Where I stand

A Jail That Meets Constitutional Standards

Our current Sheriff describes the jail he runs as “unsafe, inhumane, and borderline unconstitutional.” Those are his words, repeated for years. He acknowledges holding people in mental-health crisis in 5-by-7-foot solitary cells. People have died in custody on his watch.

Dane County is building a new jail, a project that long predates this Sheriff and is now the most expensive project in county history, over $207 million after the Board had to approve another $27.7 million in 2024 when the project’s single construction bid came in over budget. And here is what should bother you most: in 2022, to save money, the project was redesigned to eliminate in-person visitation at the housing units, eliminate the booking renovation, and cut programming space. That is the department’s own published account. We are paying more than ever for a jail that was made less humane on this Sheriff’s watch.

A jail is not supposed to be a place where crisis becomes catastrophe. It holds our neighbors, most of them not convicted of anything, many of them in the worst week of their lives.

As Sheriff, I will:

End solitary confinement as the default for people in mental-health crisis, and invest in real mental-health response in and out of the jail.
Deliver the new jail honestly: public progress reports, public costs, no surprises.
Fight to restore the humane elements that were cut, starting with visitation and programming space, within what the building and budget allow.
Treat every death in custody as a demand for answers, with full cooperation with outside investigators and the public release of findings.
Address the conditions the current Sheriff condemns, instead of describing them year after year while running the place.

He can’t redesign the building alone. But solitary as the default for someone in crisis is a policy, not a budget line, and that has always been his to change.

Sources

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