BEMIDJI — Nearly a year after Beltrami County received a Minnesota Department of Corrections order to reduce jail bed space, the county plans to appeal an order relating to a complaint from an inmate who refused to be housed out-of-county.
A DOC letter to Beltrami County detailed the agency’s findings after reviewing disciplinary records, grievances and other documents at the Beltrami County Jail. It found the county did not follow rules relating to inmate discipline and due process.
“Based on the information obtained through documents provided by the facility and information provided by Assistant Jail Administrator Lt. Richard Schaefer, not all situations resulting in disciplinary segregation are being provided Due Process as required,” stated detention facilities inspector Justin Roberts.
"This is all because the DOC took away our beds. And so now we’re fighting with two hands, and it is a struggle on every level.”Calandra Allen, Beltrami County jail administrator
The inmate who made the complaint is no longer in custody, according to jail officials.
Last year’s reduced capacity order from the state came about after an investigation into a suicide attempt inside the facility. In the order, the county was required to submit a capacity reduction plan after the corrections department found multiple violations of minimum staffing levels and attempts to prevent or delay medical transport for emergency care.
The state also noted multiple instances in which Beltrami County jail staff failed to conduct timely well-being checks of inmates, including immediately before the suicide attempt.
Beltrami County Jail Administrator Calandra Allen said many policies and procedures were changed when bed space was limited in January 2023.
“If an individual comes into our custody, they’re ... signing a rule that they will be subject to be housed out-of-county,” Allen said during a Jan. 2 County Board work session. “This individual decided to decline, and in our rules and policy, we will lock them down for 30 days due to the fact that ... we have limited capacity.”
When an inmate is placed on lockdown, this means they are subject to “disciplinary segregation” away from the general population because of a rule violation. According to the DOC, this step may be taken when “segregating the inmate is determined to be necessary in order to reasonably ensure the security of the facility.”
Beltrami County’s bed space is limited to house up to 82 inmates, and between 40 and 60 Beltrami County inmates are placed in other county jails, Allen said.
Not all inmates are eligible to be housed out-of-county, Allen explained, indicating inmates must have lower or no medical or mental health issues, no in-person court dates, and face charges considered to be lower-level property crimes, versus crimes against people.
“If an individual declines to go, we do not tase them, we do not wrestle them into the van, we don’t do any of that,” Allen said. “We let them know they’ll be locked down for 30 days, and so then we take away different privileges. There’s also review hearings in that 30 days, which we had done. In this actual instance, there are a few documentation errors.”
Allen recommended the County Board pursue an appeal because she believed the DOC should have issued a corrective action instead of a corrective order. An order typically requires a more urgent response, such as the January 2023 order giving the county just two days to take action.
“There was no life threatened, there was no harm,” said Allen said of this latest order. “Again, this is all because the DOC took away our beds. And so now we’re fighting with two hands, and it is a struggle on every level.”
The DOC did not return a request for comment Wednesday.
Space and staffing challenges at the aging, multi-level jail facility in Bemidji’s downtown are partly what is driving the push behind the construction of a new, single-level 242-bed facility at a new location.
In November, voters approved a local sales tax at five-eighths of 1%, which will go into effect in April to fund up to $80 million in construction bonds for the 2025-27 project.
