UPAN Monthly Meeting | April 8th, 2019 | Higher Education in Prison Please join the Utah Prisoner Advocate Network (UPAN) for our regular monthly meeting. Our guest speaker will be Dr. Cindy Fierros, Associate Director of Programming for the University of Utah Prison Education Project (UPEP). She will be discussing UPEP initiatives in higher education for the … [Read more...]
Utah Office of the Legislative Auditor General Completes the Audit of the Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP)
by Mike McAinsh and Molly Prince SOTP Audit Finds Utah Department of Correction's Program Was Poorly Managed With Weak Oversight The Legislative Audit of Utah State Prison’s Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP Audit) was released to the public on April 3, 2017. The audit report was presented to the Legislative Audit Subcommittee by Lead Auditor August Lehman, CFE. Also … [Read more...]
Meet Maria Peterson: UDC’s New Public Information Officer
UDC Gets a New Public Information Officer Maria Peterson became the new Public Information Officer (PIO) for the Utah Department of Corrections in October. I had the privilege of meeting her during her first week with the DOC during the Kids' Day for the Fathers in the ConQuest program. Maria has a wealth of experience in this field and is approaching this position with … [Read more...]
Authorization to Verbally Discuss Health Information
UPAN is please to announce that the Utah Department of Corrections has finished their process of developing the new "Authorization To Verbally Discuss Health Information" for inmates to use when they want to give a third-party person permission to speak with the Clinical Services Bureau (Medical) about their health information. The third-party person would be a family member or … [Read more...]
FOCUS Meeting – November 2015
Each quarter, the Utah Department of Corrections invites interested community members to attend a discussion forum at the Region 3 Adult Probation & Parole office in Salt Lake City. The office is located at 36 W. Fremont Avenue and the FOCUS meetings are held in the conference room to the right of the main entrance. Discussion topics are pre-determined to ensure the most … [Read more...]
HB 348 Clarification and Time Cut Correction
HB348 Clarification and Correction of Information in July Newsletter Regarding When the Time Cuts Go into Effect and Who is Eligible Greg Johnson, administrator with the Board of Pardons and Parole alerted me that in July’s newsletter page 2 under the heading “Here’s the Downside” it says that time cuts are only available for individuals sentenced on or after October 1, 2015. … [Read more...]
A Proposal for Meaningful Reform
During our June 8th UPAN Monthly Meeting held at the Hunter Library in West Valley City, our guest speaker Miriam Greenland and her husband shared their experience with the Utah criminal justice system and the proactive steps they've taken to advocate reform. She also covered methods of evidence-based computerized assessments other state board of pardons are using to form … [Read more...]
Pepper Spray, Beating Led to Prisoner’s Death – KUTV 2 News
Interview with UPAN's Molly Prince about a terrible inmate death at Utah State Prison. According to the medical examiner, a large amount of pepper spray used on two fighting inmates at the Utah State Prison contributed to the death of one of them. Advocates for prison safety say policies need to be changed. Source: Pepper spray, beating led to prisoner's death - KUTV … [Read more...]
Video Visiting Coming to the Utah State Prison System?
We have been asked questions about rumors about video visiting being implemented in the Utah State Prison system. According to Rollin Cook, Director of the Utah Department of Corrections, and the one who will have the final say on this, as long as he has anything to do with this, the established methods of visiting (contact, barrier) within Draper and Gunnison will remain, … [Read more...]
Op-ed: For a safer society, send fewer to prison
There is a great OP ED article regarding support for the criminal justice reform legislation that will be proposed this legislative session today in the Salt Lake Tribune. It is written by Rollin Cook, Executive Director of Department of Corrections, John King, Provo Police Chief, and Jim Tracy , Utah County Sheriff. View Article at Salt Lake Tribune's Website CCJJ … [Read more...]
