Grand Traverse County jail
The Record-Eagle's past and continuing coverage of Grand Traverse County's jail:
TRAVERSE CITY — The criminal case against a former Grand Traverse County jail administrator has moved a step closer to trial.
TRAVERSE CITY — Former Grand Traverse County jail administrator Todd Ritter has rejected a plea offer from the state Attorney General’s office…
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County Sheriff Tom Bensley spoke at length and with barely contained aggravation about former Jail Administrato…
TRAVERSE CITY — Two Grand Traverse County Commissioners will try again Wednesday to question Sheriff Tom Bensley about jail oversight, after p…
TRAVERSE CITY — A public reckoning of what one elected official called “areas of concern on several fronts” regarding oversight of Grand Trave…
TRAVERSE CITY — A Grand Traverse County Prosecutor’s office attorney issued a cautionary memo Friday, following public statements by Commissio…
TRAVERSE CITY — Former Jail Administrator Todd Ritter remains free on bond, after the Attorney General’s office provided discovery documents i…
TRAVERSE CITY — An attempt by two Grand Traverse County commissioners to question Sheriff Tom Bensley about jail oversight was locked down whe…
TRAVERSE CITY — Staff and healthcare providers inside Grand Traverse County’s jail do a decent job of caring for an inmate’s physical health, …
TRAVERSE CITY — Former jail administrator Todd Ritter was arraigned in 86th District Court Friday on felony and misdemeanor charges stemming f…
LANSING — Former Grand Traverse County Jail Administrator Todd Ritter has been arrested by Michigan State Police troopers following a state At…
TRAVERSE CITY — Whether former Grand Traverse County Jail Administrator Todd Ritter will face criminal charges remains unknown more than five …
TRAVERSE CITY — Twelve Grand Traverse County jail inmates were transported to prison Wednesday following a state OK — the first of its kind si…
TRAVERSE CITY — National experts on inmate healthcare will assess procedures in Grand Traverse County’s jail, following approval of a proposal…
TRAVERSE CITY — A decision on whether former Grand Traverse County Jail Administrator Todd Ritter will face criminal charges remains a mystery…
TRAVERSE CITY — The Grand Traverse County jail’s health care provider would be put under the microscope if a request by Sheriff Tom Bensley fo…
TRAVERSE CITY — The state’s Attorney General’s office will decide whether former Jail Administrator Todd Ritter will face criminal charges, a …
TRAVERSE CITY — A lawsuit filed in federal court claims a corporate healthcare provider’s policies endangered the lives of two Grand Traverse …
TRAVERSE CITY — A yet-to-be named special prosecutor will decide whether former Jail Administrator Todd Ritter will face criminal charges.
TRAVERSE CITY — The head of Northern Lakes Community Mental Health will deliver an annual presentation to the Grand Traverse County board Wedn…
TRAVERSE CITY — It costs more per person for mental health services if you live in Grand Traverse County and commissioners may be willing to p…
TRAVERSE CITY — The mother of Alan Halloway, a man who died by suicide in the Grand Traverse County Jail in 2017, has filed a multiple-count c…
TRAVERSE CITY — A resolution in the probe into James Chisholm’s death is no closer than it was months ago — after a November delay, the teen a…
TRAVERSE CITY — A decision about whether former Jail Administrator Todd Ritter will face criminal charges will wait a little longer.
TRAVERSE CITY — Calls for jail reform came repeatedly this year from citizens, elected officials and via social media, prompting public expres…
TRAVERSE CITY — A woman was sent to the hospital Saturday after using socks to try and hang herself at the Grand Traverse County jail, authori…
TRAVERSE CITY — A $163,500 contract will continue mental health services for inmates in Grand Traverse County’s jail.
TRAVERSE CITY — It took nearly a century, but the American Civil Liberties Union has “discovered” northern Michigan.
TRAVERSE CITY — Wellpath Founder Gerard Boyle will face charges amid accusations he bribed a Virginia sheriff to secure contract extensions.
TRAVERSE CITY — Jennilyn Oster wanted to do more for the students walking her district’s halls.
TRAVERSE CITY — Accounts of how, when and why inmates receive medications inside Grand Traverse County’s jail are sparse, but what’s available…
TRAVERSE CITY — Inmates addicted to opioids are less likely to relapse, contract an infectious disease, die from suicide or overdose if they r…
TRAVERSE CITY — County officials have several suggestions to consider regarding inmate health at the Grand Traverse County Jail, following a p…
TRAVERSE CITY — Following questions from county commissioners, Grand Traverse County Sheriff Tom Bensley told the city’s Human Rights Commissi…
TRAVERSE CITY — Traverse City Police investigated an attempted suicide in Grand Traverse County’s jail hours after a settlement in the inmate …
TRAVERSE CITY — County officials agreed to pay $20,000 to the relatives of a woman who died by suicide after 19 days in Grand Traverse County’s jail.
