then, and it hasn't improved. The chief deputy says staffing had nothing to do with this attack, but the county does plan to appoint a panel of community members to study security conditions at the jail.

"Sometimes we can easily look in the mirror and think that all is clear and all is well so by opening this up to other portions of the community to take a look at us and be transparent it provides us an opportunity for a fresh perspective and insight into actions we need to take," Parks said.

Right now, officials say, it is unclear when that panel will be appointed and when they will get to work.

Given the fact that the guards were overpowered not because they were unarmed but because they did not have sufficient staffing, adding tasers to the situation could compound the situation and only make things worse. Imagine the same situation but with a taser. Now you have an out of control inmate with a taser. Brilliant, it's not.

And while the citizen panel is a good idea,  I would question how it will be decided who will be part of that panel.

If Karger is in charge of it, forget it. He's the idiot that caused this mess and he's already trying to escape accountability for his malfeasance.

The most responsible way to handle this would be to have the County Board appoint the panel, but there should be some voice given to the union, either in selecting some of the panel members or being on the panel itself.

The immediate issue is still not being address however.  The guards are in imminent peril and a citizen panel that won't even be formed for weeks is not going to address this threat.

Since Karger is appointed by the Board, they should be demanding that he start doing the right thing by getting sufficient staffing in place as quickly as possible.  And if he balks, he should be removed immediately and a responsible adult should be appointed in his place.

Even if Karger does do the right thing now, it should be seriously considered
whether he should remain in his position.

Julie Christensen

Much of the responsibility for this situation lays at the feet of Karger and his austerity measures.  Because he wanted to cut corners here and there, there is a woman whose life will be forever changed.  And even if you wanted to look at it strictly from a fiscal aspect, the few bucks he had saved will now cost taxpayers exponentially more as the bills start to roll in.

If you wish to help Correction Officer Julie Christensen, there has been a trust fund established in her name at Integrity First Bank, 101 Grand Avenue, Wausau, WI 54403.  Their phone number is  (715) 845-0900.

Austerity And The Marathon County Meltdown

Last month, the Marathon County Sheriff, Randy Hoenisch, retired from his office under dubious circumstances:

Hoenisch, who was the fourth highest-paid sheriff in the state in 2011, was scheduled to end his term in January 2015. He announced his retirement at a news conference in the Sheriff’s Department offices, where he cited the criminal charges against his wife, Kim, including burglary, misconduct in public office and possession of narcotics, as the main cause of distraction in his job and the motivator for his early retirement. Kim Hoenisch, who was a probation and parole agent before she came under investigation, is scheduled to be sentenced April 25.

To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to this story at the time.

There is so much wrong happening in this state and country that another messed up politician hardly makes the radar anymore. Besides, if I wanted to write about sheriffs behaving badly, I've got Milwaukee County's David Clarke that would keep me busy for months as it is.  I was only passingly aware of it because the acolytes of austerity - right wing propagandists and radio squawk show hosts - were beating their chests in joy, as if they actually had something to do with it.

But then last week, another story came out of Marathon County that did pique my interest more.

Last Wednesday, two correctional officers in the Marathon County jail were

assaulted by a prisoner. One of the guards was seriously injured and is still in the hospital in critical condition and is "clinging to life":

The attack happened at about 12:30 p.m. when corrections officers entered a cellblock within the jail to take “corrective action,” according to the release issued Thursday. The inmate became combative and punched the corrections officer in the head as the officer was trying to move inmates to their individual cells, according to the release.

Both injured officers were taken by ambulance to Aspirus Wausau Hospital, where one officer was treated and released, authorities said.

Both officers involved in the altercation have been employed with the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department since 2001, according to the release.

We at Cog Dis wish a rapid recovery to the injured officer and strength for her family and friends as they help s

Since the incident, more background news has come in and it's not good.

For starters, it turns out that the jail was understaffed:

Officials at the Marathon County Jail, where an inmate critically injured a guard last week, were warned six years ago that staffing levels were so low that employees could be in danger.

Two consultants submitted a 2007 report in which they found that Marathon County was below the state average in its ratio of staff to inmates, the Wausau Daily Herald reported.

"It is clear that additional staffing is needed at the Marathon County Jail if it is to house the numbers of inmates it has been housing safely, securely and with a minimum county liability," consultants Dennis Kimme and Gary Bowker wrote.

At the time the report was released, the jail had 49 full-time staff members. The facility had even fewer staff members at the time of Wednesday's attack. The jail has 48 full-time staff members, said Frank Matel, the county's director of human resources.

On Monday, we learned that not only was the jail understaffed, it was also grossly overcrowded:

The Marathon County Jail was operating above recommended inmate capacity levels last week when an inmate brutally beat a corrections officer at the facility.

The attack happened at about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to a news release from the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department. The jail housed 286 inmates on the morning of the attack, seven more than capacity, according to a daily jail report issued Wednesday morning.

Housed in the Marathon County Courthouse building in downtown Wausau, the jail was originally designed to hold 191 inmates. In 1999, administrators increased jail capacity to 279 by adding additional bunks to single jail cells, according to a 2007 jail assessment study. The revised capacity of 279 was approved by state corrections officials, according to the report.

The report, obtained by Daily Herald Media, outlined current jail conditions and identified “serious perimeter security issues” within the jail. The report, written by two independent consultants along with Marathon County Jail Administrator Bob Dickman, said that operating above the original 191 inmate capacity has created “greater challenges to staff trying to properly separate, classify and manage inmates equitably, effectively and safely.”

