Resident says developmentally disabled man lost roughly 50 pounds in Douglas County jail, urges county health oversight

A resident told the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners on June 25 that a developmentally disabled man she visited in the county jail had lost about 50 pounds while detained and urged the county to establish health-care oversight for the jail.

Helen (last name not provided) said she visited the man in April and May and described him as having severe level-3 autism and not intellectually impaired. She said his ideal body weight for his height (6-foot-7) would be about 220 pounds and that he left custody weighing 170 pounds. On the record she said, "he exited that jail weighing 170 pounds," and that "he starved in that jail because he could not advocate for himself."

Helen said she raised the issue with a lieutenant at the jail but that medical staff had repeatedly reported the inmate as "fine." She told commissioners that relying on corrections personnel alone to override medical assessments can be dangerous and that county-level oversight is needed because the state lacks a mechanism for health-care oversight in jails, in her view.

She said she provided the commission with a copy of a 2008 American Bar Association resolution (dated 02/2008) recommending oversight and that she had drafted a local resolution suggesting decarceration strategies to help pay for such oversight. Helen said she believes the county should not wait for state-level changes and urged immediate attention.

The transcript records her comments as public comment; the commission did not record any formal vote or direction on the record in response to her remarks during the June 25 meeting.

No medical records, provider names, or staff responses are recorded in the meeting transcript. Helen said the facility had retained medical professionals but that, in her view, "the experts failed us."