TRAVERSE CITY — An investigation of former Grand Traverse County Jail Administrator Todd Ritter is in the hands of the prosecutor.
TRAVERSE CITY — Weeks of public outcry over health care provided inside Grand Traverse County’s jail spurred officials to break their silence …
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County commissioners will discuss inmate health at their monthly meeting Wednesday, following an ongoing contro…
Recognizing shortcomings and finding ways to fix them is a hallmark of great leadership.
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County Administrator Nate Alger has completed his inquiry into the handling of a former jail inmate’s medical c…
TRAVERSE CITY — Five new part-time bailiffs will staff judicial sessions at the Robert P. Griffin Hall of Justice beginning Nov. 1.
TRAVERSE CITY –- One male inmate in the Grand Traverse County jail tested positive for hepatitis A Friday, and the county health department re…
The issue: Concerns about conditions inside Grand Traverse County’s jail continue to surface
TRAVERSE CITY — Fear of retaliation from and poor health care from the Grand Traverse County jail’s corporate outsourcer dominated public comm…
TRAVERSE CITY — Greg Hall was fed up.
TRAVERSE CITY — Hope of a better approach spurred local prosecutors, police and attorneys — and slews of peers from across the state — to Kirk…
TRAVERSE CITY — Marilyn Lucille Palmer hanged herself less than three months before her 37th birthday.
TRAVERSE CITY — Brenda Strait knew something wasn’t right the first time she stepped into Dr. James Leete’s office with her drug-addicted son.
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County sheriff’s Lt. Chris Barsheff takes command of a county jail wracked by scandal in the wake of former Cap…
TRAVERSE CITY — A fired Grand Traverse County jail officer accused of passing notes between inmates emerged free of criminal penalties after p…
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County Jail Administrator Todd Ritter’s alleged inappropriate relations with female inmates could prompt crimin…
TRAVERSE CITY — An internal investigation yielded lewd text messages, photographs and a several-page list of misconduct between Grand Traverse…
TRAVERSE CITY — Someone left a vial filled with a mysterious substance in Grand Traverse County’s jail cell — officers hope to find its owner.
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County's jail Capt. Todd Ritter submitted his resignation letter April 11, a week after officials placed him on…
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County’s jail Capt. Todd Ritter is on a paid suspension until an internal investigation concludes.
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County’s jail Capt. Todd Ritter is on a paid suspension until an internal investigation concludes.
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County jail officers found a surprise during a routine inmate body search last month — pot and suboxone stuffed…
TRAVERSE CITY — Steps aimed at increasing the safety of inmates at Grand Traverse County's jail continue to be taken by county officials.
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County officials hope to increase the safety of inmates at the county jail by making modifications to shower areas.
TRAVERSE CITY — Deputy Josh Wolf saw the 81-year-old man collapsed in a driveway and knew it was finally time to put his training to work.
TRAVERSE CITY — In the wake of two inmate suicides, Grand Traverse County commissioners formed a committee to enhance the mental health servic…
TRAVERSE CITY — Authorities accused a woman of attempting to smuggle drugs into the jail after a deputy found a pipe with leftover meth inside.
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County’s jail is set for a few small facelifts that many hope will increase safety.
TRAVERSE CITY — A mother and her family soon will receive a significant settlement after her son killed himself in Grand Traverse County’s jai…
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County commissioners approved a $125,000 settlement with Alan Halloway’s family after he committed suicide in t…
TRAVERSE CITY — Administrators at Grand Traverse County’s jail fired an officer who faces charges following allegations he passed notes betwee…
TRAVERSE CITY — “Man, it’s heavy.”
The Issue: Now is the time of year when we pause and take stock of the year that's almost in the rearview mirror.
The following are the top 10 stories that grabbed headlines in the Record-Eagle in the past year.
TRAVERSE CITY — Darcie Pickren knows the stress and isolation that comes with a jail sentence.
TRAVERSE CITY — Mental health services in the Grand Traverse County Jail will be expanded to allow for inmates to receive mental health care p…
TRAVERSE CITY — It’s difficult to argue that mental health services aren’t important, especially in the Grand Traverse County Jail where there…
TRAVERSE CITY — Marco Brown nearly joined the ranks of one type of statistic, and now strives to keep himself a member of another sort.
