Utah is no stranger to reality TV, whether it's Housewives, Ballet or The Inexplicable Phenomenon. Viewers will now get a look inside the Utah County Jail.
A&E's “60 Days In,'' which follows a group of volunteers who agree to incarceration, has announced that season 9 will be filmed in Spanish Fork. The county's jails have different seasons. They do this with permission from the sheriff, and the sheriff also appears as part of the show.
The next season will feature Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith. He said the show had “reached out to us, hinting at going to prison.” And we've always said no. But this time we didn't say no. ”
The participants are undercover and the prison's general population does not know they are there. Incarcerated people are told that they are being filmed for an “unnamed documentary” and choose whether to sign for release or not. If you don't sign, your face will be blurred in the show.
The show was appealing to Smith because it offered him an opportunity to audit his prison.
“Over the years, we've done multiple audits at the sheriff's office. And really, most of them just focus on procedural issues, financial issues, staffing issues, things like that. .”
Part of the show's premise is that volunteers enter the prison as outsiders and report back on what they discover and how the prison can be improved.
“I don't have the resources or funding to perform the level of auditing that I was able to achieve through the 60-day program.”
#After 60 days i'm back! Seven volunteers go undercover at Utah County Jail (@UCSO) to expose the institution's flaws and drive change – but will they keep going? Tune in to the riveting season premiere on Thursday, May 30th at 9:08 p.m. @AETV. pic.twitter.com/w01Qdw59hd
— 60 Days In A&E (@60DaysIn) May 2, 2024
Smith said the county sheriff's office did not receive any money for participating in the show. He sees as a positive the fact that “taxpayer funds were not used to conduct that level of audit and take what we learned and improve and improve the facility.”
For a mother whose son is awaiting trial in the Utah County Jail, it's hard to imagine that the show will benefit the detainees. Kuer requested anonymity because she was concerned that speaking publicly could affect her son's case.
Her son, who suffers from mental illness, has been in custody since late last year, and it is unclear whether he has signed the film for release. She had watched previous seasons of “60 Days In,'' but she didn't know until the new season ended and was announced to the public. Because she is well aware of this premise and her family's current situation, she is skeptical that it will improve the prison.
“Frankly, this is disingenuous and takes advantage of people who are already marginalized.”
She said she thought the Utah County Jail was well-run and was glad her son was there instead of at another facility in the state. But she tearfully explained her fear that he would be seen on camera.
“To let my child be on TV for entertainment? Do I like watching our grief or his mental illness as entertainment? It just feels, it just feels cruel.”
John Mejia, legal director of the ACLU of Utah, said there is reason to be concerned about the legal rights of those detained there. Program staff were on scene with permission from the sheriff's office. If a pre-trial detainee has a lawyer, “police may not interrogate him except in the presence of the lawyer.''
“That is, as long as these documentarians are allowed by the police to be on the ground and film with permission,” Mejia said. “This raises some serious concerns about the arbitrariness of the statements they are making about potentially implicating themselves in crime.”