North Dakota’s Department of Corrections has implemented a “prioritization plan” for allowing new inmates into prisons and county jails the Department has contracts with.
And that means a “waiting list.”
"We just don't have the beds," said DOCR Deputy Director of Adult Services Rachelle Juntunen. "It's really that simple."
And Juntunen said the numbers have been creeping up, with more people coming to prison.
"The amount of beds that are available does not meet the capacity that we need it to be," Juntunen said.
The Department had been contracting with the Heart of America Correction and Treatment Center, the Southwest Multi-County Correction Center and McKenzie County to take inmates. But Juntunen said those facilities are also full – and that’s the reason for prioritization.
"Higher felony offenses will have a higher priority and high mental health needs," Juntunen said. "Some of those shorter-sentence, lower level crimes would likely not get to the Department of Corrections, and would end up spending some time in jails, or just sitting out their sentence, or they would wait longer to get in."
Juntunen said public safety is the top priority.
