Memorandum of Understanding for Support from Community Corrections to Sheriff’s Office Ends
On Feb. 3, 2023 the Minnesota Department of Corrections ordered the Adult Detention Center to submit a capacity reduction plan by Feb. 6, 2023 reducing capacity from 492 to 360 residents and operational bed capacity to 324 residents for the safety and protection of the residents and staff until November 30, 2023 or until further ordered by the Department of Corrections.
As part of the capacity reduction plan, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from Ramsey County Community Corrections to transfer up to 50 female residents from the Adult Detention Center to Community Corrections through a memorandum of understanding (MOU).
On February 8, sixteen residents were transferred from the Adult Detention Center to the Ramsey County Community Correction Center operated by Community Corrections as part of a one-time transfer. On February 14, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office requested the MOU to be amended to allow up to 30 female clients to be transferred on-going through June 1, 2023. Additional requests or outreach was not received by Community Corrections from the Sheriff’s Office to adjust the MOU again during the operational period although Community Corrections reached out on more than one occasion to check-in. On average, 16 residents were in the care of Community Corrections from February 8 until June 1, 2023.
On Friday, May 12 as the MOU period neared its end date, Community Corrections sent a communication to the Sheriff’s Office to coordinate the transfer of the remaining residents back to the Adult Detention Center on or before June 1.
A response was not received by Community Corrections until Thursday, May 25, before the Memorial Holiday weekend, asking for an extension until November. After careful evaluation of service delivery capacity at the Ramsey County Corrections Center and current daily population numbers for individuals under the Sheriff’s Office’s jurisdiction, Community Corrections informed the Sheriff’s Office on Friday, May 26 that the department had fulfilled the obligation of the original agreement and would not be extending beyond June 1.
On Wednesday, May 31, as the MOU period ended, all 18 residents residing at the Community Correction Center were successfully transferred by the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office with 15 residents transferred to Sherburne County and 3 going to the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center as they had court dates the next day on Thursday, June 1.
The Adult Detention Center is a 500-bed pre-trial facility serving individuals following their arrest until a court disposition is reached, while the Community Correction Center houses and provides programming for men and women sentenced for up to one-year. In an emergency, Community Corrections can and has set-up a temporary housing area to provide support to a partner agency such as in this case with the Adult Detention Center. It is not equipped, with the necessary staffing or resources to provide temporary assistance on a long-term basis.
The area at the Ramsey County Corrections Center that Community Corrections has been using to temporarily house the Adult Detention Center residents was scheduled for a renovation project to better serve Juvenile Detention Center clients. The renovation was put on hold during this time, but construction plans are set to resume. The space at the Corrections Center is open due to a long-term effort by Community Corrections to work with the courts to ensure that only individuals who need to be are incarcerated.
“The safety and wellbeing of residents and staff is our top priority. We are very proud of the work done by Ramsey County Community Corrections, Public Health, and other staff during this time. Leadership and staff across these areas of the county really stepped in to ensure that the Sheriff’s Office had additional options and support to comply with the capacity reduction plan. We know that there is additional work to be done to ensure all issues have been addressed and stand ready to continue to support the Sheriff’s Office and his staff as the State Department of Corrections investigation is completed.” – Ryan O’Connor Ramsey County Manager
June 30, 2023 Update
On Friday, June 30, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office requested support from Ramsey County Community Corrections to receive 20 female residents as they were reaching their population capacity. Ramsey County Community Corrections did an immediate internal review of their ability to respond to the request and determined that due to their classification status and staffing levels planned for the holiday weekend, including nursing staff, they were unable to accommodate the request and notified the Sheriff’s Office accordingly.
As a facility designed for men and women serving up to one-year sentences, Community Corrections requires time and staffing resources to set-up temporary housing space to assist a partner agency. In this case, with the limited time notification and holiday weekend, there was not the ability to set-up a temporary housing area which would mean the 20 residents would have been integrated into the general population introducing safety and wellbeing concerns. Community Corrections recommended that the Sheriff’s Office reconnect following the long holiday weekend if assistance was still required to discuss details.