KAALTV is reporting that
(ABC 6 News) — Freeborn County Sheriff Ryan Shea announced he is taking legal action against the State of Minnesota to prevent a new law from going into effect on July 1.
According to a letter posted to the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page, the legal action pertains to a new law that would require Minnesota jails to continue to administer the same prescription medication prescribed to inmates that were prescribed prior to their confinement.
The new law, according to Sheriff Shea, could be “harmful” and bring with it “potentially deadly consequences.”
Sheriff Shea said the Freeborn County Adult Detention Center contracts with Advanced Correctional Healthcare to provide medical care at the jail, and the law “takes away their ability to practice medicine using their training, experience, education, and expertise.”
Sheriff Shea expressed further concern that medical professionals at the jail may not always be able to get ahold of health care professionals who prescribed the medication to get permission to possibly take inmates off the prescriptions.
Sheriff Shea said there are many times where individuals come to the jail with prescriptions that they have not taken for weeks, potentially counteract with street drugs they have taken, improperly obtained prescriptions, or prescriptions that are no longer appropriate for their mental health state.
As a result, Sheriff Shea stated that restarting these medications at the beginning of their confinement could cause adverse health effects, putting ACH, Freeborn County, and the FCSO at risk for civil lawsuits.
Sheriff Shea also stated these prescriptions would come at the cost of taxpayer dollars since it is an unfunded mandate by the state.
The legal action calls for a temporary restraining order and injunction to prevent 2025 session chapter 35, article 5, section 7 from going into effect.
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