TRAVERSE CITY — Funds to allow for a settlement between Grand Traverse County and the family of a man who killed himself in the county's jail …
TRAVERSE CITY — A four-year commissioner hopes to continue her Grand Traverse County board career, while government concerns prompted a challe…
TRAVERSE CITY — Corrections officers and first responders revived a man after he stopped breathing in Grand Traverse County's jail during a su…
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County spent less and took in more in 2017 than originally anticipated, and now county commissioners will debat…
TRAVERSE CITY — An attorney for the families of two inmates who killed themselves inside Grand Traverse County’s jail hopes to uncover thousan…
TRAVERSE CITY — A settlement puts to bed a lawsuit over Grand Traverse County sheriff's officials withholding of certain details in a jail inm…
TRAVERSE CITY — Several women inside Grand Traverse County’s jail likely will face additional criminal charges after police said one woman was…
The issue: Sheriff refutes Record-Eagle reporting and editorial
In an article on March 23 and an editorial on March 25, the Record-Eagle once again provided inaccurate and misleading information.
Grand Traverse County Sheriff Tom Bensley restated the obvious last week when he told county commissioners it’s time to address dysfunction in…
TRAVERSE CITY — Stanley McAskin died surrounded by 16 empty pill bottles, all bearing his doctor’s name.
TRAVERSE CITY — Handwritten notes alerted corrections officers to an inmate’s pleas for help days before her lifeless body was found hanging i…
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County’s sheriff had a simple message for county commissioners: The services provided at the jail are woefully …
TRAVERSE CITY — An inmate serving time for an embezzlement conviction faces an additional criminal charge after police said he sexually assaul…
TRAVERSE CITY — Authorities discovered what they suspect is a shiv hidden in a Grand Traverse County jail cell.
TRAVERSE CITY — Brandon MacMaster knows the next two months in Grand Traverse County’s jail will be demanding if he doesn’t receive the medica…
TRAVERSE CITY — An inmate at Grand Traverse County's jail claimed another inmate sexually assaulted him as he slept, authorities said.
TRAVERSE CITY — Suicide attempts continue to afflict Grand Traverse County’s jail after an inmate was found hanging dead and two more attempte…
TRAVERSE CITY — Deputies again prevented a suicide at Grand Traverse County’s jail after an inmate was spotted on surveillance cameras with a …
It’s time to put all the cards on the table, lives depend upon it.
TRAVERSE CITY — Panicked screams from fellow inmates echoed throughout Grand Traverse County’s jail before officers found Marilyn Lucille Palm…
TRAVERSE CITY — Officials provided only a thumbnail sketch of circumstances surrounding a woman's apparent suicide inside Grand Traverse Count…
TRAVERSE CITY — A woman’s death is under investigation after corrections officers again found an inmate hanging dead inside Grand Traverse Cou…
TRAVERSE CITY — Most of the inmates at Grand Traverse County’s jail have seen better days.
TRAVERSE CITY — A lawsuit targets Grand Traverse County officials after some claimed a recent, closed-door commission meeting ran afoul of sta…
TRAVERSE CITY — A special prosecutor will decide whether criminal charges should be levied against corrections officers after a man last year …
TRAVERSE CITY — Authorities halted another inmate's attempt to commit suicide inside Grand Traverse County’s jail.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The continuing grim grip of the nationwide opioid epidemic, probes into a high-profile suicide inside Grand Traverse County's j…
TRAVERSE CITY — Police said a local inmate twice tried to kill herself in one evening at Grand Traverse County’s jail before she was eventuall…
TRAVERSE CITY — A special prosecutor may soon be assigned to further investigate the circumstances that led to an inmate's suicide inside Gran…
TRAVERSE CITY — It’s Grand Traverse County’s 27-acre, 17-year-old question: What to do with the LaFranier Road property?
TRAVERSE CITY — Another inmate's suicide attempt was again thwarted by corrections officers after deputies said they stopped a local man from …
TRAVERSE CITY — A 48-year-old inmate was taken to a hospital after he was found attempting to hang himself from his bunk bed, marking the seco…
TRAVERSE CITY — Authorities said they interrupted a recent suicide attempt after an inmate at Grand Traverse County’s jail tried to choke hers…
TRAVERSE CITY — The parents of an inmate who hanged himself in Grand Traverse County’s jail aim to hold the county and the sheriff’s departmen…
TRAVERSE CITY — Corrections officers said they stopped an inmate’s recent suicide attempt inside a jail cell.
TRAVERSE CITY — A lawyer aims to pry loose key details surrounding an inmate’s suicide at Grand Traverse County’s jail with a lawsuit levied a…
TRAVERSE CITY — A Traverse City woman faces accusations she broke into a relative's safe to steal prescription pills.
