SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The sheriff of a remote Utah county under investigation for allegations of inmate mistreatment in its jail quietly resigned over the weekend, and officials made his departure public on Monday.
Jerry R. Jorgensen resigned Sunday after serving for six years as the sheriff of northeastern Daggett County, said Susie Potter, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office.
Jorgensen’s resignation came days after Utah’s Department of Corrections said it turned over a months-long investigation of “serious, criminal allegations” of inmate mistreatment at the jail to the state Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General’s office is reviewing the findings to determine if they warrant criminal charges.
The jail, near Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area in the small town of Manila on the Wyoming border, has been empty since February, when state officials say they learned of the mistreatment allegations and removed 80 inmates, all male, to other jails or prisons.
State and county officials have declined to release details about the nature of the abuse allegations, saying only it involved “multiple, distressing allegations” involving corrections officers and higher-ranking commanders at the jail.
Potter said Monday that Jorgensen in January learned of allegations that involved possible mistreatment of inmates. She would not disclose what those allegations were, but she said they initially did not involve drugs or sex, and inmates were not believed to be in danger.
Potter said she has no information about what allegations state Corrections Department officials have learned.
Utah Corrections Executive Director Rollin Cook said in a statement Friday that the allegations were “serious, criminal allegations, involving unprofessional conduct and unacceptable correctional practices, which put the inmates and the public in jeopardy.”
Cook said the sheriff’s office command staff are still under investigation, and “we remain apprehensive about returning inmates to the jail under its current culture.”
Utah Department of Corrections spokeswoman Maria Peterson said Monday she could not say whether the sheriff was under investigation, noting that details about which positions or individuals were involved would be released when the case is complete.
Jorgensen’s resignation was “completely voluntary” and came because he felt a new sheriff would be “a clean break” for the county, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“He is involved in the investigation only because he was in charge of the sheriff’s office and takes responsibility for what happened while under his command,” the statement said.
Phone numbers listed for Jorgensen were disconnected.
His resignation came a week after two jail employees were fired and a jail commander resigned.
Jorgensen, a Republican, started working for the county in 2007 as a jail commander. He was first elected sheriff in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.
County officials on Tuesday will appoint an acting sheriff, who will serve until the local Republican Party recommends a replacement to the county commission. That person would serve until an election can be held.
The FBI is helping state officials, who started investigating the alleged inmate mistreatment in February, the Corrections Department has said.
Three inmates initially were believed to have been mistreated and were removed from the jail as state officials inspected the facility and interviewed prisoners.
Several weeks later, the state removed the remaining inmates.
American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, which has provided legal help to inmates at other jails and prisons over treatment and conditions, has not received any complaints about Daggett County, according to organization spokeswoman Anna Brower Thomas.
The county has lost more than $200,000 in revenue since its jail was emptied out, money it receives from the state to house inmates at the jail.
A decade ago, two inmates escaped from the jail and spent six days on the run after walking through a broken door and jumping a fence. The state Corrections Department temporarily removed dozens of inmates in response, citing concerns about security.
The inmates were returned when state officials said jail officials made changes.
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An earlier version of this story included some misspellings of Jorgensen’s name.
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