photo by: Journal-World

The west side of the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St.

To house people in the county’s Behavioral Health Court and other specialty court programs in a more financially sustainable way, Douglas County is exploring a new, lower-cost supportive housing pilot that could launch next month.

The pilot program, which county commissioners will consider redirecting $154,000 of existing funding toward on Wednesday, would involve leasing eight two-bedroom units to provide supportive housing to people involved in the county’s criminal justice system. Four of the units would be used to house people in the county’s specialty court programs, like the drug court and behavioral health court, and the other four would be used for other people involved in the criminal justice system, according to a memo to commissioners from Bob Tryanski, the county’s director of behavioral health projects.

The properties are owned by Sims Properties, a landlord that is new to providing supportive housing in Lawrence, and the pilot would involve Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center entering into a master lease agreement with Sims to manage the units.

Commissioners on Wednesday will hear an overview of the budget and timeline for the pilot project, which would test the program’s effectiveness over the next 18 months. According to a memo in the agenda, the costs are budgeted not to exceed $154,000 in 2025 and $200,000 in 2026. The implementation of the project could begin as soon as July 1.

The $154,000 in funding that would be used to start the pilot program already exists and was originally allocated for a Bert Nash program called the Assertive Community Treatment team. Tryanski’s memo said these dollars were “currently not being used to support” that program, however, and thus could be redirected to fund the housing pilot.

Tryanski’s memo said the need for supportive housing for specialty court participants has increased significantly in the last several years.

In 2022, the memo said, Douglas County expanded Bert Nash’s service agreement to require three dedicated supportive housing beds to support specialty court participants. The memo said those beds were provided through the Bridges supervised group home and the Transitions facility, which supports clients who need more intensive support and supervision than at Bridges.

However, Tryanski wrote that right now, an estimated five to seven “housing solutions” are needed for Behavioral Health Court participants. He also said that housing participants at Transitions was becoming financially unsustainable, and that “In 2024, three to five individuals consumed the entirety of the Behavioral Health Court service budget.”

County staff says the pilot program would significantly reduce the costs involved in housing the specialty court participants. It currently costs $100 per client per day to house these participants, but with the pilot program at full occupancy, it could cost as little as $35 per client per day, the memo said.

In other business, county commissioners will:

• Consider an amendment to the Peaslee Tech board of directors’ bylaws that would change how the board is selected. Specifically, Peaslee Tech no longer wants its board members to be appointed by the Lawrence City Commission and Douglas County Commission.

In 2022, as the Journal-World reported, Peaslee Tech changed its bylaws to make Douglas County and the City of Lawrence responsible for appointments to its board. A memo from County Administrator Sarah Plinsky ahead of Wednesday’s meeting says that change was made because Peaslee Tech was trying to get permission from the Kansas Legislature to ask voters to approve a new taxing district to fund its operations.

“Peaslee was advised that having the City and County appoint board members would increase our chances of getting the legislation passed,” the memo said.

Since then, however, Peaslee has abandoned the idea of a special taxing district and is instead focused on building a $10 million endowment. To do so effectively, according to the memo, it will have to “be strategic in the selection of members who can support fundraising efforts.”

Currently, three of Peaslee Tech’s board members are appointed by the Lawrence City Commission and four are appointed by the Douglas County Commission. Under the new structure, the board chair would receive nominations, which could be approved “by majority vote of members of the Board of Directors whose terms are not expiring.” Six of the board members would be selected in this way; the seventh would be the Douglas County administrator or their designee.

The current board members would continue to serve out the remainder of their terms if the changes are approved.

• Hear an organizational update from HeadQuarters Kansas along with a data review of the Douglas County Crisis Line. According to a memo in the meeting agenda, HeadQuarters staff will review 2024 and 2025 crisis line data and provide an overview of the steps that have been taken to address concerns about financial accountability, organizational capacity and governance.

As the Journal-World reported, in 2024, approximately 80% of the staff signed a letter demanding the resignation of the entire board and interim executive director, citing concerns over potential misuse of grant funds. This led to the entire board and interim executive director resigning in July 2024.

Douglas County commissioners also redirected $27,500 in funds originally allocated to HeadQuarters Kansas to other agencies, citing disruptions in leadership and uncertainty regarding the county’s crisis line. Despite these setbacks, the organization appointed a new interim executive director and is working to stabilize operations and restore public trust.

• Hold a work session with the Douglas County Public Works department to discuss funding for the maintenance of paved county roads. Public Works is asking for more funding to maintain paved roads because the current budget of $1,202,500 has stayed the same for five years, despite rising costs and road wear. For 2026, they are requesting an additional $497,500, bringing the total to $1.7 million.

The department will be sharing a plan on Wednesday that says that increasing the budget is necessary to avoid more expensive repairs in the future. Without the increase, the county risks having to do full road reconstructions instead of cheaper preventative maintenance, according to a memo in the agenda.

• Consider two emergency communications-related agreements with Motorola Solutions Inc. One of them, for roughly $2.6 million, is for the county’s simulcast radio services, which are used by public safety agencies, public works, the Humane Society and more. The county’s contract with Motorola for these services expires at the end of July, and the new agreement would run for five years.

The other agreement would be for maintenance of a software system used by emergency responders, dispatchers and other public safety entities called Motorola Flex. This agreement would cost just over $1 million over the next five years.

• Consider approving the 2025 annual review of the Douglas/Jefferson County Regional Solid Waste Management Plan, which outlines how the two counties manage solid waste. According to a memo in the agenda, no significant changes to the plan are required at this time.

• Consider allowing alcohol sales for the Summerfest Independence Day celebration. According to a memo in the agenda, the event will include activities and a drone show. Last year, a mix of heavy rain and a failure of Wi-Fi and satellite communications forced the city to call off the drone show.

The County Commission’s work session will begin at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Douglas County Commission meeting room at 1100 Massachusetts St. The business meeting will follow at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will also be available via Zoom.