A 36-year-old prisoner in Portland’s downtown Multnomah County Detention Center, or MCDC, died Aug. 1, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office. Few details are available as the investigation is ongoing.
The latest death is the sixth in MCSO jails this year, all happening since May 2 — twice the three total deaths in Multnomah County jails in 2021 and 2022. Five decedents were still awaiting trial or had not otherwise entered a guilty plea, all on felony charges, court records show. Three people died at Inverness Jail in Northeast Portland, and the other three died in the MCDC. Two-thirds of the decedents were 36 years old or younger. Additional details are scarce, but Street Roots is electing not to publish the names of the decedents pending contact with the families.
Jail officials have yet to offer an explanation for the sudden rash of deaths, but have said they’re unrelated to one another.
While the cause and manner of four deaths are still under investigation, in at least two cases, a prisoner in county jail took their own life, according to the Multnomah County Medical Examiner. The people who took their own lives were awaiting trial for attempted murder and robbery charges, respectively, court records show.
MCSO said it takes necessary steps to ensure the safety of all people in custody, and providing access to support for well-being, medical services and resources is a core function.
“There is currently no reason to believe that these deaths are connected,” MCSO spokesperson Christina Kempster said. “Death investigations are underway for each individual case, and we await definitive findings for cause and manner of death from the medical examiner’s office.”
In an Aug. 3 press release, Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell said MCSO is in the process of implementing new safety measures, including modifying the physical characteristics of facilities, expanding the availability of naloxone and increasing the scope of contraband searches, among others. One person died in 2022 of acute cocaine poisoning, and finalized medical examiner records show no other deaths were related to substance use in the past three years. Four deaths are still under investigation.
In preparation for a semi-annual Multnomah County jails visit by county commissioners, Commissioner Lori Stegmann said the county is working to determine the circumstances of the deaths.
“I am deeply concerned about the alarming rate of deaths of adults in custody,” Stegmann said. “We are actively working with MCSO and the Health Department to better understand the circumstances and learn how we can better support individuals in our custody.”
The age of three prisoners at the time of death raises additional concern. A 26-year-old died early morning May 2 at the Inverness Jail. Deputies say they found a 31-year-old unresponsive in a cell at MCDC on May 13 — less than two weeks later. Court records show the prisoner who died May 13 had only been in custody since May 10.
Deputies found a 31-year-old unresponsive in their cell at Inverness Jail on July 19, and despite lifesaving measures, paramedics pronounced the adult deceased at the scene, according to MCSO. The most recent decedent was 36 years old.
Awaiting trial
Prisoners dying in county jails before being found guilty or entering a guilty plea is not uncommon. Nationally, 77% of those who died in jail between 2000–2019 had not been convicted of a crime, and nearly 40% had been in custody for one week or less, according to a 2021 Department of Justice report. In 2019, nearly 60% of those who died were incarcerated for fewer than 30 days.
Oregon Justice Resource Center attorney Juan Chavez said a critical legal distinction exists between prisons and jails. On paper, prisons are for convicted offenders to serve longer sentences, whereas jails are to hold people before a trial or for those with shorter sentences.
“You're not meant to be punished,” Chavez said. “You're meant to be held.”
Troubled recent history
Multnomah County jails have been the subject of at least three lawsuits by prisoners since 2020, including allegations of failing to protect prisoners from tear gas during protests in 2020, failing to protect prisoners from COVID-19 filed in 2021 and failing to treat a prisoner’s broken nose filed in 2022.
Multnomah County jails received scrutiny for general health care practices in recent years, particularly the MCDC.
National Commission on Correctional Health Care, or NCCHC, an accrediting agency, placed MCDC on probation in July 2021 following an on-site visit revealing substandard health care conditions. Accreditation intends to improve health care quality in carceral facilities to ensure facilities meet basic constitutional standards. The 67-page report from NCCHC found MCDC in full compliance with just two-thirds of its “essential standards,” according to Willamette Week.
NCCHC re-surveyed MCSO jails in September 2021, and the jails regained accreditation status at that time, according to Multnomah County communications director Julie Sullivan-Springhetti.
“Each item that had been tagged as a deficiency at the time was resolved, and since then Corrections Health staff have continued to build workflows and systems that will ensure a repeat of the issues does not happen again,” Sullivan-Springhetti said in an email.
County commissioners will tour Multnomah County jails as part of their annual inspection Aug. 4, according to Stegmann. Voters passed ballot measure 26-233 in 2022, requiring all Multnomah County commissioners to conduct a second inspection of each MCSO-administered jail every year.
Voters established the policy to require one annual inspection in 2006 to provide public accountability and ensure officials run jails according to best practices. As an added layer of accountability, the policy requires a member of the public to accompany a commissioner during the inspection.
Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal said those inspections are necessary but are limited in scope.
“If somebody thinks that because we're in the jails for one or two days a year, that gives us a comprehensive understanding of jail conditions, that's simply not the case,” she said.
Stegmann said the second annual inspection requirements are in the implementation process. Still, the county recently implemented some procedures, including requiring individuals in custody to pass through a body imaging scanner and pass mail through a scanner to identify substances, according to Stegmann. She added that staff treats all medical emergencies as potential fentanyl overdoses and administers naloxone.
For Chavez, whether staffing numbers, procedures, or other factors are to blame, the high rate of fatalities in Multnomah County jails is inexcusable.
“I don't think they should be housing people that they can't safely house then,” Chavez said. “If they're in excess of their own capacity, they can't hold people. I'd rather they just release people.”
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