IDOC delays spawn court order

BONNERS FERRY — A 1st District Court judge is ordering the Idaho Department of Correction to do its job.

Senior District Judge Steve Verby issued the unusual order on Feb. 22, after a Washington state man spent 65 days in jail while waiting on an IDOC employee to conduct a presentence investigation in a felony drug possession case.

The defendant, Ray Allen Jones, presented the court on Feb. 21 with a call log from the Boundary County Jail documenting the fact that he had called IDOC to arrange the presentence interview no less than 14 times.

The department’s response to the calls? Crickets and tumbleweeds, according to court documents.

Jones, a 36-year-old from Moses Lake, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and marijuana on Oct. 1, 2018. He pleaded guilty to the charges on Dec. 20, 2018, and Judge Barbara Buchanan ordered him to be released on his own recognizance after he completed the presentence investigation, court records show.

Under Idaho law, a defendant in a felony case cannot be placed on probation or be released without a presentence investigation, which examines a defendant’s offense, criminal record and social history.

Verby said in the order that the Allen case, as well as other cases he’s presided in, demonstrate there are “serious problems” with the IDOC division tasked with conducting presentence investigations. The problems ranged from a consistent failure to return calls, not completing the investigations, failing to advise the court of incomplete investigations and providing presentence reports so late that attorneys have little or no time to go over the document with their clients, according to the order.

In addition to causing headaches for court staff, attorneys, witnesses, law officers, jailers and judges, the lack of presentence reports means Idaho taxpayers are needlessly wasting money incarcerating people who should not be in jail, Verby wrote. He added that it also exposes the state to class-action litigation.

“Based on the information received, it appears that the Idaho Department of Correction has been, and continues to be unable to deal effectively with the egregious problem of failing to return phone calls to defendants in order to complete presentence reports in a timely manner. This failure by the department is abhorrent and has resulted in people remaining in jail when they should not be,” Verby wrote.

Verby’s order requires IDOC personnel to report to Boundary County to conduct the presentence investigation in the Jones case by Wednesday.

It was not immediately clear on Wednesday if IDOC complied with the order. IDOC spokesman Jeff Ray said on Wednesday the department was looking into the matter and anticipates releasing a statement today.

A transcript from the Feb. 21 hearing shows prosecutors and defense attorneys had a frank discussion with the court about the holdup in obtaining presentence reports from IDOC, a problem that has apparently gone on for years and has only gotten worse over time.

Deputy Prosecutor Tevis Hull noted that Buchanan attempted to rectify the problem and called IDOC’s handling of the matter an “atrocity.”

“From my perspective, the department of corrections makes no effort to adjust their system,” said Hull.

Jack Douglas, Boundary County’s elected prosecutor, said government owes a responsibility to the public — including defendants — to have a user-friendly system.

“It shouldn’t be difficult and it should happen more quickly because I think we owe that to them in all fairness,” said Douglas.

Michael G. Palmer, a Kootenai County attorney, said counsels are lucky if they receive a presentence report on the day of or day before sentencing and noted that some of the reports are done sloppily. When defendants do manage to speak with their presentence investigator, Palmer said investigators can be abrupt and inconvenienced by the contact.

“So I guess I’m on a soap box, but it is incredibly frustrating and has been for a long time,” Palmer said.

Serra Woods, a public defender who represents defendants in Bonner and Boundary counties, agreed with her colleagues’ remarks.

“It’s just utter chaos and it’s getting worse,” Woods said.

Verby was also blunt during the hearing.

“Regardless of what the excuse or reason may be, the department of corrections needs to take action and needs to fulfill their responsibility to the state of Idaho,” Verby said during the Feb. 21 hearing.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.