On April 30, 1997, inmates at the Bonneville County Jail, represented by the ACLU, filed a class action lawsuit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, challenging conditions of confinement at the jail.

Simultaneously with the filing of the complaint, the parties lodged a proposed Consent Decree, Order and Judgment which settled the disputed issues as to inmate confinement, pending the completion of construction of a new Bonneville County Jail.

On May 16, 1997, the District Court (Judge B. Lynn Winmill) approved the settlement and entered the Consent Decree. The Decree called for changes and improvements in the following areas: physical facilities, fire safety, inmate classification, health care, staffing, sanitation, mail, food service, access to the courts, exercise, visitation, overcrowding, discipline and non-discrimination policy. The Consent Decree was modified on September 17, 1997, when the District Court approved a Supplemental Agreement of the parties, regarding additional jail conditions.

Following the completed construction of the new Bonneville County Jail, the County has transferred all inmates and detention operations to the new jail. As all concerns which gave rise to the existing Consent Decree, except medical and health care services, were alleviated, the parties agreed to a Second Supplemental Agreement. On June 14, 1999, the District Court approved the agreement. By terms of the agreement, the Court was to retain jurisdiction over the matter for one year to monitor compliance.

The PACER docket (current as of July 13, 2014) notes no further activity and designates the case as "terminated."

Dan Dalton - 02/08/2007
Jessica Kincaid - 07/13/2014


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