Anoka County Jail working to prevent spread of COVID-19

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The Anoka County Jail is taking steps to slow the spread of COVID-19 among people imprisoned and staff at the jail.

The jail has asked law enforcement to alert it if they are bringing in anyone exhibiting flu-like symptoms, Jail Commander Dave Pacholl said.

People being booked will be screened with specific questions designed to determine if they may be infected with COVID-19.

Symptomatic people, or those who show risk factors in the screening questions, will be expedited to a medical examination, then isolated until medical staff can determine how likely it is they are infected, Pacholl said. The jail has several cells being used to isolate incarcerated people until medical staff can make that determination.

“They’re just a standard holding cell, but they’re separate from all other individuals,” Pacholl said.

People with flu-like symptoms can be held in isolated cells until medical staff say they’re clear, according to Pacholl. Those prisoners wear surgical masks, and any staff interacting with them are equipped with N-95 respirators.

While there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the jail, Pacholl said there were a handful of people with flu-like symptoms.

The jail also has stepped up cleaning procedures, making sure any part of the facility that has been touched by potentially infected people has been cleaned and disinfected.

“We’ve always done a really good job of keeping the jail clean, but now, multiple times a shift, we’ll have workers go around and spray disinfectant on all the door handles, intercom buttons, elevator buttons — anything that a person might touch that could leave the virus behind,” Pacholl said.

Along with working to prevent sick people from spreading COVID-19 within the facility, the jail has asked judges, lawyers and police to take measures to reduce the population within the jail.

In some cases officers are helping by opting to give low-level offenders a ticket, instead of taking them to the jail for booking.

“Let’s say a person gets stopped and they do a minor theft — they steal a bottle of pop from Speedway,” Pacholl said. “The officer has the ability to either ticket them and let them go at that point with a future court date, or they can take them to the jail where we process them.”

Attorneys have been working to release low-level offenders from jail. The Public Defender’s Office sent a list of in-custody defendants to the Anoka County Attorney’s Office seeking their release. The attorney’s office approved and a judge ordered the release of an initial 16 individuals who will be required to return for another court date, according to Criminal Division Chief Wade Kish in the County Attorney’s Office. Additional defendants are being let out on a case-by-case basis.

No cases have been expedited due to COVID-19 alone, nor has it changed plea negotiations, according to the County Attorney’s Office.

“We’re trying to systematically reduce the jail population and the workhouse population without affecting public safety,” Kish said. “Anyone who was a significant public safety risk has stayed in jail.”

The jail also changed how it allows prisoners to visit with family, lawyers and probation officers.

Anoka County Jail began providing video visits a few years ago. Under normal conditions guests visiting incarcerated people can use a video conferencing terminal or, for a fee, call in from their own device, Pacholl said.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the jail is able to offer one free remote video visit per week for each person in the jail, Pacholl said.

The jail also asked attorneys, probation officers and detectives who need to speak with someone in the jail to conduct no-contact interviews, either through a sheet of glass or using a video conference service equivalent to Skype, Pacholl said.

With all that’s going on, Pacholl expressed thanks for the emergency child care being provided for the kids of jail staff under the directive of Gov. Tim Walz.

“That’s been very beneficial too, because if the staff had to stay home to take care of their kids that could create a problem, not just for the jail but for patrol, police departments — it would have a cascading effect,” Pacholl said.

connor.cummiskey@apgecm.com