# Joseph Gomm *Minnesota corrections officer killed at MCF-Stillwater* Joseph Gomm was an officer at MCF-Stillwater, a state prison in [[Stillwater]]. Minnesota Public Radio News reported on August 2, 2018 that Washington County had charged his killing.[^1] According to the project's at-issue catalogue entry AI-Washington-025, Gomm's family sued a division of the Department of Corrections for wrongful death. The suit alleges that a state investigation had shown prior warnings from officers, staff and inmates about the workshop's security. The entry records that the family filed after the [[Legislature]] rejected a proposed $3 million appropriation.[^2] The catalogue anchors this account to the Office of the Legislative Auditor's 2020 prison-safety evaluation. It treats that evaluation as independent corroboration of the plaintiffs' theory.[^2] The record here does not establish the following: - the complaint's court, docket, filing date or status; - the bill number, vote or sponsors of the rejected appropriation; - the party alignment of the Legislature that rejected it; - the state investigation's findings in its own words.[^2] ## Who - Joseph Gomm was an officer at MCF-Stillwater. Washington County charged his killing, as reported on August 2, 2018.[^1] - His family are the plaintiffs in the wrongful-death suit described in the at-issue entry.[^2] - The defendant named in that entry is a division of the Department of Corrections. The record here does not name the division.[^2] ## What - The family's suit is for wrongful death. It alleges that a state investigation had shown prior warnings from officers, staff and inmates about the workshop's security.[^2] - The record here contains the charging report only as a news item. It does not contain the charging document or the case's outcome.[^1] ## When - Minnesota Public Radio News reported the Washington County charge on August 2, 2018.[^1] - The at-issue entry places the family's filing after the Legislature's rejection of the proposed $3 million appropriation. The record here does not give the date of either event.[^2] - The Legislative Auditor's evaluation that the entry cites as its anchor is dated 2020.[^2] ## Where - The killing occurred at MCF-Stillwater.[^1] - The record here does not establish where the workshop named in the suit's allegations is located.[^2] ## How much - The proposed appropriation that the Legislature rejected was $3 million, according to the at-issue entry.[^2] ## In the at-issue record Entry AI-Washington-025, ranked 25 in the Washington package, sets two outputs of the State side by side: - the Legislature's rejection of a proposed $3 million appropriation; - the wrongful-death suit that followed, which alleges that a state investigation had recorded prior warnings about the workshop's security.[^2] For its primary anchor, the entry cites the Legislative Auditor's 2020 prison-safety evaluation. The entry draws on two sources in all, one agency and one news.[^2] The allegations are the family's. The record here does not show how the suit was resolved.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Public Radio News, news report (Aug. 2, 2018) — reports that Washington County charged the killing of Officer Joseph Gomm at MCF-Stillwater. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/08/02/stillwater-prison-gomm-killed-inmate-murder-charge [^2]: Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, Program Evaluation Division, *prison safety evaluation summary* (2020) — the primary anchor cited by at-issue entry AI-Washington-025 as corroborating the family's theory. The entry's account of the suit and the rejected $3 million appropriation rests on its agency and news sources (mn.gov; kstp.com), which are not in this record. https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/2020/prisonsafetysum.htm