A mentally ill inmate was severely beaten in the Beltrami County jail last month — and then abruptly released from custody by a judge so the county would not have to pay his medical bills, according to documents obtained by the Star Tribune.
The judge also failed to ensure that the inmate would be returned to custody — and receive proper psychiatric care — after being released from the Minneapolis hospital where he was treated, according to court officials.
When Theran Stai, 43, was discharged from the hospital about two weeks after the beating, he had to hitchhike 215 miles back to Bemidji, where he has no listed address, according to his sister. He was taken into custody for a mental health commitment hearing and is now receiving treatment at a behavioral health hospital in Bemidji.
The episode has outraged the county's chief public defender, who said local officials placed budgetary savings before the welfare of a vulnerable adult.
"This was an abuse of power," said attorney Kristine Kolar. "They had a moral, ethical and legal obligation to take care of this man."
Beltrami County Judge John Melbye said in an interview that he granted a furlough to Stai after doctors at a Bemidji hospital told jailers Stai had to be transported to the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis for reconstructive surgery on his broken jaw. Melbye said that a deputy seeking the release order contacted him at home and that he made his decision without reviewing Stai's criminal and mental health file.
"This is just how we've done it in the past," Melbye said. "It's irrelevant who's going to pay the bill, to me. This was about medical necessity."
But he acknowledged that prisoners like Stai can be transported for medical care without being released from county custody.