Deadline passes for Hennepin County to reduce jail population, compliance in flux
The Hennepin County Public Safety Facility.
Matt Sepic | MPR News
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The deadline has passed for the Hennepin County Jail to reduce its jail population via an order from the Department of Corrections. A DOC report found the jail failed to meet minimum staffing levels and violated rules on routine wellness checks.
Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt has tried to appeal this ruling, but a first attempt was unsuccessful.
Whether the county has complied is still in flux. MPR News correspondent Matt Sepic has been following the story and joined the program to share where things stand.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: Well, just 30 minutes ago, the deadline passed for the Hennepin County Jail to reduce its jail population via an order from the Department of Corrections. A DOC report found the jail failed to meet minimum staffing levels and violated rules on routine wellness checks.
Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt has tried to appeal this ruling, but a first attempt was unsuccessful. Joining me now to talk about what all this means is NPR reporter Matt Sepic. Thanks for being here, Matt.
MATT SEPIC: Hi, Nina.
NINA MOINI: Matt, first, why was Hennepin County ordered to reduce the number of people in its jail to begin with?
MATT SEPIC: The Minnesota Department of Corrections oversees county jails across the state. And it says the Hennepin County Jail has some major problems, and these problems have led to a spate of inmate deaths recently.
Since the very end of 2022, December 31, in fact, seven inmates have either died inside the jail or soon after being transported down the street to the hospital, HCMC. Early last year, one inmate died by suicide. The other deaths followed medical emergencies, I should say, including drug withdrawals.
The DOC says in all of these cases, all seven jail staff had failed to conduct well-being checks every half hour, as required by law. According to the state's report, which came out on October 31, jail staff sometimes logged checks that they never actually performed, or they conducted only perfunctory checks that were done in a manner that would not actually ensure the health and safety of inmates. They also failed to put special needs inmates on more frequent observation schedules.
NINA MOINI: So we know this deadline passed. So what happens now?
MATT SEPIC: Well, I chatted about an hour ago on the phone with a DOC spokesperson, who said that the state agency is not prepared to comment on what's happening right now. But DOC says they may have something to say publicly later on today.
Sheriff's Office spokesperson Megan Larson tells me in an email late this morning, quote, "We are working to comply with the order, and we continue to do everything we can do to move people to other facilities, including working on getting more agreements in place with other counties who've generously offered to help. This all takes time," end quote. Larson adds that the sheriff made a second request yesterday to extend today's population reduction deadline, but Sheriff Witt has not heard back from DOC on that.
Now, according to an online dashboard that's updated every 24 hours, most recently this morning, Hennepin County has 878 people in its custody. Now, 155 of them are in other facilities, not the Hennepin County Jail. Doing the math, that leaves 723 people. Now, the DOC ordered Hennepin County to reduce the jail population to 600. To be in compliance, that means they have to move another 123 people out of the jail.
Now the facility, as you may know, Nina, is split between the older part in Minneapolis City Hall, more than a century old building, and the newer public safety facility across 4th Avenue. Altogether, between the two parts of the jail, there are 839 beds. But the problem here really isn't with physical space so much as a lack of staff.
NINA MOINI: That's a good point. Thank you. So what happens if the sheriff does fail to reduce the jail population?
MATT SEPIC: Well, that's unclear at this point, but we may learn more today from the State Corrections Department. The conditional license order from the DOC lists multiple violations of rules, as they say, on staffing levels and inmate well-being checks, but it does not outline possible penalties or sanctions for the county.
NINA MOINI: Matt, do you know how the DOC determines these minimum staffing levels?
MATT SEPIC: Yeah, that is set by state law. And you can look it up. Any Minnesota jail with 60 or more beds must have one guard for every 25 inmates in the parts of the jail where there are rows of cells-- you're thinking cell blocks in an old-fashioned-style jail. Fewer staff are required in more modern facilities where there are pods or dormitories.
The DOC's report really pointed out that the older part of the jail that's in City Hall has a pretty lousy setup for conducting well-being checks. Staff can try to observe inmates through windows that are inside a long, narrow pipe chase that runs behind the cells, but the sight lines are really bad. In many cases, guards are not able to see the inmates unless they're standing right in front of that window. And that is really not possible in many cases.
NINA MOINI: Sure. So why did Sheriff Witt appeal this report?
MATT SEPIC: In a statement last week, Witt said she disagrees with the DOC's assessment and is working to comply with it. Nonetheless, she said the time frame, quote, "is not realistic when it comes to adhering to the order in the safest and most responsible manner."
She also says the Sheriff's Office needs to enter into agreements, signed contracts, with a large number of other counties in Minnesota to house Hennepin's inmates, and that the county is also trying to improve its staff numbers in the jail by recruiting new deputies to work as guards and offering overtime pay to employees who were already there.
NINA MOINI: And Matt, you know that jail conditions have long been under scrutiny in Hennepin County. This week, the county paid a multimillion dollar settlement to the family of a man who died in jail in 2022. Can you tell us about that?
MATT SEPIC: Yeah, his name was Lucas Bellamy. He had been in jail for three days in the summer of 2022 that July, when he died of an infection after suffering a perforated intestine. Lucas Bellamy was 41 years old. He was the son of Penumbra Theater founder Lou Bellamy.
