Statewide public data on pretrial incarceration key to public safety, advocates say

What do we know about the people being held in city jails and their treatment before trial? According to jail reform advocates: not much. Two new bills introduced in the Minnesota House and Senate would change that, requiring consistent statewide collection and public reporting of data on individuals held pretrial. “Right now in Minnesota, more than half of the people in our jails, nearly 3,000 people on any given day, are being held pretrial, meaning they have not been convicted of a crime,” said Danielle Matthias, director of policy and advocacy for the Minnesota Freedom Fund. “And we know that this burden falls disproportionately on Black, Indigenous, and low-income communities, with Greater Minnesota having the highest rates of pretrial detention.”

The Pretrial Data Transparency Act, comprising HF 1775 and SF 1908, would require the Department of Corrections to publish detailed public information regarding pretrial detainees. This includes demographic data, charge descriptions, bail conditions, information on defense attorneys, failure-to-appear rates, and details on any eventual sentences imposed. Matthias noted that in many cases, whether someone remains in custody is influenced more by their ability to pay bail rather than an assessment of risk. “Pretrial detention is not a neutral experience. It is destabilizing and, in many cases, unsafe,” Matthias said. “Even short periods in custody can result in job loss, housing instability, and separation from family. We also see people being pressured into accepting plea deals simply to secure their release.”

For many held before sentencing, the experience is psychologically disturbing, according to interviews conducted by the Minnesota Justice Research Center. “I felt trapped and hopeless, like my only option was to plead out,” said Darla Holland of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee and a former jail inmate. She recalled the difficulty of accessing resources due to high costs behind bars. “Whenever you’re incarcerated, you’re sort of treated like you’re always lying.” Dr. Katie Remington Cunningham, research director of the Minnesota Justice Research Center, echoed this sentiment. “Our system is in theory predicated around the presumption of innocence… but the reality is it doesn’t always unfold that way. You get a lot of punishment in the pretrial process.”

While some counties maintain online dashboards, the data varies significantly by jurisdiction. Hennepin County launched a dashboard in 2024 that is updated daily, showing 721 people in custody as of March 19 with a median stay of 28 days. However, dashboards in Hennepin and Ramsey counties do not explicitly specify how many inmates are awaiting trial versus those held for transfers or presentencing. “We do not have a centralized, statewide system to track what is happening, which means we cannot answer basic but critical questions about who is being detained, for how long, under what conditions, or with what outcomes,” Matthias said.

To bridge this gap, the Minnesota Freedom Fund has utilized its Court Watch program, where staff and volunteers observe bail hearings in Hennepin and Ramsey counties. “By formalizing this program and collecting our own data, we are able to surface patterns, elevate stories that would otherwise go unheard and shed light on how the system operates day to day,” Matthias said, adding that while Court Watch is critical, it is not a substitute for systemic reform. “I’m proud to be the House author of this proposal,” said state Rep. Dave Pinto, author of HF 1775 and a practicing prosecutor. “I see the complex challenges and frequent disparities inherent in this system. I’m determined to keep improving our justice system, for the well-being and safety of all of us.”

Existing data already highlights these significant racial disparities. In Hennepin County, Black individuals made up 64% of the jail population as of March 19 and reported the longest average stays, some exceeding 1,000 days. Ramsey County shows a similar pattern: Black individuals comprise roughly 45% of the jail population despite making up only 12% of the county’s total population. Median stays for white detainees range from one to two days, compared to two to three days for Black detainees. “This is another one of those questions that we cannot answer statewide, which is infuriating,” Cunningham said. She noted that in Hennepin County, 63% of the population staying 30 days or more is Black.

The bills have been referred to the Public Safety Finance and Policy and the Judiciary and Public Safety committees and await votes in the current legislative session. Advocates argue that the lack of transparency makes it nearly impossible to identify disparities or ensure accountability. “The longer that you’re locked up in jail, the more likely you are when you get out to be unstable, and when you’re unstable, we see more incidents of crime,” Cunningham said. “The decisions that we make about pretrial law are hugely instrumental in whether or not people are able to be safe.” For Holland, the reality of the current system remains stark. “Jails are sort of like their own world and the oversight in a jail is administration. You fall through the cracks and contacting the outside world is difficult.”

Izzy Canizares is a freelance journalist and contributing writer for the Minnesota Spokesman -Recorder.