TRAVERSE CITY — An inmate’s suicide attempt led him on a trip to the hospital.
Editor’s note: The following is Grand Traverse County Sheriff Tom Bensley’s response to the Record-Eagle’s Sept. 3 editorial regarding his han…
Sheriff Tom Bensley’s response to the Record-Eagle’s recent editorial questioning steep charges levied by his office to fulfill a Freedom of I…
TRAVERSE CITY — Tom Bousamra has seen many holes to fill during his 30-plus years as a chaplain for Grand Traverse County’s jail.
It cost the public $636 for a glimpse inside one of Grand Traverse County’s largest taxpayer-funded institutions last week.
TRAVERSE CITY — A Michigan Sheriff’s Association investigation indicates unchecked cells, botched paperwork and other inadequacies at Grand Tr…
TRAVERSE CITY — The slow release of information related to the death of an inmate found hanging from a noose in his cell at Grand Traverse Cou…
TRAVERSE CITY — Authorities anticipate a potential lawsuit following “some indications” of negligence or wrongdoing by corrections officers af…
TRAVERSE CITY — An inmate facing a slew of felony charges, including attempted murder, is dead after corrections officers found him unresponsi…
TRAVERSE CITY — Alan Bradley Halloway will remain in Grand Traverse County’s jail on a $1 million cash or surety bond after he was arraigned o…
TRAVERSE CITY — A man accused of shooting another during an argument outside a Traverse City apartment complex will face multiple felony charg…
TRAVERSE CITY — Police have requested an attempted murder charge against a suspect accused of shooting a man at a Traverse City apartment complex.
TRAVERSE CITY — KeAnna Harris saw a stranger fire four shots into a man's body, amid a flurry of kicks and punches, before fleeing the Bay Hil…
TRAVERSE CITY — A Blair Township man's mistaken release from jail led to a dog's death after it attacked a sheriff's deputy tasked with rearre…
TRAVERSE CITY — An inmate in Grand Traverse County's jail was revived after paramedics administered an overdose-reversal drug, authorities said.
TRAVERSE CITY — There’s a simple way Northern Lakes Community Mental Health workers judge whether a person is suffering a mental health crisis.
TRAVERSE CITY — A new plan effectively reverses a much-criticized move by Northern Lakes Community Mental Health officials to withdraw service…
TRAVERSE CITY — A dwindling pot of money used to send Grand Traverse County inmates to other nearby jails could lead officials to release more…
TRAVERSE CITY — Local defense attorney Janet Mistele couldn't understand why a jailed client’s messages asking for help from Northern Lakes Co…
TRAVERSE CITY — A Grawn woman tried to hang herself in what's the second recent suicide attempt at Grand Traverse County's jail.
TRAVERSE CITY — An ambulance carted a Traverse City man from Grand Traverse County's jail after authorities said he slashed at his wrists with…
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County commissioners at the last minute approved a settlement agreement in a lawsuit over a county jail inmate'…
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County commissioners voted to accept a settlement deal that ends a lawsuit filed by a woman whose son died in t…
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County commissioners will follow their legal counsel's recommendations in the run-up to a pending trial about a…
TRAVERSE CITY — A civil lawsuit over a man's death in Grand Traverse County's jail is poised to begin trial in federal court.
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County officials could lease an unused portion of the county's jail facilities to a nonprofit addiction treatme…
TRAVERSE CITY — Officials from Grand Traverse County and Northern Lakes Community Mental Health will discuss a possible resolution to a long-running dispute over mental health services for county jail inmates during a Wednesday meeting.
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County's sheriff wants to hire a new employee to collect debts from inmates sentenced to serve time at the coun…
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County officials want a regional public mental health agency to do more to cover the costs of psychiatric services in the county jail.
TRAVERSE CITY — Attorneys representing Grand Traverse County want a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the county and Sheriff Tom Bensley related to a man's death in the county jail.
Chaplain Tina McCalley wheels a cart loaded with softcover books and staple-less magazines down the narrow hallway of a women’s cell block.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Newsmakers 2014 profiles people, places and events that made news in the Grand Traverse region during the past year.
TRAVERSE CITY — Tight money and looming, major changes on the Grand Traverse County's governing board arrested a push by some county officials to build a new jail.
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County’s jail capacity could shrink — at least on paper — if county officials embrace a recommendation to elimi…
TRAVERSE CITY — A Grand Traverse County commissioner will question how the county pays for jail mental health services during a committee meeting set for Wednesday. Board members during the meeting will consider renewing a contract with Traverse City-based Nexus Family Services to provide substance abuse and life skills education programs to inmates.
