Board Moving Closer To County Jail Audit

Milwaukee County Jail. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The Milwaukee County Board is moving to have a third-party audit of the Milwaukee County Jail.

A 2024 budget amendment package sponsored by Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson and 11 other supervisors includes $250,000 for the audit.

“So this audit first is to receive a report on any recommendations that may lead to a reduction in the number of in-custody deaths, which we know has been a big challenge of ours recently,” Nicholson said.

The Milwaukee County Sheriff‘s Office (MCSO) responded to the audit proposal, not with opposition, but with a request for the board to “act quickly.”

The MCSO released a statement saying the agency has “consistently demonstrated transparency and a willingness to answer tough questions about the operation of the [jail],” and laid out some of the information it recently presented in a lengthy report to the county board.

“The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office has cooperated with other reviews and will cooperate with this audit,” said Sheriff Denita Ball. “And should it be adopted by the full board, we encourage the Board to act quickly to begin and complete this process, as we share a desire to always improve the safety and efficiency of the Milwaukee County Jail.”

Since 2022, the board has wrestled with how to respond to a string of jail deaths. The board made a formal request of the MCSO, seeking detailed information on policies and practices at the facility and within the agency. The board heard that report in September.

“As the sheriff of Milwaukee County, whose agency operates the county’s primary pre-trial detention facility, it has always been my position that one death in custody is one too many,” Ball said.

Whenever pressed by policymakers to articulate the biggest challenges in the jail, the MCSO maintains that chronic understaffing for corrections officers and healthcare staff poses the greatest impediment to the safety of the people detained there.

“It was always my preference that we did an audit because I think it’s more comprehensive than a report… There’s objectivity. We have independence and review in the public interest. We can consider best practices and follow recommendations,” Nicholson said.

During the board’s annual public hearing, a handful of residents called for an audit of the jail. Sup. Ryan Clancy said he thought the board should have conducted an audit of the jail in the first place.

The board’s budget committee is also recommending increasing correctional officer pay from $26 to $30 in 2024. The jail has consistently been understaffed by approximately 40%, according to the MCSO. Next year, the state is raising the starting pay for correctional officers in state prisons to $33. The MCSO and officials from the county’s Community Reintegration Center are concerned the state increases could cause a staff exodus from already understaffed county facilities.