Scott Colvin has spent many a training or conference happy hour talking with other corrections folks about the importance of policies and procedures.  It's a topic that seems to have the corrections world abuzz.

"The conversation naturally revolves around how to write policies and procedures and how to revise them," said Colvin, Jail Operations Commander for the Kenton County, Ky., Detention Center. 

Colvin, who was recruited by the county in 2001 to serve as Major Commander of the Office of Professional Standards, has a lot to add to that conversation since he, along with an administrative assistant, created a nearly 700-page policy and procedure manual for the county jail in just four months.

Complete with 183 policies, the manual was approved by the Kenton County Fiscal Court in August 2003 and has been helping officials streamline operations at the jail ever since.

"Policies and procedures eliminate surprises," Colvin said.  "There's no surprises when you have 183 policies and procedures.  Just about every situation a deputy is going to encounter, they can refer to some type of guideline or policy to help guide their judgment in that matter."

Creating a New Manual

Prior to the current manual, jail staff had been using an antiquated one that was developed by the previous county jailer and his administration.

"A lot of people come into office and the policy and procedure manual from the previous administration doesn't fit the management philosophy of the newly elected jailer or sheriff," Colvin said.  "[Sometimes], one of their first priorities in a new administration is to produce and promulgate their own policy and procedure manual, their own way of doing things."

To accomplish this, Kenton County Jailer Terry Carl, who was first elected in 1999, brought Colvin on board.  Having held many different positions as a corrections professional, Colvin brought with him 13 years of experience in jail operations and insight into how employees at various levels depend on policies and procedures in different ways.

"What I know is how at each rank, the direct impact that policy has on the specific rank," said Colvin.  "An officer needs good clear policies and procedures to show [him] where the line is."

Also, Colvin pointed out, policies and procedures bring equity and fairness to the job and rules for employees' conduct to be judged by.

In setting out to develop a manual for the Kenton County Jail, Colvin cleared his plate of any other responsibilities and focused solely on the task at hand, which is essential, he said, in order to get the job done in a timely manner.

"I was detached from all other duties and the only thing we focused on was completing the policy and procedure manual," Colvin said.  "You close your doors [and] shut the shade down."

Equally crucial to Colvin's ability to roll out the manual in a short amount of time was cooperation from the rest of the agency.

"It was the number one priority for just about the entire agency while the project was ongoing," Colvin said. 

Having the support of other county employees was key to Colvin's progress because some policies, like those pertaining to fiscal issues, had to be developed by committees with expertise in certain areas.  Also, having access to the county attorney was important because he had to review and sign off on the policies that Colvin had written.

Aspiring to ACA Standards

With everyone working towards the same goal, the swift production of a policy and procedure manual for the jail was possible, according to Colvin.  But, a little guidance from the American Correctional Association (ACA) helped, too.

"The [goal of developing] any procedure is to meet the highest professional standards that [have] been established for that particular subject--those are ACA [standards]," said Colvin.  "As a reference, we took the ACA [Adult Local Detention Facility] ALDF manual standards."

Armed with the ALDF standards and ACA's book on policy and procedures, which actually provides templates for policies, Colvin developed the Kenton County Jail's manual, assigning the same document numbers ACA uses for their policies to each corresponding county policy.  This was helpful, he said, so that if the administration were ever questioned as to why certain policies or procedures existed, he could easily show that they were modeled after ACA standards.

While ACA's templates helped to form and structure the jail's policies, Colvin was careful to tailor each policy specifically to Kenton County.  The manual would not be effective otherwise, he said.

"You [have] to be careful not to over-generalize your policies and ensure that you understand that ACA provides that policy and procedure book just as a template," Colvin said. 

Putting Policies in Place

The first policies and procedures that Colvin tackled were those that were crucial to the safety of the institution and pertained to emergency situations, such as fire evacuations, hostage incidents, bomb threats and handling hazardous materials.

"We had to identify and categorize the essential policies and procedures that [had to] be drafted and put [them] into place immediately," Colvin said.  "The second priority was to establish the body of jail operations and security policies and procedures that are needed to run the facility."

The second batch of policies that were drafted addressed issues like perimeter security, transporting and escorting inmates and conditions of confinement, according to Colvin.  The last group he focused on was the remaining, less critical elements of jail operations, such as fiscal controls and visitation rules.

When all was said and done, Colvin's hard work translated into a five-section policy and procedure and manual with "a policy for almost each ALDF that [is] called for by ACA," he said.  Every staff member at the jail received one.

"We published enough copies of the manual so that each deputy has their own and can refer to it at will," Colvin said. 

Currently, Colvin explained, they are in the process of installing an electronic copy of the manual at each deputy workstation so they can access it via computer rather than having to locate a hard copy when they need to reference it.

Keeping the Manual Current

Aside from expanding deputies' access to the manual, another goal the county has set is to update it each year.

"[Policies] are worthless unless you revise them," Colvin said.  "We wrote a policy on how to write a policy and that identifies who the compliance officer for the agency is going to be and when they are expected to audit and review policy and procedure."

It's important for any jail to have up-to-date policies and procedures and revise them based on new case law and developments in the field, Colvin said.  Even if it seems to be an overwhelming task to develop a comprehensive manual, it needs to be done, he added.

With the right amount of staff dedication, planning and persistence, the goal of updating policies and procedures is achievable for any agency, large or small, Colvin said.

"These projects can be intimidating for anybody, but you've got to tackle them," Colvin said.  "Once you get your action plan together, take the field with it and get started, you [will] find out that it starts falling into place."

Resources:

To contact Scott Colvin, call (859) 760-9031

To learn more about ACA's standards, go to www.aca.org