Milwaukee County Board Adopts Third-Party Audit of County Jail

By Ben Slowey

On November 13, 2023

The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors passed the 2024 County Budget on Thursday, Nov.9, adopting an amendment that funds a third-party audit of Milwaukee County Jail. Such a provision is a step toward accountability and transparency in the operation of the county jail.

The Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression (MAARPR) has been a fervent voice in favor of the third-party audit. They have worked extensively with the families of Brieon Green and Cilivea Thyrion—both died in 2022 while in custody at Milwaukee County Jail—in demanding answers surrounding the deaths.

“If the MCSO is to receive millions of dollars from taxpayers, we need to know how exactly they are using that money,” MAARPR Outreach Chair Alan Chayova said. “We attended various county board committee meetings to speak out against simply funding the MCSO more and more. We knew that the county board would likely grant a budgetary increase to MCSO, so we pushed to have the third-party audit conducted.”

Seeking Accountability

The 2024 budget sets aside $250,000 for the audit. MCSO receives a 12 percent funding increase, which is being used to hire more correctional officers and pay raises for existing officers.  https://link.edgepilot.com/s/f5109d13/SqDf3hQ6_0qFt_HX8iRWQw?u=https://county.milwaukee.gov/files/county/administrative-services/PSB/BudgetsCopy-1/2024-Budget/2024-Recommended-Budget/400-OfficeoftheSherriff.pdf Sheriff Denita Ball says that she will cooperate with the Milwaukee County Board on the audit.

There have been four deaths in custody at Milwaukee County Jail in 2023. The third-party audit alone is not justice, but it is a victory as the struggle for improved carceral conditions, unambiguity from authorities and liability for police misconduct continues. 

MAARPR views the third-party audit as beneficial in their advocacy for a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC). “Without an accountability council over the MCSO, the problems will persist no matter how large their budget is,” Chavoya adds. “The more we talk with people in the community, the more obvious it becomes that an institution that isn’t accountable to anyone is a recipe for disaster, which is what the past 18 months have revealed.” It’s unclear at this time who will conduct the audit of the Milwaukee County Jail.

Visit the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression website at maarpr.org. To learn more about Milwaukee City Budgets, visit city.milwaukee.gov/doa/budget/Milwaukee-Budgets.

This piece was republished from the Sheperd Express.