Auditor Finds Jail Making Progress

Milwaukee County Jail. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

After identifying systemic problems with the Milwaukee County Jail‘s suicide and mental health policies, a third-party auditor is reporting that the jail has made significant progress addressing these shortfalls.

In October 2024, Creative Corrections, a Texas-based correctional auditor and consultant, released a report detailing “deeply alarming” policies for suicide prevention, inefficient use of mental health resources, insufficient training for Milwaukee County Sheriff‘s Office (MCSO) staff, understaffing, overcrowding and a lack of internal oversight.

“In direct response to these findings, MCSO leadership, in collaboration with Creative Corrections, developed and implemented a detailed [corrective action plan] aimed at addressing each area of concern,” Creative Corrections stated in an updated audit report dated May 20, 2025. “To date, Creative Corrections considers the jail to be 71.2% fully compliant with the corrective actions it has proposed, and partially compliant on the other 28.8%.”

The Milwaukee County Board authorized the audit after six people in the jail, or in MCSO custody, died or committed suicide between 2022 and 2023.

During their review of the facility, auditors found suicidal occupants were regularly handcuffed to benches in the booking area for long periods of time. At one point, an auditor observed an inmate in this position attempt suicide by wrapping an unsecured leg restraint around their neck.

The booking-area restraint policy was instituted in 2018 so corrections staff could keep constant watch over persons that have indicated suicidal thoughts and/or demonstrated violent behavior, according to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office. The policy was tied to another challenge highlighted by the report, which was an insufficient number of adequate holding cells for suicidal persons being booked into the jail.

The auditor reports the jail is partially compliant with an action plan meant to address the deficiency. Intake policies have been updated and individuals identified for suicide watch receive an “immediate mental health evaluation”and are moved out of the booking area within an hour. If the one-hour deadline is missed, supervisory staff are notified.

What the jail really needs, now, according to Creative Corrections, is funding for two new suicide watch holding cells. MCSO has already worked with the State Jail Inspector and county architectural staff to identify locations for the new cells.

In March, after a town hall meeting, Sheriff Denita Ball said the sheriff’s office would need additional resources to respond to all of the issues identified by the audit. “It’s going to cost a lot of money,” she said.

Creative Corrections said it is “confident in MCJ’s continued trajectory of improvement” but added that the jail will need additional funding to improve infrastructure in the jail.

For example, the MCSO has already begun renovating the cells used for suicide watch. The cells needed immediate repairs, the initial audit report found. Suicide watch cells should allow the occupant to be observed at all times. Many of the cells in the jail had glass so scratched and dirty it was, in at least one instance, impossible to see through them. Some cells did not have working lights and, in others, the light switches were located inside the cell, where suicidal occupants could control them and potentially electrocute themselves.

The MCSO has begun replacing some of the plexiglass windows, but it will not be in full compliance until it relocates all of the light switches and replaces some of the cell doors. The MCSO has estimated it will cost approximately $100,000.

The MCSO has also updated its policies and training related to suicide watch and addressing occupants experiencing a mental health crisis, according to creative corrections. The jail is considered fully compliant with the auditor’s recommendations for prompt transfers to suicide watch; for updated training for mental health crises and suicide prevention; and for adequate supervision in specialized housing units during both the day and night shifts.

The jail’s healthcare provider Wellpath has also updated policies the auditor said were driving overuse of suicide watch. Previously, if someone was placed on watch, they had to remain there for 24-hours, regardless of a clinician’s assessment of their mental health. Now, a clinician can end a suicide watch if they believe it’s in the occupant’s best interest.

Wellpath has also made improvements to its annually required suicide prevention training, communication between booking nurses and mental health staff and its reviews of suicide of attempts. In response to the audit, the provider has also created a series of open-ended classes for jail occupants focused on “wellness, stress, emotional regulation, and medication compliance.”

The initial audit report also raised a number of concerns related to inventory and tool policies, safety and supervision, jail cleanliness and overcrowding that the MCSO has achieved full or partial compliance with. Creative Corrections reports that the MCSO has achieved “measurable and meaningful progress” on the problems identified last year.

“Key improvements include the elimination of unsafe restraint practices, updated suicide prevention protocols, strengthened supervision, improved compliance reviews, and targeted mental health and suicide awareness training,” the auditor reported.

Legislation Link - Urban Milwaukee members see direct links to legislation mentioned in this article. Join today