Ramsey County Board Workshop on Project Bridge – December 2, 2025
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Ramsey County Board Workshop on Project Bridge – December 2, 2025
This workshop, held on December 2, 2025, at 1:30 p.m., focused on Project Bridge—a partnership between the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office and Community Corrections to reduce overcrowding at the Adult Detention Center (ADC) by transferring suitable pre-trial detainees to the Ramsey County Correctional Facility (RCCF), which offers more extensive programming and services. No votes were taken.
Discussion Items
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Overview of Facilities: The ADC is a pretrial facility (425 Grove St., St. Paul) licensed for 460 beds, recently operating near capacity (440–460). The RCCF is a post-trial facility (license capacity 556) currently housing 150–170 residents across five units, with an average daily sentenced population of ~95 (down from 283 in 2019 due to initiatives like the Reducing Revocations Challenge and the Community Alternatives Program). Average length of stay at RCCF is ~26 days.
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Project Bridge Operations: Started in April 2025, initially moving 30 male and 10 female residents to RCCF, then expanding to 60–70 residents (63 as of the workshop). Eligibility is based on behavior, charge severity, and medical clearance; individuals with serious charges (e.g., in the “G unit”) are not eligible due to security requirements. Staff noted that sending well-behaved individuals from the ADC left some housing units with only poor-behaved residents, requiring two officers per unit.
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Services and Programming: At RCCF, residents can access: no-cost phone calls/video visitation, caseworkers, GED/ESL/certification courses (through North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District), religious services, job assignments (up to $25/week), and cognitive behavioral therapy. 77% of Project Bridge residents participated in programming. Correctional Health provides medical care, medication-assisted treatment (MAT) including daily Suboxone clinics, and a planned pilot of long-acting injectable buprenorphine (Sublocade) funded by opioid settlement dollars. 72% of Project Bridge residents receive mental health services; 58% of RCCF and 52% of ADC residents are on psychotropic medications. Discharge planning includes connecting to community providers (e.g., Kai-Shing Clinic, M Health Fairview), but follow-up data is limited due to lack of signed releases.
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Challenges Highlighted: ADC overcrowding is driven by longer stays (median 5–7 days but often much longer due to court delays, Rule 20 competency evaluations, multiple charges, and holds from other counties). Mental health and substance use disorders are prevalent. The county absorbs medication costs (up to $3,000/month per patient for some injectables). Staffing ratios are strained; the ADC often needs two officers per unit when behavior escalates.
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Commissioner Questions and Feedback: Commissioners requested: 1) operational rhythm data on ADC flow (length of stay by population segment over five years); 2) demographic breakdowns of Project Bridge participants vs. general ADC population by race and age; 3) metrics on post-release success (e.g., recidivism, treatment completion); 4) a clearer decision tree for participant selection; 5) expansion of community handoff resources; 6) development of shared goals across departments to improve holistic care regardless of which facility door a resident enters. Commissioner Moran emphasized using the time in custody as a positive intervention to reduce recidivism and benefit the community.
Key Outcomes
- Staff will compile requested data (ADC operational rhythm, demographic comparisons, metrics on program outcomes) and share via a single email.
- The county aims to develop a “Project Bridge 2.0” that includes: expanded partnerships with housing stability, social services, and workforce solutions; accreditation of correctional health through NCCHC; expansion of cognitive behavioral therapy (COG 101) for short-term residents; and exploring technology (tablets) and telehealth to connect residents with community resources.
- Commissioners directed staff to create a strategic plan with clear goals, metrics (e.g., reduced time in custody, improved care quality), and a decision tree for coordinating multiple stakeholders (law enforcement, courts, attorneys, social services, public health, community providers) to improve seamless transitions and reduce recidivism.
- The workshop concluded with recognition that resource constraints require creative use of existing space and technology, and that cross-departmental collaboration is essential for transformational change.
Meeting Transcript
Oh, okay. Oh, okay. Well, good afternoon, everyone. I want to welcome everyone to Ramsey County Board Workshop. Today workshop topic is Project Bridge. Courtesy reminder that this board workshop is recorded and it is live streamed on Zoom webinar. There will be no votes taken during this workshop. So let's start with introductions of commissioners and presenters around the table, then the rest of the room. Green Moran, Ramsey County Commissioner District 4. Charge Ivan Same Ramsey County Commissioner District One. My talk job, Commissioner for District 6. Kelly Miller, Commissioner District 7. Clori Ray is Deputy County Manager for the Safety and Justice Service Team. Tim Bass was the superintendent at RCCF. And here Abdi, the Putani Manager of Health and Wild Service Team. Do you want to introduce yourself actually? Yeah, Ashley Brian for detention services of the ABC. Right, Lanebacker County Manager. We saw that overly. Oh Kyle Messenger. Steve Morgan is just superintendent for. Can we rush after we draw her sorry? Please brief about your director services. Yes, director, the director, legal services. Just superintendent with JDC. Monica Long Worker Community Correction. And how do we supervisor? Yes, that's when we put a chance to have it. So welcome everyone. So Project Bridge is a partnership between the office of the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office and Ramsey County Community Correction. This partnership takes its name from its purpose is to provide a bridge to long-term appropriate and sustainable housing and increased services for individuals in the county's care and custody. County staff are here today to share information with the board about their innovative program, which began in April of this year. Thank you, Chair, Commissioners, and County Manager Becker. As uh Commissioner Um Moran mentioned, um, we are here um to discuss a partnership between the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office and the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center. Um, as you know that the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office is part of the safety and justice service team. Um, and we will be talking about um how our correctional facilities uh do provide long-term appropriate and sustainable housing along with increased services for individuals in the counties care and custody. And we just decided before this was our agenda for today. Um, but if you were able to review that, that's great. We'll go ahead. Uh this is our agenda, and then uh the next slide, I'll pass it over to uh deputy county manager. Thank you, uh Lisa Ambrez. Um Chair Moran, Commissioners, Manager Becker. Um as you know, my name is Nidir Abdi, the Deputy County Manager for the Health and Wellness Service team. I'm here today because uh community correction is part of uh one of the service areas within the health and wellness and project bridge is the program that allows ADC residents to reside in the RCCF while awaiting for adjudication. Um C Ambreas and I are looking along with the Ramsey County Correctional Facility Superintendent today, uh Tim Vasquez under Sheriff Ashley Bryan from the Adult Detention Center and Michelle Dunal Correctional Health Manager with Ramsay County Public Health. Uh, we'll share the details of this innovative program with you all. Um, as we go through the slides, like we'll we will pause to answer any questions you may have. Uh, and we'll also leave some room for questions at the end of the presentation as well. So to talk about this program, we first need to share the difference between the two adult in San Exity Production facility facilities operated by Ramsey Calm. The Ramsey County Adult Detention Center is a pretrial facility.
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