Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)

Sherburne County Corrections - Prison Rape Elimination Act

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was passed in 2003 with unanimous support from both parties in Congress. The purpose of the act was to "provide for the analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape in Federal, State, and local institutions and to provide information, resources, recommendations and funding to protect individuals from prison rape." (Prison Rape Elimination Act, 2003). In addition to creating a mandate for significant research from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and through the National Institute of Justice, funding through the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the National Institute of Corrections supported major efforts in many state correctional, juvenile detention, community corrections, and jail systems.

The act also created the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission and charged it with developing draft standards for the elimination of prison rape. Those standards were published in June 2009, and were turned over to the Department of Justice for review and passage as a final rule. That final rule became effective August 20, 2012.

In 2010, the Bureau of Justice Assistance funded the National PREA Resource Center to continue to provide federally funded training and technical assistance to states and localities, as well as to serve as a single-stop resource for leading research and tools for all those in the field working to come into compliance with the federal standards.

The Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office has a zero tolerance with regard to sexual abuse and sexual harassment in this facility and will take appropriate affirmative measures to protect all inmates from sexual abuse and harassment and to promptly and thoroughly investigate all allegations of sexual abuse and sexual harassment. The Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office will investigate any criminal allegation (28 CFR 115.11, 115.22).

If someone from the public wishes to file a report, they are encouraged to call Jail administration at 1-800-433-5245 or the CMSAL at 1-800-237-5090

PREA Annual Review

On January 4th, 2023, Jail Commander Brian Frank, PREA Coordinator Chris Hansen, Assistant Jail Administrator Dave Isais and Jail Captain Tom Zerwas met to discuss the 2022 PREA allegations as the compared to previous years. We reviewed the different areas of the facility where inmates can be found and talked about some of the facility improvements, most notably the addition of two new social workers assigned to the jail and the new jail clinic vendor which is offering enhanced mental health services. No deficiencies were noted. No corrective action was recommended.