Fergus Falls, MN – The Otter Tail County Detention Facility (OTCDF) has been returned to Class III facility status, meaning inmates that had been previously moved to neighboring jail facilities have begun returning to Otter Tail.
It’s been a month since the Department of Corrections (DOC) placed the OTCDF’s jailing license under conditional status, turning it into a Class I facility that can only hold inmates for up to 72 hours.
The action came in response to a report of serious human rights violations that occurred from February 10th to the 12th.
According to the report, jail staff deliberately withheld food and water for over 2 days as discipline for smearing feces in his cell and refusing to clean it.
Despite the inmate’s alarming behavior, appropriate medical attention was not provided promptly, raising further concerns about the facility’s adherence to regulations governing healthcare services in correctional settings.
The Otter Tail County Jail Administrator reported the misconduct to the DOC on February 20th.
A comprehensive review conducted by the DOC unveiled a disturbing sequence of events, including documented instances of the inmate ingesting his own feces.
On March 14th, the DOC enacted the conditional status of the OTCDF effective immediately and mandated a series of corrective actions aimed at ensuring the safety and dignity of inmates while mitigating the risk of similar incidents in the future.
Long-term inmates began their return to the facility earlier this week, indicating that the DOC had allowed the jail to return to its Class III status.
With the reinstitution of the facility’s status, the DOC will be requiring the jail be subject to weekly reports, random inspections, and other conditions until the the DOC lifts the conditional status, which won’t occur until the full inspection of the jail is completed in the fall of 2024.
Any potential disciplinary actions towards the staff that had been working when the violations were committed are unknown at this time.