National group disapproves of Maricopa Co. jail conditions

By Nick R. Martin | January 12th, 2009 | 6:14 pm | 2 Comments »

A national commission on inmate health care says it can no longer vouch for the conditions of Maricopa County jails. The Arizona Republic reports:

County officials were notified Monday that the National Commission on Correctional Health Care is pulling its accreditation. Accreditation is state mandated and helps the county defend itself against lawsuits brought against the system by inmates.

This is the latest blow to Maricopa County inmate health by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care. It had previously pulled its accreditation, but the county appealed and so the approval stayed until the appeal process ended. The appeal is apparently over. For a detailed background on the issue, see this story from the East Valley Tribune back in October:

The commission put Correctional Health Services on probationary status in February 2006 for a variety of problems, but lifted probation upon assurances from the agency that there was an “effective system of tracking chronic disease patients.” County officials and experts for both sides testified in court that there were problems monitoring chronically ill patients, including inmates who were seriously mentally ill, and assessing inmates for medical conditions.

Anonymous

Unfortunately, for Maricopa county tax payers we will be paying for Sheriff Joe’s new lawsuits that will come out of this. While there are some pros to have Sheriff Joe here in Maricopa the cons far outway them and I’m not talking convicts either. He costs us more and more in lawsuits and the bad press we get.

I have a family member in tent city right now and I was told this evening of the conditions there. I believe war prisoners were treated better then those serving time here in our jails. I told my relative that I didn’t re-elect him and would never support him because we are paying a huge price having him as our Sheriff. I hope someone in our government starts holding him accountable for the deplorable conditions he has created at the taxpayers expense. I know there will be a lot of lawsuits now that he can’t hide behind accreditation for Correctional Health Care.
crysohara

Unfortunately, for Maricopa county tax payers we will be paying for Sheriff Joe's new lawsuits that will come out of this. While there are some pros to have Sheriff Joe here in Maricopa the cons far outway them and I'm not talking convicts either. He costs us more and more in lawsuits and the bad press we get.

I have a family member in tent city right now and I was told this evening of the conditions there. I believe war prisoners were treated better then those serving time here in our jails. I told my relative that I didn't re-elect him and would never support him because we are paying a huge price having him as our Sheriff. I hope someone in our government starts holding him accountable for the deplorable conditions he has created at the taxpayers expense. I know there will be a lot of lawsuits now that he can't hide behind accreditation for Correctional Health Care.