Hennepin County gets second extension after order to cut dozens of jail inmates
MINNEAPOLIS — The Hennepin County Jail has been granted another extension to slash nearly 20% of its population, moving back the Thursday deadline another three weeks.
The county shreiff's office now has until Dec. 5 at noon to make the reduction, which was ordered by the Minnesota Department of Corrections. The order calls for a maximum of 600 inmates at any given time. As of Thursday afternoon, there are about 880 inmates in the jail.
The reduction order comes in the wake of the deaths of at least eight inmates either in the jail or after being transported for treatment since 2022, and from chronic failures to meet well-being checks and staffing requirements.
The county recently paid a $3.4 million settlement to the family of Lucas Bellamy. The son of Lou Bellamy, founder of St. Paul's Penumbra Theater, was seen on video begging for medical help while an inmate in 2022. He was ignored and later died in his cell from a perforated bowel.
The sheriff's office was granted an extension on Nov. 8 and asked for a second extension on Wednesday, stating the Thursday deadline was "nearly impossible" to meet, and extending the transfer deadline was needed to "protect inmate health and safety."
"I would be hard-pressed to know how they could possibly move that many incarcerated individuals in such a short period of time in a state that doesn't have available bed space," James Stuart, Executive Director of Minnesota Sherif's Assocation, said.
The sheriff's office says it's been working for months to reduce the jail population by transferring inmates to five other counties, but a dozen more counties are needed to fully comply with the order. The office says it's also currently litigating claims surrounding inadequate wellness checks.
It says inmates are not being released onto the streets, a decision that has always been in the courts' control.
Choosing which inmates to transfer is also a process. The sheriff's office has to assess each inmate's medical needs, court dates and if they are involved in any programs that require them to stay in the jail.
"They're going to have to be transported around the state. They're going to be farther from their families. They're going to be farther from their public defenders or defense attorneys and it just makes it a much more difficult situation for those community members who are incarcerated," Stuart said.
Sheriff Dawanna Witt says they are doing everything they can to increase staffing, including offering overtime and working to recruit new detention deputies.
"The safety and well-being of all inmates and staff is of the utmost importance to both me personally and to the sheriff's office," Witt said in a statement last week.