Don Behm, and John Diedrich

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Franklin and Greendale police are investigating the death of a 52-year-old male inmate at the Milwaukee County House of Correction in Franklin on Sunday evening, county officials confirmed Tuesday.

He was the first inmate to die at the House of Correction since authority for managing the lockup was taken away from Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. in 2013.

The man was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead at 8:31 p.m. Sunday, officials said.

The identity of the man and cause of death have not been released at this time. He was a resident of the City of Milwaukee.

"Autopsy performed and no further info to be released," the county medical examiner's office said in a message on Twitter.

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele asked the Franklin Police Department to step in to investigate the death at the county-run facility under a policy adopted in December by the Milwaukee County Board. The Greendale Police Department is assisting in the investigation, officials said Tuesday.

"County staff will cooperate fully and transparently with investigators throughout this process," Abele spokeswoman Melissa Moore Baldauff said. "We are committed to as full an understanding as possible of what lead to this death."

The county policy requires an external investigation if an inmate death at the House of Correction involves "inmate-on-inmate assaults, staff use-of-force or unexplained or suspicious circumstances."

Corrections officers are not covered by a 2014 state law that requires outside investigations when people die in police custody, Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb Sr. said in explaining the need for the policy.

Board action followed four deaths in the Milwaukee County Jail in 2016. The policy recommends outside investigations of deaths at the jail but the board does not have authority over jail procedures. The jail is administered by Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr.

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The House of Correction is managed by Superintendent Michael Hafeman, a county appointee, and holds about 1,250 inmates.

Medical treatment at the main jail has been in the spotlight in the past week during an inquest into the dehydration death of Terrill Thomas. Water was cut off to Thomas' cell for a week. An inquest jury recommended charges against seven jail employees.

The jail houses about 950 inmates per day.

Don Behm can be reached at don.behm@jrn.com and twitter.com/conserve.