All inmates serving sentences for low-level, nonviolent offenses in Ramsey County as well as those classified as medically vulnerable will be released to electronic home monitoring.

The step reflects continued concerns about the spread of COVID-19 and is aimed at reducing “the risk of infection among both (the Ramsey County Correctional Facility’s) staff and the inmates in custody,” according to the order signed Sunday by Ramsey County Chief Judge John Guthmann.

The order applies to individuals serving sentences for all misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor offenses, with noted exceptions, as well as those serving time for lower-level, non-violent felonies, such as theft, drug-possession and fraud, and those considered high-risk for catching or developing severe-symptoms from COVID-19.

“These are certainly extraordinary measures but they are needed and warranted given the circumstances,” Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said.

“It would be disastrous if we had an outbreak of COVID-19 in our jail and I think our local (judges), who are doing this in collaboration with all our (criminal justice partners), are doing the right thing,” Choi said.

Since the arrival of the virus in Minnesota, the correctional facility, commonly referred to as the workhouse, has released 85 inmates, according to Chris Crutchfield, deputy director of Community Relations for Ramsey County Corrections.

Twenty more will be released Tuesday because of the order, 12 of whom are high-risk due to medical conditions. The remaining eight are eligible for release because they meet other criteria in the new order, Crutchfield said.

ELIGIBILITY AND EXCEPTIONS

Eligible felony-offenses include offenses such as forgery, criminal damage to property, fraud, gambling, motor vehicle tampering and theft.

Exceptions to misdemeanor and gross-misdemeanor offenses include those individuals serving sentences for certain domestic-violence-related offenses, violations of harassment restraining orders or orders for protection, indecent exposure convictions and DWI convictions where the defendant was sentenced to serve more than 90 days in custody.

Individuals serving sentences for more serious crimes who are released because of medical vulnerability must be released on GPS monitoring with “high levels of supervision, including real-time position locating, the order said.

The order remains in effect until April 15.

SIMILAR ORDER ISSUED FOR INMATES AT COUNTY JAIL

It follows a separate order issued by Guthmann last week granting authority to the Ramsey County Detention Center to release eligible individuals being held in the facility as their cases await trial.

Since criminal justice officials started talking about the threat of a COVID-19 outbreak amount inmates, 47 inmates have been released to electronic home monitoring to create more space in the facility for social distancing and quarantining, should the latter become necessary, according to Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher.

Other inmates have been released due to judge’s orders, however.

To date, no inmate has tested positive for the virus.

The jail’s total population is down substantially from its daily average of about 350 to 400 inmates since the start of the pandemic, Fletcher said. In addition to the release of some inmates, law enforcement is arresting about 30 percent fewer people and the facility is not transferring in as many inmates from other facilities because so many court hearings have been delayed.

On March 16, the jail’s population was 393, according to information Choi provided based on a daily update he and other criminal justice partners are receiving from jail staff.

As of Monday, the population was about 240. Fletcher said the aim is to reduce the population to about 200, that way each inmate can have his own cell.

“That is all part of social distancing. You can’t really social distance if you are in the same 6 by 10 foot cell,” he said.

JAIL STAFF ALSO NEED PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT TO PROCESS INMATES

Steps have been taken to clear one of the jail’s pods as well, which is where any inmate contracts the virus will be quarantined.

Like other essential employees, including healthcare workers and firefighters, jail staff need surgical masks to keep them protected while they interact with inmates, Fletcher said.

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So have some they are relying on now, but it’s not enough, Fletcher said.

Hennepin County reduced its jail population by 26 percent over the last week as it mounts its own response to the virus, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. The numbers dropped from 815 last Monday, to 602 on Friday.