24 Cass County Jail inmates transferred due to overcrowding

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — Cass County Jail officials say 24 inmates have been transferred to other jails because of overcrowding.

Jail officials say ten inmates were transferred to Grand Forks this week, while 14 more remain in Richland, Stutsman, Burleigh and Barnes Counties jails.

Cass County Jail has just under 350 beds.

Captain Andrew Frobig says some inmates have to remain in Cass County because they’re getting treatment.

He adds they have to make room for new arrests, calling it “the last lever to pull on” to accommodate every inmate’s needs.

“We’re not holding nearly as many people with low level offenses. One of the consequences of holding people with those more serious crimes is they take longer to prosecute. The court cases are longer and more drawn out. You see more trials. You see more things taking three months, six months, nine months to get themselves resolved,” Frobig, the jail administrator said.

Frobig says there are avenues where Cass and Clay County, Minnesota could house inmates to save time but differences in state and training standards is what’s holding it back.

“We’ll reassess if we run out of options in North Dakota as well but it’s just cleaner and better for everybody since we know everybody’s in compliance in North Dakota with the North Dakota standards and vice versa. There are some things Clay County is not able to meet standards that exist here and I would imagine there’s probably some things that we may not be fully compliant with Minnesota standards,” he says.

The Cass County Jail is in the middle of a $30 million expansion.

The county is adding 96 cells and up to 192 beds.

“This expansion is not a luxury item for us. Even if you just look at the population needs, this area is going to grow with the diversion being completed. This stuff does not happen overnight if we don’t pre-plan for it,” he said.

The expansion breaks ground in June and is expected to finish in 2025.