Strike Team responds to COVID-19 at Marshall County Jail
The Indiana State Department of Health Strike Team responded to a surge of COVID-19 positive cases in inmates being detained at the Marshall County Jail.
Marshall County Sheriff Matthew Hassel reached out to media Wednesday morning with the following statement. “Ever since the
Emergency Declaration was issued for COVID-19 the jail has been operating under the CDC guidelines for residential treatment facilities. Basically the same as nursing homes and hospitals. Two weeks ago we had an inmate that was going to have a procedure done at the hospital but needed to be COVID tested before the procedure. The inmate tested negative on the rapid test, had no symp
toms but tested positive in the laboratory test. Last week using the rapid test we had 8 inmates test positive. As of yesterday out of 177 inmates we now have 39 testing positive with only one inmate having mild symptoms. We had a teleconference yesterday with the company that provides our inmate health care services, the Indiana State Department of Health and the Marshall County Health Department. We have implemented more stringent procedures for the inmates in an attempt to protect and treat them. We also have the State Strike Team coming today to test all of our inmates. I have also met with the Prosecutor to see if we could implement a procedure that if a person is brought to jail for a minor misdemeanor charge we could have them sign a promise to appear and release them.”
Sheriff Hassel said that the ability to communicate with family will be limited due to the lock down restrictions. “Because of the recommendations from our health care provider, State and County Health Departments inmates are in lockdown and will only be able to access phones calls and video visits during one hour per day. This hour will be different per inmate because only a small number will be out at a time.”
Concerned family members will have limited access to information regarding the health status of their loved one due to the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Sheriff Hassel explained, “Because of HIPAA we cannot share their health status unless the inmate signs a release. If a release is signed they should call the nurse for inquiries.”
In response to an email inquiry to Marshall County Prosecuting Attorney E. Nelson Chipman regarding the request to implement the procedure described above, Chipman stated, “We are always in contact with the Sheriff’s Department. We have communicated to the Sheriff there are certain misdemeanor offenses such as Operating a Vehicle while Intoxicated, or Domestic battery cases, that by statute require immediate incarceration because of the inherent risks of further harm if the law was not followed and the person not at least temporarily detained. The safety of the public and specific victims is of paramount concern to this office; always has been, always will. Pretrial detention is but one tool.”
Prosecutor Chipman added, “Otherwise, most misdemeanors can be handled with promises to appear or simply the issuance of summons requiring court appearance. That part of the system is not new, by a long shot. We have been closely monitoring jail bookings for over a year now with the objective of maintaining a jail population that is not conducive to overcrowding. We will continue that vigilance despite all that the virus throws at us.”
Public Health Nurse Lisa Letsinger and Sandra Dunfee of the Marshall County Health Department agreed to provide full public disclosure of the reportable results obtained by the Indiana State Department of Health Strike Team when that information has been made available to them.
The Pilot News Group will continue to provide follow up reports on this situation as additional information is made available.