Now Hennepin County and the state sheriffs’ association are considering legal options to force state officials to explain in court why they can’t find beds for often violent inmates who could pose a risk to themselves or others without proper treatment and medical supervision.

“We are doing the best we can to get patients into beds as quickly as we can,” said DHS Commissioner Lucinda Jesson on Tuesday. “But only when it’s safe for inmates and other patients. Even if it means breaking the 48-hour rule, I have to think about patient and staff safety.”

Jim Franklin, executive director of the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association, said: “The DHS commissioner is telling us they no longer can comply with the law, and that leaves us with an interesting dilemma. Do we hold inmates illegally in jail, or is the commissioner failing in her public duty and violating a judge’s order? The victim in all this is the person with mental illness sitting in jail.”

State officials have been warning since 2013 that they were running out of space to house mentally ill inmates and had mounting concerns over safety and staffing.

 

In late April, Jesson took the rare step of informing state sheriffs they would start limiting admissions of jail inmates to Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center, the state’s second-largest psychiatric hospital. “Our medical director informs me that meeting the 48-hour mandate would result in an egregious compromise of safety,” she wrote in her letter.

 

Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek said Tuesday that he plans to meet with the County Board this week to pursue a legal strategy to resolve why the DHS can violate the 48-hour rule, which became law in July 2013. He said the county could sue the agency or seek an order requiring a DHS representative to explain to a judge that they can’t fulfill the law.......

 

Entire article here;http://www.startribune.com/cou...-languish/315137451/