48 Hour rule change may impact jails, again

Fox 9 is reporting that an amendment to the 48 hour rule will cause more issues for local jails. Currently if an inmate is determined to need mental health care they are to be transferred to a State Hospital within 48 hours. That's not always happening and apparently MN AG Keith Ellison is tired of the State getting sued. So the solution appears to be an amendment to have the 48 hours begin after a bed is available! Those of us who have worked in County jails know the danger to both staff and inmates when they don't receive prompt mental health care. Jails are not mental hospitals.

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Waseca women's prison using non-correctional staff!

 According to KSTP TV 

“While FCI Waseca is generally well-run and both inmates and staff reported feeling safe, it suffers from a significant shortage of correctional officers,” said Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

According to the report, the prison is running with only 67% of its correctional service positions filled, leading to the temporary assignment of non-correctional officer personnel into correctional officer positions, a practice known as augmentation.

Correctional officer posts were filled most commonly with personnel from the Facilities Department, Unit Team and Education Department.

“If you’re a maintenance man, you certainly don’t have the qualifications to be a corrections officer,”  said Sheila Gardner, whose sister is serving a sentence at Waseca right now. 

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