The Beltrami County Board of Commissioners will receive the Beltrami County Jail report from the group Justice Planners at an upcoming special work session.

Set for August 24th, the board of commissioners will be able to hear about and review the findings from the jail study that started back in February of 2022. According to the release, the group Justice Planners initially conducted the study over three days. The study included in-person interviews with various county departments and committees, a tour of the Beltrami County Jail, and assessments of the facility’s infrastructure, design, and functionality. For the last six moths, Justice Planners also collected data on jail populations, jail bookings, inmate demographics, court proceedings, and arrest, probation, and mental health data.

Sheriff Ernie Beitel states in the release that in 2019, the county began the process to evaluate the jail’s limitations and compliance obligations after entering an agreement with the Department of Corrections. Sheriff Beitel comments that the jail “has experienced many challenges over the years.” He lists these challenges in the release, including severe housing limitations, an inability to meet jail design standards as set by the Department of Corrections, a needed increase in mental health and chemical dependency resources, working conditions that had led to difficulties in jail staff recruitment and retention, raised safety and movement liabilities due to the jail design, and aging and outdated infrastructure.

The county then issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Jail Needs & Feasibility Study in December of 2021. According to the release, the proposal was to conduct a jail facility evaluation, which included an incarceration alternative evaluation, program analysis, development of future programming and infrastructure projection models, and conduct analyses for both impact and financial means.

During the special work session on the 24th, no public comments will be taken. Comments will be taken through the Jail Project page on the Beltrami County website. The public is invited to attend. The meeting will start at 9:30 a.m. in the Court Board Room.

A public hearing on the Jail Needs Assessment & Feasibility Study will be held on September 22nd at 5 p.m. in the County Board Room. Comments submitted on the jail project page collected from August 25th to September 21st will be reviewed and summarized for this meeting. The public can attend and comment in-person at this meeting.

By — Mary Balstad