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Crime, Law and Justice
Peter Cox

Hennepin County commissioners delay vote on proposal to reduce jail population

Hennepin County Public Safety Facility
The Hennepin County Public Safety Facility.
Matt Sepic | MPR News

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Hennepin County commissioners on Tuesday balked at an $8 million proposal from the sheriff’s office to relieve overcrowding in county-run jails. Commissioners said they needed more time to seek staff input and to consider less costly alternatives.

The proposal would pay for contracts with 21 counties where the county would board inmates as it seeks to comply with an order from the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

Commissioner Angela Conley worried about sending inmates who may not be guilty of the crimes they’ve been arrested for, to far-away jails.

“If we’ve got people in [jail] that might go to court and are ultimately released and they’re in Houston County, then there’s an additional transportation expense to that. So I’m not quite sold on all of these, on annexing as a way to reduce the population,” Conley said.

The DOC ordered the sheriff to reduce the county jail population from more than 850, where it is now, to 600 due to violations of staffing levels, among other things. The deadline originally was Nov. 14; the state later granted an extension until Dec. 5.

The county board on Tuesday delayed a vote on the sheriff’s office proposal until Dec. 3.

Sheriff Dawanna Witt pleaded with the board to sign at least one agreement in the meantime to show some compliance.

“We have to show good faith that we are continuing to meet that DOC order,” she said. “That was the contingency of them giving us this extension, is that we’re showing good faith and meeting that requirement.”

According to a Minnesota Department of Corrections report, the county’s jails at Minneapolis City Hall and a newer Public Safety Facility in downtown Minneapolis were found to be in violation of rules on routine wellness checks and minimum staffing levels.