A federal judge formally ends court ordered monitoring of conditions at Wisconsin’s juvenile prisons in Lincoln County.
Governor Tony Evers had announced earlier this week that a request to end the monitoring had been made.
The court had put in place 50 requirements for the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lakes schools, to be overseen by a court ordered monitor.
Reports in October, and again this week, showed all 50 requirements had been met.
With that, a federal judge this week lifted a consent decree which had required the monitoring.
“The court’s decision to end federal oversight of Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake schools not only reflects years of our administration’s hard work and meaningful efforts to reform our juvenile corrections system, but it marks a critical step in bringing our kids closer to home as soon as we safely and responsibly can. I want to thank the many people across my administration who’ve done the hard work to make today a reality,” said Gov. Evers.
The monitoring requirement had been put in place following a 2017 lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union over conditions at the juvenile facilities
Plans are to eventually convert the facilities in Lincoln County to take adult prisoners, as new juvenile facilities come on line elsewhere in the state.
