Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Rob Allen 612-919-5918

Hennepin County Sheriff's Office Releases COVID-19 Information for Jail

April 23, 2020 (Minneapolis) - The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office has received several inquiries into the number of detainees at our jail who have tested positive for COVID-19. In order to accommodate the requests for number of detainees tested and number of positive cases, we will be putting that information on a webpage and updating that page weekly.

“As the largest county jail in the state, it was inevitable that we would be getting detainees who test positive for COVID-19,” said Sheriff Dave Hutchinson. “We serve a population that is larger than the combined population of the next three largest counties. We made it a priority to work with our medical experts to identify a plan to prevent the spread of the virus in our jail.”

Dr. Rachel Silva is the Medical Director for the jail. She added, "We have put measures in place for universal screening of all people and testing of symptomatic people coming into our facility—the positive tests that we have received so far are all people who came into our facility from the community. All of our positive cases, thus far, represent community spread, and not cases related to spread within the facility." Because of the Hennepin County Jail’s successful strategies, Dr. Silva has been serving on national committees to identify best practices on preventing the spread of COVID-19 in correctional facilities.

The Sheriff’s Office has worked closely with the courts, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the Department of Community Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Public Defender’s Office, and other resources to dramatically reduce the population of the jail. The jail has reduced its average daily population by about 45% since the beginning of March. “The lower population of the jail allows us to better isolate inmates who test positive and whose status is unknown and to protect the population that has not been infected,” Sheriff Hutchinson said.

It is important to note that detention and release of detainees who test positive for COVID-19 is done regardless of their test status: The courts decide, based on the reason for arrest and need for detention of the detainee, whether that detainee will be held or released.

Inmates who have tested positive and are being held in detention by the courts will be held in isolation areas designed to reduce the risk of spreading the virus to staff and other detainees. Detainees are given a high level of medical care at the jail. If their condition requires them to be hospitalized, the Sheriff’s Office has longstanding procedures for guarding detainees in the hospital.

The number of COVID-19 tests issued to detainees, and the results of those tested can be found here: https://www.hennepinsheriff.org/jail-warrants/jail-information/COVID-19

– HCSO–

Look for more news on the Hennepin County Sheriff's website at http://www.hennepinsheriff.org.