A recent report showed 280 inmates in Minnesota and 38 in North Dakota died from 2000 to 2013 while being held at jails and prisons.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics report, released Tuesday outlined the number of inmate deaths nationwide during that time period. In North Dakota, 24 inmates died while in the custody of a local jail from 2000 to 2013. North Dakota local jails' worst year was 2013, in which five inmates died while in a jail's custody.
In most other years, North Dakota local jails had one or two deaths.
The report does note jail populations in North Dakota have climbed over the years, with 619 people incarcerated in local jails in 2000 to 1,088 people incarcerated in 2013.
In Minnesota, 100 jail inmates died in custody from 2000 to 2013, with deaths ranging from three in 2009 to 11 in 2006. On average, seven jail inmates died each year while in the custody of a local jail in Minnesota.
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The report does not break down jail inmates' causes of death by state. However, it does say slightly more than one third of local jail deaths nationwide were the result of suicide in 2013. Suicide has been the leading cause of death in jails every year since 2000, the Bureau of Justice Statistics' report found.
Meanwhile, in the nation's prisons, 90 percent of prisoner deaths were due to illness.
Jails are where inmates are held while awaiting trial. Prisons are where inmates are held after being sentenced to a term of imprisonment, typically of more than one year.
The report does break down prisoners' causes of death by state.
Of the 180 Minnesota prisoners who died while in a state prison from 2001 to 2013, 52 prisoners died of cancer. Thirty-three died of heart disease, 29 of liver disease and 31 of other illnesses. A total of 22 state prisoners committed suicide.
In North Dakota, of the 14 state prisoners who died while in custody in that 13-year period, four died of heart disease, three of cancer, two of liver disease and three of other illnesses. One committed suicide and one died of drug or alcohol intoxication.
In Minnesota, prisoner deaths ranged from six in 2004 to 20 in 2013, with an average of 14 prisoners dying each year.
In North Dakota, prisoner deaths ranged from zero to three. No prisoners died from 2007 to 2009 in North Dakota prisons. Three died in 2001 and 2012. One prisoner died in all other years.
