Two Iowa county jails misused restraint chairs against inmates who were in the throes of a mental health crisis, a new report alleges .(Photo by Caspar Benson/Getty Images)
Two Iowa county jails misused restraint chairs against inmates who were in the throes of a mental health crisis, a new report from the Iowa Office of Ombudsman alleges.
Restraint devices that are intended to prevent unruly or potentially violent inmates from harming others or themselves are not uncommon in jails, but when misused can put inmates at risk of injury and death. Iowa law specifies that physical restraints should be used only when necessary, and that inmates, once restrained, be closely monitored by the staff.
The ombudsman’s investigation of four inmate complaints revealed that state administrative rules, manufacturers’ instructions, and the jail’s own policies were repeatedly violated at jails in both Webster County and Boone County.
In those cases, the report claims, inmates were kept in the chairs for five, nine, or even 14 hours — in spite of the fact that the inmates had calmed and their disruptive behaviors had long ceased. In some of the cases, jailers were aware of, but disregarded, inmate medical conditions during the restraint process, the report alleges. Required bathroom and water breaks were sometimes overlooked, and some of the inmates waited weeks for a mental health evaluation and treatment.
One inmate was restrained in a chair four times over a period of six days. Each time he was released from the restraints, he resumed harming himself by headbutting his door or punching himself. Often, the jails’ use of restraints either wasn’t documented in video recordings or the recordings later went missing, the ombudsman alleges.
“Misuse of restraint chairs can exacerbate mental illness or even result in death,” Ombudsman Bernardo Granwehr said. “It is our hope that the recommendations in this report will result in changes that will minimize such a possibility in Iowa’s jails.”
The report also notes there were instances of restraint chairs being used as a form of punishment rather than as a response to immediate threats – a practice the ombudsman’s office noted is in violation of state law. In addition, jails were not always reporting their use of restraint chairs to the state jail inspector, as required by Iowa law.
The report is a follow-up to a detailed 2009 ombudsman’s report on the use of restraint chairs in county jails. That report led to improvements statewide, but the ombudsman’s office states that it “noticed an upswing of complaints” beginning in 2020. A subsequent delay in investigating those complaints was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the ombudsman’s office to reprioritize its cases.
Jail officials around the state have since acknowledged a lack of awareness of the 2009 report, which the ombudsman’s office says is likely due to turnover among jail administrators and staff.
The new report notes that in the wake of the 2009 report, the Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association backed some of the recommendations by the ombudsman’s office, but didn’t support others, such as requiring jails to document their consideration of other, less-restrictive alternatives to restraints, and recording on video all aspects of restraint device use.
In his written response to the report, Webster County Sheriff Luke Fleener indicated his office has already taken steps to address several of the issues and he promised to collaborate with the ombudsman’s office on addressing any future concerns. He commended the ombudsman’s staff for their “common-sense approach when investigating complaints.”
In his response to the ombudsman’s findings, Boone County Chief Deputy Sheriff Cole Hoffman questioned why the report was issued four years after one of the complaints was filed and suggested that he be given four years to respond to any allegations specific to Boone County. Hoffman also questioned the ombudsman’s motives and what he perceived to be the office’s “bias.”
In response to the issues raised by Hoffman, the ombudsman’s office noted that he did not “specifically address our findings and recommendations in his defense of the jail’s actions … We received no acknowledgement of, or commitment to follow, any of these recommendations. As a result, we are concerned that the issues identified in this report will remain unresolved at the Boone County Jail.”
Editor’s note: Reporter Clark Kauffman worked for the Iowa Office of Ombudsman from October 2018 through November 2019.