The county, just this week, reached a $3.4 million settlement with the family to resolve a wrongful death suit that they filed back in January. Lou Bellamy said in the civil complaint that jail staff were deliberately indifferent to his son's obviously worsening medical symptoms.
NINA MOINI: Thank you so much, Matt, for updating us on all this. We know you'll stay on it.
MATT SEPIC: You're welcome.
NINA MOINI: That's Matt Sepic, a reporter for NPR News.
Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt has tried to appeal this ruling, but a first attempt was unsuccessful. Joining me now to talk about what all this means is NPR reporter Matt Sepic. Thanks for being here, Matt.
MATT SEPIC: Hi, Nina.
NINA MOINI: Matt, first, why was Hennepin County ordered to reduce the number of people in its jail to begin with?
MATT SEPIC: The Minnesota Department of Corrections oversees county jails across the state. And it says the Hennepin County Jail has some major problems, and these problems have led to a spate of inmate deaths recently.
Since the very end of 2022, December 31, in fact, seven inmates have either died inside the jail or soon after being transported down the street to the hospital, HCMC. Early last year, one inmate died by suicide. The other deaths followed medical emergencies, I should say, including drug withdrawals.
The DOC says in all of these cases, all seven jail staff had failed to conduct well-being checks every half hour, as required by law. According to the state's report, which came out on October 31, jail staff sometimes logged checks that they never actually performed, or they conducted only perfunctory checks that were done in a manner that would not actually ensure the health and safety of inmates. They also failed to put special needs inmates on more frequent observation schedules.
NINA MOINI: So we know this deadline passed. So what happens now?
MATT SEPIC: Well, I chatted about an hour ago on the phone with a DOC spokesperson, who said that the state agency is not prepared to comment on what's happening right now. But DOC says they may have something to say publicly later on today.
Sheriff's Office spokesperson Megan Larson tells me in an email late this morning, quote, "We are working to comply with the order, and we continue to do everything we can do to move people to other facilities, including working on getting more agreements in place with other counties who've generously offered to help. This all takes time," end quote. Larson adds that the sheriff made a second request yesterday to extend today's population reduction deadline, but Sheriff Witt has not heard back from DOC on that.
Now, according to an online dashboard that's updated every 24 hours, most recently this morning, Hennepin County has 878 people in its custody. Now, 155 of them are in other facilities, not the Hennepin County Jail. Doing the math, that leaves 723 people. Now, the DOC ordered Hennepin County to reduce the jail population to 600. To be in compliance, that means they have to move another 123 people out of the jail.
Now the facility, as you may know, Nina, is split between the older part in Minneapolis City Hall, more than a century old building, and the newer public safety facility across 4th Avenue. Altogether, between the two parts of the jail, there are 839 beds. But the problem here really isn't with physical space so much as a lack of staff.
NINA MOINI: That's a good point. Thank you. So what happens if the sheriff does fail to reduce the jail population?
MATT SEPIC: Well, that's unclear at this point, but we may learn more today from the State Corrections Department. The conditional license order from the DOC lists multiple violations of rules, as they say, on staffing levels and inmate well-being checks, but it does not outline possible penalties or sanctions for the county.
NINA MOINI: Matt, do you know how the DOC determines these minimum staffing levels?
MATT SEPIC: Yeah, that is set by state law. And you can look it up. Any Minnesota jail with 60 or more beds must have one guard for every 25 inmates in the parts of the jail where there are rows of cells-- you're thinking cell blocks in an old-fashioned-style jail. Fewer staff are required in more modern facilities where there are pods or dormitories.
The DOC's report really pointed out that the older part of the jail that's in City Hall has a pretty lousy setup for conducting well-being checks. Staff can try to observe inmates through windows that are inside a long, narrow pipe chase that runs behind the cells, but the sight lines are really bad. In many cases, guards are not able to see the inmates unless they're standing right in front of that window. And that is really not possible in many cases.
NINA MOINI: Sure. So why did Sheriff Witt appeal this report?
MATT SEPIC: In a statement last week, Witt said she disagrees with the DOC's assessment and is working to comply with it. Nonetheless, she said the time frame, quote, "is not realistic when it comes to adhering to the order in the safest and most responsible manner."
She also says the Sheriff's Office needs to enter into agreements, signed contracts, with a large number of other counties in Minnesota to house Hennepin's inmates, and that the county is also trying to improve its staff numbers in the jail by recruiting new deputies to work as guards and offering overtime pay to employees who were already there.
NINA MOINI: And Matt, you know that jail conditions have long been under scrutiny in Hennepin County. This week, the county paid a multimillion dollar settlement to the family of a man who died in jail in 2022. Can you tell us about that?
MATT SEPIC: Yeah, his name was Lucas Bellamy. He had been in jail for three days in the summer of 2022 that July, when he died of an infection after suffering a perforated intestine. Lucas Bellamy was 41 years old. He was the son of Penumbra Theater founder Lou Bellamy.
The county, just this week, reached a $3.4 million settlement with the family to resolve a wrongful death suit that they filed back in January. Lou Bellamy said in the civil complaint that jail staff were deliberately indifferent to his son's obviously worsening medical symptoms.
NINA MOINI: Thank you so much, Matt, for updating us on all this. We know you'll stay on it.
MATT SEPIC: You're welcome.
NINA MOINI: That's Matt Sepic, a reporter for NPR News.
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