Rolette County paid $2 million over a 19-year-old's jail death; no jailer was disciplined
Lacey Higdem, 19, died June 4, 2020, about nine hours after she was booked into the Rolette County Jail in Rolla while suffering effects of methamphetamine. Court documents cited by her family's lawyers say two correctional officers did not seek medical care although other inmates repeatedly pressed the emergency button, and an officer who found her unresponsive left to get help instead of starting CPR. The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shut the jail for two months afterward. In late March 2025 her mother accepted a $2 million offer of judgment from Rolette County and two former officers, which came after new evidence questioned the county defendants' sworn testimony. Sheriff Nathan Gustafson did not discipline the officers, the Minot Daily News reported. The defendants' attorney declined to comment. Gustafson remains sheriff.
Rolette County Sheriff Nathan Gustafson initially blamed the incident on an "overwhelming drug problem," and didn't discipline the correctional officers in question.
The county defendants' offer came nearly five years after Higdem died and more than three years after the case was filed, but not long after new evidence came to light in the case earlier this year, calling into question the county defendants' previous sworn testimony.
corrections officers did not seek care for her, despite other inmates calling for help.
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