Hennepin County to spend $5.4 million to move inmates to other jails

The Hennepin County Board reluctantly agreed Tuesday to spend $5.4 million over the next six months to house inmates in seven other counties to meet a state order to reduce the population at its Minneapolis jail.

The board’s 6-0 vote in a special meeting comes just two days before the Dec. 5 deadline the Minnesota Department of Corrections gave Sheriff Dawanna Witt to get the jail population to 600 or fewer inmates. Failing to meet the Thursday deadline, which has already been extended, could jeopardize the Hennepin County jail’s license.

“I’m supporting this action with serious reservations to remain compliant,” said County Board Chair Irene Fernando.

Commissioners stipulated the Adult Corrections Facility in Plymouth be used as a secondary housing location whenever possible. They also said relocated inmates must continue to have access to mental health treatment and other services.

The board had postponed a vote on Witt’s Nov. 19 request to spend up to $8 million to house inmates in 21 counties across the state. Commissioners objected to the cost and the distance some prisoners would be from their families and asked staff to come up with other options.

In the past two weeks, Witt said sheriffs in nearby counties “stepped up” and offered to provide more help housing inmates. She believes the agreements with those counties will be enough to meet the state order through its expiration in May.

“I’m happy that right now we are in compliance with the order,” Witt said. “However, the bigger issues are not solved.”

The jail population can fluctuate unexpectedly and Witt said the population needs to be closer to 540 in order to accommodate for new arrests, especially over weekends and holidays. As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 555 inmates in custody in Hennepin County and 266 inmates held in other counties.

Witt said the biggest challenge she faces is finding enough staff for the jail. She is competing for workers with nearby counties that have similar pay but a less challenging work environment.

The Hennepin County Adult Detention Center is the state’s busiest jail with roughly 90% of inmates facing felony charges. The facility is short 47 workers out of an authorized 247 staff.

The measure approved Tuesday also included the creation of a rapid response team to improve the recruitment, hiring and training of jail staff.

“We will be back here in five months if we don’t get staffing up,” Commissioner Jeffrey Lunde said.

Agreements with other counties to house inmates were needed after state corrections officials sent Witt a conditional license order Oct. 31 requiring her to reduce the number of inmates in the jail from about 840 to 600. The order said the jail violated minimum staffing levels and routine well-being checks of inmates which contributed to dangerous conditions and seven deaths since September 2022.

Witt disputed the findings in the conditional licensing order and filed a request for reconsideration Nov. 27. In the request, Witt argued the state order is inaccurate and contradicts state laws. She also noted jails across the state face similar staffing challenges, but few have been singled out by state regulators. If the administrative appeal fails the sheriff could also challenge the order in court.

The detention center consists of two buildings, with over 500 beds on the fourth and fifth floors of Minneapolis City Hall and 330 beds in the nearby Hennepin County Public Safety Facility.

Witt has noted she has no control over how many people are booked into the jail or how long they stay there.

Jail bookings are at a decade low, but prisoner stays are up 20% and nearly all the inmates are facing serious felonies.