A report by the Minnesota Department of Corrections found that Hennepin County has failed to meet minimum staffing requirements and created conditions that pose an “imminent risk of life-threatening harm or serious physical injury” to inmates at its jails.
According to the Minnesota DOC, both the county jails at Minneapolis City Hall and a newer Public Safety Facility in downtown Minneapolis were found to be in violation of regulations regarding minimum staffing levels and routine wellness checks. Since an inspection was conducted two years ago, the Minnesota DOC noted that seven inmates have died at the jails because staff have failed to conduct mandatory well-being checks every 30 minutes.
This “continued failure to substantially conform to all applicable minimum standards and lack of satisfactory progress towards substantial conformance, most notably its chronic and repeated failure to meet well-being check and staffing requirements, requires corrective action,” the Minnesota DOC noted it its report.
Additional Violations
The Minnesota DOC noted many additional issues in its audit of the Hennepin County jails, including:
- Staff claiming that routine checks were completed when they were not.
- Staff conducted incomplete checks that did not account for the health or safety of inmates.
- Staff failed to conduct more frequent observation of inmates at elevated risk for suicide, or those with elevated health risks like withdrawal symptoms.
- Facilities were regularly understaffed, including during periods were an inmate death occurred.
As a result of the audit, the DOC ordered Hennepin County to reduce its jail population by more than 100 inmates, and the reduction should have already taken place. At the time of the report, the jails held 712 inmates, and the DOC ordered Hennepin County to reduce that number to 600 to ease the burden on jail staff.
“We were surprised and disappointed to receive this order,” said Sherrif Dawanna Witt in a statement. “Some aspects of this order contradict both Minnesota law and the DOC’s own standards and training materials. We have raised these concerns repeatedly with the DOC and have offered to meet, but they have not responded to these offers.”
No matter what they are in for, inmates deserve better than what is currently being offered at the Hennepin County jails. Nobody should fear for their life in jail because of staffing issues or because their health concerns fall on deaf ears. Reducing the inmate population is a small step in the right direction, but a larger staff and better officer training programs can help to ensure another unjust death doesn’t occur at Hennepin County jail.
To fight your criminal charges so that you don’t end up in an overcrowded or understaffed jail, make sure you connect with an experienced criminal lawyer. In the greater Twin Cities area, we hope you’ll connect with Avery and the team at Appelman Law Firm today at (952) 224-2277.
