Most people consider prisons public facilities. Even for-profit prisons run by private companies operate under authority granted them by the government. And the government is ultimately responsible for inmates and their well-being.
Which is why a surge of inmate deaths in Utah’s county jails is a cause for concern. According to the most recent report available by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, more inmates died in Utah jails in 2014 than in any other state.
When Utah legislators and prison-advocate groups like the American Civil Liberties Union started looking into the “why” of inmate deaths in Utah, county jails resisted.