Sat, Aug 26th, 2023 - 7:35pm
September 23, 2023 - 2:23pm | By Chris Larson
(GRAND FORKS) – The Administrator of the Grand Forks County Correctional Center says a housing unit refused to lock down earlier this week, prompting a large law enforcement presence at the jail.
Bret Burkholder says it happened Wednesday night. Protocol requires that “all inmates are accounted for, and all cells are locked down at 10:30 p.m. for the night.”
He says several housing units in Pod 3 refused orders to lock down. Additional correctional officers were called and responded to the Correctional Center to assist. All housing units, except for Unit A, locked down.
Unit A, citing a lack of the delivery of ordered commissary items, chose to lock down, and covered cameras and barricaded access to the unit, causing a safety and security issue for the facility, Burkholder said in a press release.
Deputies with the Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office and Grand Forks Police Department were called, and access to the unit was quickly obtained.
A less than lethal bean bag round was fired by a sheriff’s deputy, striking an inmate in the arm. The inmate was taken to Altru for examination and was cleared for jail.
Charges are possible, the press release said. The investigation continues by the Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office, and copies of the incident reports have been forwarded to the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
