Hennepin County Jail ordered to reduce inmate population to 600
Following a recent bi-annual inspection of the Hennepin County Jail by Department of Corrections (DOC) inspectors, the DOC has ordered Hennepin County to decrease its jail population to 600 inmates. The Hennepin County Jail was built and has historically been budgeted to house about 687 inmates. Hennepin County currently has over 850 pretrial detainees remanded to its custody and has begun the arduous process of contracting with other jails to transfer 250 prisoners.
The excess inmate count is nothing new, as the jail has had over 1,000 inmates in custody over the years and has successfully managed the situation. What appears to be new to the situation is the number of inmate deaths, and the new factor there is most certainly fentanyl, and the extreme level of opioid addictions.
The DOC order came in response to a reported seven inmates who had died either at the jail or at the hospital after being transferred due to medical emergencies. The DOC referenced understaffing and inadequate checks on inmates as contributing to the situation.
Staffing requirements are generally one deputy per 25 inmates, and the health and welfare checks are made routinely within 30 minutes for the general population, and more frequently – up to and including continuous observation for suicidal inmates.
Hennepin County will be spending a large sum of money to annex 250+ inmates in other jails and will need to take on the added complexities of transporting these inmates back and forth as court dates and other appearances occur.
Much of this could have been avoided years ago when the new Public Safety Facility was built, creating a two-building jail complex in downtown Minneapolis. That setup is highly inefficient and costly. The County Board at the time made the now famous statement in response to calls for a new jail to house 1,000 inmates, saying, “We aren’t in the detention business.”
By statute, the Sheriff and the county are in fact “in the detention business.” Hennepin County needs to recognize it is no longer a 687-jail-bed county and hasn’t been for decades.
In a related story, Hennepin County also settled a wrongful death lawsuit involving an inmate who died due to an internal infection in 2022. Hennepin Health currently contracts with the Hennepin County Sheriff to provide medical services for the Jail.
Duluth man kills 5 in murder-suicide possibly connected to election results
On Thursday, November 7, Anthony Nephew, 46, of Duluth shot and killed his ex, his current wife, and two sons at two separate houses before killing himself.
Social media accounts belonging to Nephew indicate a man dealing with mental illness who was reportedly terrified of a second Trump Presidency.
One Facebook post stated, “I am terrified of religious zealots inflicting their misguided beliefs on me and my family. I have intrusive thoughts of being burned at the stake as a witch, or crucified on a burning cross, or my absolute favorite; [sic] Having people actually believe that I or my child are Satan or, the anti-Christ or whatever their favorite color of boogie man they are afraid are this week. When did turn the other cheek, become double-tap to the forehead?”
Another post from September stated, “Don’t let my calm demeanor fool you.” The second image had the caption, “I’m 100% losing my shit.”
The Duluth police have not officially stated a confirmed motive for the murder/suicide.
St. Paul Police shoot and kill suspect in the murder of pregnant woman and her baby
On November 9, two St. Paul police officers shot and killed Mychel Allan Stowers, 36, as they attempted to arrest him for the murder of his pregnant ex-wife and her baby in October. That murder happened shortly after Stowers was released from serving 16 years in prison for yet another murder, according to news reports.
The BCA is investigating the officer-involved shooting and has confirmed the recovery of a firearm associated with Stowers at the scene, on the 1100 block of West 7th.