Gee, a jail that is understaffed and overcrowded...what could possibly go wrong? 

But wait, it only gets worse.

With there being no Sheriff, all the reporters have been going to the Marathon County Administrator, Brad Karger, for answers and comments.  To say that his forthrightness has been lacking would be an understatement:

Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger said he did not believe staffing issues contributed to the attack.

Yeah. Right.

If the gentle reader was not aware, I had done a stint as a correctional officer at the Milwaukee County House of Correction, now known as the County Correctional Facility - South. During Scott Walker's time as Milwaukee County Executive, things were bad there as well, and yes, it was because of the staffing issues:

Having had worked at HOC for a number of years, I feel that I have some insight on what happened. Basically the House is understaffed, and the workers are burning out by having to do constant overtime. This was talked about in an article in MSJ back on June 30th.

Many of the officers at the HOC use the job as a stepping stone for a position with the Sheriff's Department (oops, Sheriff's Office now) or with a municipal police department. Many officers don't have what it takes to work there and leave on their own or are fired. This means a high rate of turnover already exists. Adding to the problems is Scott Walker's perennial budget cuts in the disguise of tax freezes, and this lowers the number or positions available, but not necessarily the number needed. Furthermore, in an effort to cut his budget, Sheriff David Clarke changed the staffing at the Milwaukee County Jail from deputies to correction officers, causing a small exodus of people from HOC to the jail.

So now you have officers that are working 12 to 16 hours a day, six to seven days a week, week in and week out. Officers are getting so burnt out that they are purposely disrespecting superior officers, or violating other policies, just so they can get suspended and have a day off. (This also adds to the shortage of officers, and causes even more forced overtime for the others.)

When you have people working these many hours, without a day off or even enough time to do more than catch five hours a sleep before going back to work on a daily basis, mistakes are going to happen. People aren't as alert or as careful as they should be, especially in a prison setting.

The chronic fatigue, the inability for officers to see their families, and the increasing risk of injury has caused an all time low in morale. This is exacerbated when they have people threatening their job security with talk of privatization.

As Karger claims for the Marathon County Jail, the House of Corrections always passed the state's inspections. But when it came to a federal audit of HOC, we learned that things weren't so good after all:

The House is now run by Superintendent Ron Malone, who reports to County Executive Scott Walker, while the jail is run separately by Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr.

The federal report, in unusually blunt language, says: "The House of Correction is a seriously troubled institution." Though not overrun by gangs or plagued by a high number of escapes or assaults, the House "is an institution with a bad history and a negative, counter-productive organizational culture."

But it wasn't just the understaffing and overcrowding at the jail that contributed to this horrible assault.

It also has the marks of the heavy hand of the Archbishop of Austerity - Scott Walker.

Namely, it also involves Acts 10 and 28.

We have already seen how Act 10 and Act 28 has affected the Wisconsin Correctional System and how it led to an increase in assaults on correctional officers:

“With changes in sentence structure due to Truth in Sentencing laws and the recent repeal of Act 28 (a provision that allows for the early release of some inmates), many inmates feel they have no options,” said Phil Briski, union president at DCI. “The inmate that left one of our officers with serious injuries said he had no hope of getting out of prison and was going to assault a staff member no matter where he was (incarcerated). They’re stuck in here for longer periods of time, and we’re the ones who are going to pay for it.”

Briski thinks the low incidence of uprisings in Wisconsin correctional institutions over the years has been due to a highly trained, experienced staff.

“With the contempt that’s been shown to us, people don’t care as much. They figure there’s no benefit to being above average,” Briski said. “Things are going to slip, and there’s going to be mistakes made due to the turnover in staff, overcrowding of prisons and the legislature’s failure to deal with the issues.”

And the assaults continued on the state level, so why would one be surprised if they also continued on the county level.

This brings us back to Karger, who appears to also be an Acolyte of Austerity, especially when one sees his reaction to Act 10:

Eager Wisconsin officials are telling workers they’ll still contribute more to employee benefits while Gov. Walker’s embattled legislation is stuck in the courts.

Brad Karger, the administrator for Marathon County said his county, like many others, will have workers contribute 15 percent to their health care and 5.8 percent to retirement starting next year.

“We’re projecting for next year’s budget all of the suggestions Governor Walker has in terms of employee contributions,” Karger said.

[...]

But this year, Karger, who said he’s confident that Walker’s legislation will be enacted soon, doesn’t have to worry about unions.

Karger said Wisconsin counties are “overwhelmingly” deciding to up employee contributions for next year, free from the oversight of unions and despite Judge Maryann Sumi’s ruling.

Based on that, it's pretty safe to say that he isn't very worker-friendly.

Mind you, it's not that he's against public servants getting a lavish salary and pension, as long as he's that public servant:

“Bradley Karger, Marathon County Administrator, has an estimated annual pension of $75,070*, based on his actual annual salary of $117,296, with an estimated lifetime payout of $2,026,882*. ”

I'm a little surprised that Walker hasn't snatched Karger up and gave him a job

Brad Karger

somewhere in his administration. They seem to be two peas in a pod.

I have it on good authority that we will soon be learning even more news that piles on the outrage of what has already happened, all of which will be due to the austerity measures taken by the so-called leaders of Marathon County. Any savings that the taxpayers thought they were going to see from these austerity measures will soon be gone and then some due to the county's failure to do the right thing instead of the right wing thing.

In the meantime, the good people of Marathon County can thank Karger for leading them over a fiscal cliff and being so nonchalant about the guard who is fighting for her life now. His contact information can be found here.