Eliminating the housing of prisoners from other law enforcement agencies in the Marquette County jail.

It’s even been suggested that Marquette County send its prisoners to be housed at other jails effectively closing the jail. What do you think is the best course of action for Marquette County regarding the jail and housing of inmates?

I believe this topic needs to be continually reviewed annually and what is best for Marquette County long term. This needs to be done with transparency reviews of MOUs, staffing plans, vendor contracts, our annual jail inspection, and PREA audit reviews.  

 

Housing inmates for other counties and federal partners has been something we have done since opening the current jail in the late 90’s. One of the primary duties as a Wisconsin Sheriff is taking charge and custody of the county jail and all prisoners committed to it, maintaining an exact register of inmates.

 

Closing our jail completely would not be advisable. We would still need to have staff for booking and processing of our inmates, as well as housing them until transportation was available to take them to a county jail or jails that would accept our contracted inmates. If this practice was adopted the county would still need to provide medical services, adequate meal service, adequate staffing for supervision, amongst other needs for the facility and inmates per DOC 350.

 

I believe with my training and experience, and uniquely qualified background as a Certified Jail Manager (CJM) with the American Jail Association (AJA) since 2021, and the only CJM in Wisconsin, will help with current and future discussions with our County Board Supervisors and citizens with jail decisions.