TRAVERSE CITY — An inmate tried to kill himself at Grand Traverse County's jail by cutting his arm with a broken plastic spoon.
The consensus from a consulting firm and a circuit court judge on whether Grand Traverse County should spend tens of millions on a new jail ca…
TRAVERSE CITY — A consultants' report states local officials haven't collected enough information to justify their push to build an estimated …
BY ART BUKOWSKI
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County's sheriff backed off his efforts to bar potential media access to a jailed high-profile criminal defenda…
To hear Grand Traverse County Sheriff Tom Bensley tell it, a Sheriff’s Department policy to sue to collect $20 daily housing fees from jail in…
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County is headed to court in an effort to collect money from county jail inmates.
TRAVERSE CITY — Some Grand Traverse County officials appear eager to build a new multimillion-dollar jail, even before two federal jail consul…
From the start, the conversation was more “could we?” than “must we?” More “can we?” than “do we absolutely have to?”
TRAVERSE CITY — Several holding cells line the walls of Grand Traverse County jail’s intake area, well-suited places to house potentially suic…
TRAVERSE CITY — At least one Grand Traverse County commissioner hopes officials take their time before deciding whether to build a new jail, a…
Before Grand Traverse County officials expend a lot of time and energy toward justifying a new $30 million jail, they need to answer some esse…
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County commissioners might dust off a decade-old proposal to build a new jail.
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County sheriff’s deputies found a jail inmate who walked away from his work release two months ago.
TRAVERSE CITY — Officials want to reduce inmate numbers in the Grand Traverse County jail before a population surge stretches the facility bey…
Randy Woodcock takes prescribed methadone and morphine every day.
A man who escaped from the Grand Traverse County jail earned more time there because of his breakout.
The Grand Traverse County Jail's policies and procedures are under the microscope after a clever inmate posed as someone else and walked out t…
An inmate who escaped from the Grand Traverse County Jail this afternoon has been captured.
A man who died in jail had about twice the normal lethal dose of methadone in his system, reports indicate, but a doctor contracted by the jai…
A man who died in the Grand Traverse County Jail had a high amount of methadone in his system, his mother said.
The questions are many, the answers thus far few in the death of Danny Ray Whitney in a cell at the Grand Traverse County Jail.
City police are investigating the death of an inmate at the Grand Traverse County Jail.
Grand Traverse County paid a private psychiatrist more than $20,000 a year for at least 7 years to provide services to jail inmates, despite a…
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit tied to the death of a young woman who hanged herself in the Grand Traverse County jail.
Proposed preliminary budget cuts in Grand Traverse County would reduce public safety services but boost some county departments.
Anne Avery-Miller's suicide in the Antrim County Jail was an end of sorts to a bizarre story that included her dead 16-year-old son, an allege…
TRAVERSE CITY -- A federal judge won't grant a new trial after a former Grand Traverse Sheriff's Department employee sued the county and won a…
TRAVERSE CITY -- A lawsuit alleging medical malpractice by Grand Traverse County jail doctors and a nurse causing the death of an inmate can g…
TRAVERSE CITY -- The mother of a young Kingsley woman who hanged herself in the Grand Traverse County Jail filed a federal lawsuit against the…
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County continues to pile up legal bills in a lost lawsuit, a chase that could lead to the U.S. Supreme Court.
TRAVERSE CITY -- A federal judge denied a motion to dismiss a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Depa…
TRAVERSE CITY -- The Grand Traverse County Jail will ban plastic and consider other new policies after a young woman attempted to suffocate he…
TRAVERSE CITY -- They found Sarah Clark slumped in a segregated shower area in the Grand Traverse County Jail, unsupervised, water running, a …
TRAVERSE CITY -- A Kingsley woman who died after a suicide attempt in the Grand Traverse County Jail was on suicide watch "multiple times" dur…
See related story GT County Jail inmate attempts suicide - March 1, 2008
TRAVERSE CITY -- Attorneys representing the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Department want answers from an ex-deputy who sued the department …
TRAVERSE CITY A recent state inspection of the Grand Traverse County Jail showed it in 100 percent compliance for the sixth year in a row, d…
TRAVERSE CITY Lisa Kirby believes Grand Traverse County sheriff's officials retaliated against her when she complained of sexual discriminat…
TRAVERSE CITY — Three sergeants are among four Grand Traverse County sheriff's employees suspected in thefts of money from an inmate fund, but…
TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse County Jail corrections officers are the prime suspects in an investigation into disappearances of more than $1…
TRAVERSE CITY — Officials are hoping to query the public while deciding the next move - including a possible millage request - in a long-stall…
