Houghton County Jail Committee

09/02/2026

Looking to do your own research on the HoCo jail situation and the needs of the Sheriff's Department? Come to have coffee with Sheriff Saaranen and members of the Jail Committee. There six coffee dates with the Sheriff set up for September. Just come to the jail and let them know you're there to meet and chat with the Sheriff. The first one is tomorrow Thursday September 3 at 2pm. See for yourself. Ask your own questions.

08/30/2026

Hear about the needs for a new jail directly from the Chair of the Houghton County Board of Commissioners and from the Houghton County Sheriff in this week's Copper Country Today. Also, the Sheriff is hosting some "Coffee with the Sheriff" events in which you can just stop by the and chat with him and his staff and sometimes with members of the Jail Committee. Keep an eye out for that!

Podcast Episode · Copper Country Today · August 30 · 30m

08/21/2026

QUESTION: Shouldn't Houghton County be doing something to keep people out of the jail? Especially those with addiction problems or mental health problems that keep them coming back for additional stays in the jail? ANSWER: Yes. See the handout at the link in the first comment. The Community Corrections program starts October 1.

08/21/2026

QUESTION: What is the difference between those housed in the jail and the work camp?

ANSWER: Houghton County is not currently running a work camp (2026). The 2010 Sourcebook (reference below) indicates why.

The number of regular jail beds then, and now, is 28. The number of beds in the work camp up at the airport was 26. In 2010, “The 26 beds at the work camp are rarely full and at times there are so few inmates who are suitable for housing there that the facility is closed.”

The work camp is a “non-secure residential facility that may only be used for very carefully screened inmates. Simply put, the work camp provides the wrong type of beds to meet current and projected needs” (p15)

In addition, keeping the separate work camp open requires more staff and therefore more expense. That’s why it got closed down. To save money.

INFORMATION SOURCE: "Houghton County Justice Center Committee Sourcebook, 2009-2010” dated June 15, 2010, available on the web.

08/21/2026

QUESTION: Was Camp Kitwen considered as a location for the new jail?
ANSWER: Not in 2026, but it was in 2010 and 2018 because of recurring questions from the public. From the "Houghton County Justice Center Committee Sourcebook, 2009-2010” dated June 15, 2010. page 5, question 10a.

ANSWER: “Yes. Camp Kitwen was one of several closed state prisons that were reviewed by experts during a regional jail and facility re-use study that was completed this year [2010]. The consultants concluded that Camp Kitwen was not a good resource for Houghton County for several reasons.

The [2010] Justice Center Committee reviewed the findings and agreed that the camp does not offer a viable solution to meet jail and/or court needs.

Here are the facts:
• Camp Kitwen is a low security facility that is not suitable for secure jail use without costly renovation.
• Camp Kitwen is located 9 miles from the Courthouse. Locating the jail there would result in additional cost to transport inmates to the Courthouse.
• The consultants found that the 30-year costs to renovate and operate Camp Kitwen as a jail would cost $7.3 millioon more [in 2010 dollars] (11.7%) to operate than the proposed [2010] new jail that would be part of the Justice Center.
• Transportation, construction, maintenance and staffing costs would be higher if Camp Kitwen were to be used for a jail.
• Camp Kitwen has a private sewage system that requires a certified operator.
• Camp Kitwen has a wood burning heating system that would require additional staff.
• At the time of the County’s review of the Kitwen option, the State was not able to grant title to the building, but could only rent it. The County was unwilling to invest millions of dollars in a building that it may not own.”

Note that the State sold Camp Kitwen in 2023.

If you’d like to read the entire “Houghton County Justice Center Committee Sourcebook, 2009-2010,” just google that title and it comes right up. 25 pages long, written by the Jail Committee at the time.

08/21/2026

QUESTION: Why has building more floors been vetoed?
ANSWER: From the "Houghton County Justice Center Committee Sourcebook, 2009-2010” dated June 15, 2010. page 4, question 4a. "Can't we just add another floor to the existing jail?" Answer: The current jail facility has a footprint of 7,940 square feet. Only a small area of the current jail was built to take a second floor (5,000 square feet). ...Attempting to build a jail on and around the current jail would be expensive and would require closing Huron Street. Buying and demolishing the existing block east of the courthouse would still leave the facility landlocked, making it difficult to expand in the future if needed. Operating the jail on multiple floors would require additional jail staff, reducing the efficiency of operations and increasing annual costs.“ If you’d like to read the entire “Houghton County Justice Center Committee Sourcebook, 2009-2010,” just google that title and it comes right up. 25 pages long, written by the Jail Committee at the time.

08/19/2026

QUESTION FROM THE PUBLIC: How does the size of the proposed HoCo Jail compare with others in the State?
The graphic from the AbonmarchByce report (p16) is shown here. This graphic, produced in 2025, compares six Michigan counties with similar populations to Houghton County. Chippewa County has 179 beds. Delta has 156 beds. Houghton County has 30 beds (if you count the two holding cells). The next smallest jail capacity is Gratiot County at 70 beds, the proposed size of the new jail. To compare “apples to apples,” the consultants divided the number of beds by the county population in thousands. Houghton County is the smallest at 0.8 beds/1000 in population. If we raised the number of beds to 70 beds, Houghton County would be 1.9 beds/1000 in population, second smallest on the list.

08/19/2026

QUESTION FROM THE PUBLIC: Does the HoCo Jail house out-of-county prisoners? and Does the HoCo Sheriff's office operate a work camp? ANSWER: The Houghton County Jail does not currently house any out-of-county inmates and has not for several years. The Sheriff is on record as saying he does not want to house out-of-county inmates as it is complicated and not worth the effort. HoCo Jail used to house a few inmates from Keweenaw County and at one point from KBIC, but that was several years ago (Keweenaw County last sent folks in 2023; KIBC 2021). Note that the Sheriff’s webpage does, incorrectly, state that we do take out-of-county inmates. That is out-of-date information, and as of 8/18/2026 the Sheriff knows about this error on the website and as of 8/19/2026 the Sheriff knows about the Work Camp mention on his website, which is also incorrect. The County IT folks are going to update those errors. Houghton County does not currently run a work camp, as there is no demand for it. The current population of the jail does not contain any low-risk individuals that could be confined in a work camp. The property at the Airport that used to house a work camp is owned by the CMX Airport and the Sheriff’s department pays rent to use it. It needs a lot of work to be used for anything. Thanks for your engagement. (Sources: CMX airport manager, HoCo Jail Captain, Daily Mining Gazette who talked to the Keweenaw County Undersheriff)

08/19/2026

Keweenaw County has not lodged anyone in Houghton County Jail since 2023. Thanks for clarifying this Keweenaw County. "On Tuesday morning, Keweenaw County Undersheriff and Jail Administrator Tanya Mattila told the Daily Mining Gazette that her office has not lodged anyone in Houghton County Jail since 2023
"Since 2023, we lodge people primarily in Ontonagon County Jail," she said, "but we do use Baraga County's jail, too.""

HOUGHTON – The Houghton County Board of Commissioners and the Houghton County Jail Committee have waged a campaign for another attempt at a county jail millage proposal, following the defeat at the ballot in August, 2025. Both the BOC and the jail committee have received both support and pushback ...

08/17/2026

We have not had the time to update our video presentation to the current jail proposal, but there's a lot of information about the state of the jail in last year's video. The link is in the comments. I invite you to take a look.