Hennepin County jail granted extension to reduce inmate population after missing deadline

The Hennepin County jail was granted a three-week extension to reduce its inmate population on Thursday after missing the deadline for a state-issued mandate over alleged staffing and well-being check violations. The jail still had more than 120 people over the limit set by the state, but it will now have until Dec. 5 to meet the requirement.

Earlier in the day, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Megan Larson said the office is still working to reduce the population, even as it intends to request an appeal of the order from the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC).

“As of right now, we are working to comply with the order and we continue to do everything we can do [to] move people to other facilities,” Larson said in an email.

The DOC sent the order on Oct. 31, informing the Sheriff’s Office that it must reduce the number of inmates from roughly 850 to 600 by noon Thursday. As of Thursday morning, Hennepin County had more inmates in its system than last week, roughly 880, but 155 of those have been moved to other counties’ facilities, Larson said. That means 723 inmates were still lodged in the jail.

The mandate detailed a variety of alleged violations, saying the jail doesn’t have enough staff on duty and that it isn’t checking on inmates as often as it should. Since September 2022, seven inmates have died either in the jail or after being transported from the jail for treatment. Death reviews conducted by the state after each found jail staffers weren’t checking on inmates as often as required at the time, the order alleges.

The licensing order further alleges that the jail’s “failure to comply” with the state’s requirements “contributed to conditions that have the potential to pose an imminent risk of life-threatening harm or serious physical injury to individuals confined or incarcerated in the facility if left uncorrected.”

Larson, however, said that a previous private “underlying review” by the DOC found “no causal connection” between the alleged missed wellness checks and the deaths.

Earlier this week, Hennepin County agreed to pay a $3.4 million settlement in a wrongful death case filed by the family of Lucas Bellamy, which alleged that he was left to die in jail despite crawling on his hands and knees and begging for help. Jeff Storms, the attorney who handled the case, said he thinks the state’s order highlights that his firm’s concerns about the jail “were well-founded.”

Since the state’s order, the Sheriff’s Office has worked on getting more agreements with other counties to receive some of Hennepin County’s inmates, Larson said. The county worked to move inmates for months before the order, Larson said, currently has agreements with five counties and is working on a dozen more. “This takes time,” she said.

Sheriff Dawanna Witt previously said the short deadline was impossible to meet. In a Nov. 8 statement, Witt said that parts of the 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,” Witt said in her statement.

DOC Communications Director Shannon Loehrke said the department would not comment beyond the brief letter on Thursday granting the jail an extension through noon Dec. 5.

“The DOC is not able to comment further as this is an ongoing matter,” Loehrke said.

The county requested an extension on the deadline twice – once on Nov. 8 and a second time on Wednesday – but there had been no word from the DOC until Thursday, Larson said. The Sheriff’s Office is still working on filing an administrative appeal of the DOC’s order. If it’s denied, the Sheriff’s Office will challenge the order again in the Minnesota Court of Appeals, she said.