photo by: Journal-World Graphic

The Douglas County Commission meets in the historic courtroom on the second floor of the county courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St.

The Douglas County Commission spent most of its Wednesday meeting in executive session to discuss an undisclosed matter involving the Douglas County Department of Criminal Justice Services.

Joining Commissioners Nancy Thellman, Mike Gaughan and Michelle Derusseau and county legal counselor John Bullock in the closed-door 40-minute discussion was Douglas County Administrator Craig Weinaug, Assistant County Administrator Sarah Plinsky and Pam Weigand, director of the Douglas County Department of Criminal Justice Services. No action was taken when commissioners returned to regular session.

The Department of Criminal Justice Services is responsible for juvenile community corrections and intensive adult probation under the state’s community corrections program, and it oversees inmates released from the Douglas County Jail under the alternatives-to-incarceration programs introduced in the last two years, including pretrial release, home arrest and the behavior health court.

The regular business meeting was wrapped up in less than a minute when commissioners quickly granted $177 property tax relief to the owner of a residence at 1209 Lawrence Ave, that was destroyed in a November 29, 2017, fire.

Commissioners will have a special meeting Friday to tour two Johnson County Community Corrections facilities to get ideas on how to reduce overcrowding at the Douglas County Jail. Because all three commissioners will participate, the tour is a meeting open to the public. The tour of a 50-bed therapeutic substance abuse treatment unit and a residential work-release center will start at 9 a.m. at 141 Mission Parkway at the New Century AirCenter east of Gardner.