When Tyson Johnson committed suicide at the Santa Fe County Detention Center in 2002, it caught the attention of the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice, which stepped in to investigate conditions at the jail.  In a report issued the following year, the government found that the privately operated jail was putting inmates, like Johnson, in harm's way as a result of its inadequate mental health services and lack of a suicide watch.

Rather than filing a lawsuit against Santa Fe County, the DOJ entered into an agreement with officials there in November 2004.  The county agreed to make changes recommended by the Civil Rights Division in order to improve the conditions of confinement at the jail.

Five months later, officials at Management and Training Corporation (MTC), the company that operates the jail, say many of the issues in the Memorandum of Agreement have been addressed and the jail's mental health care has improved.

"We are certainly a better facility than we were three years ago [or] two years ago," said Mike Murphy, MTC's Vice President of Corrections Marketing. 

While Murphy said many of the issues at the jail have been resolved, the problems found in the 2003 DOJ report were serious constitutional violations that could have resulted in a lawsuit had the county not cooperated.  Among the areas the report addressed were medical and mental health care, suicide prevention, protection of inmates from harm, fire safety and sanitation. 

The federal agency found that inmates who need immediate mental health services are not always appropriately identified for that care.  The DOJ also said in its report that inmates who do receive referrals for mental health care are not consistently seen by a practitioner in a timely manner.

Beyond issues with the facility's intake, assessment and referral procedures, the DOJ also found problems with the jail's adherence to suicide prevention policies and practices and its suicide watch.  Following an investigation at the jail, the DOJ noted that some inmates on suicide watch were not seen quickly by a mental health provider and some were released from suicide watch without clearance or a mental health evaluation.

Also, a review of suicide attempts and one completed suicide found "that the Detention Center staff fail to respond appropriately to inmates' indications of mental health crises and possible suicidality," the report stated.

The report specifically details Johnson's 2002 suicide, documenting that the inmate had made several statements about killing himself, yet staff at the jail did not intervene properly.  Johnson was placed on suicide watch, but, according to the log, was not monitored as frequently as policy required.  He eventually hanged himself from a sprinkler with a piece of blanket.

Since this report and the subsequent Agreement between the county and the DOJ, Murphy said MTC has made a concerted effort to improve mental health services at the Detention Center, using the Agreement with the DOJ as a guide. 

Murphy also pointed out that many of the changes called for in the Agreement were already in the works prior to it being signed as a result of the jail's quest to receive accreditation from the American Correctional Association, which it did in January of 2004.

"The accreditation probably took care of 80 percent of what the agreement already said needed to get done," said Murphy.  "The Agreement echoes a lot of what ACA standards state."

The Agreement calls for a variety of changes to medical and mental health care at the jail, suicide prevention, security, safety, quality management, staff training and supervision.  The DOJ required that the county train all clinical and mental health staff and correctional officers regarding various mental health-related issues, including the signs of suicidal inmates and how to refer inmates with mental illness to appropriate care.

According to Murphy, much of the staff training called for in the Agreement was implemented when the jail was preparing for accreditation.  He said that jail officials worked hard to ensure that staff recognized the value of making these changes, even though they disagreed, in some cases, with the report's findings.

"There were a significant amount of staff that absolutely did not believe that the [DOJ's] report was accurate," said Murphy. 

But Murphy said that accuracy was not the issue.  The bottom line was that the jail was moving in a different direction because it was the right thing to do. 

"It's a matter of a good plan of action," said Murphy.

Aside from additional training, the plan of action laid out by the DOJ includes revising suicide prevention and intervention policies and changing suicide watch procedures so that inmates who are in danger of harming themselves are held safely and closely monitored until a mental health professional can perform a risk assessment on them.

Murphy said that MTC and the DOJ have been working closely towards a common goal: improving conditions at the Santa Fe County Detention Center.

"They are very concerned about what happens in the facility," said Murphy.  "They are very concerned about being partners and making sure this thing works.  That is what agreements are about."

According to Eric Holland, a Justice Department spokesman, the Civil Rights Division is actively monitoring MTC to ensure that the company and the county are complying with the Agreement.  He said that three experts were at the facility last week and the DOJ is currently assessing the results of its monitoring visits.

Murphy is confident that within a year or so, the county will be released from federal oversight.  He said that, in the interim, MTC has redoubled its efforts to properly care for the mentally ill population.

"It's a significant challenge handling that population any place, whether [it's] in a jail or not," said Murphy.