WyoFile: Jail suicides spur transparency concerns in Albany County sheriff’s race
Incumbent defends keeping deaths from the public out of respect for families, but the mother of one of the deceased says this is information the community needs.
In a special report published by WyoFile, the Laramie Reporter’s Jeff Victor investigated three deaths occurring in the Albany County Detention Center during a seven month span from Sept. 2021 to April 2022.
The deaths — two suicides and one fatal overdose — were not made known to the public when they occurred. But they have become a focal point in the race for the Albany County Sheriff’s Office.
The current sheriff, Aaron Appelhans, has run on a platform of mental health reform and transparency. His challenger, Joel Senior, says the deaths and the lack of transparency surrounding them show the office needs a new leader.
Both men who died by suicide had a history of mental health issues and the sheriff’s office missed clear warning signs, according to Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation reports and interviews with a mother of one of the men.
The Albany County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute and the sheriff said no deputies were disciplined in connection to the deaths.
The real answer is:
How many persons are on "Death Row" in the "Wyoming System"? Then you will get a better understanding and look as to why these "suicides" are where they are...
It's so VERY sad the DOC operates "as usual" especially when Death is the end result and "justice" is a bidding opportunity.
I wrote a lengthy comment on WyoFile, first acknowledging that I’m supporting Sheriff Appelhans in the upcoming election, because he’s brought integrity and accountability back to a department that had become a disgrace. I encourage everyone to read the article and also to ponder a fact that WyoFile failed to include, which was that in each inmate’s case, the sheriff’s department contacted the people designated by the inmates as their contacts. Those contacts may or may not have included everyone who would have liked to be contacted, and inmates may or may not have had reasons for their choices, but that’s not for the sheriff’s department to wade into. It seems to me that a reasonable default position is (1) to call for an outside investigation, as Sheriff Appelhans did, and (2) to respect the privacy of inmates and their families to the maximum extent possible.