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The Multnomah County Jail and justice center is located in downtown Portland, Oregon.
Kaylee Domzalski / OPB
Staff at Multnomah County jails shared the personal and medical information of hundreds of people who were incarcerated.
The information was shared between early September 2019 and June of this year, impacting more than 350 people, according to a statement from the county.
The data transfer affected people who were participating in the county’s program to evaluate if they were mentally well enough to participate in their own criminal defense.
The information was shared with the county Health Department’s Behavioral Health Forensic Diversion staff for the purpose of coordinating services to help with legal defense.
The county said it has not been able to confirm whether the information was legally shared in all the cases. For some of these patients, county corrections health staff could not determine whether an order was in place to release personal information.
Names, dates of birth and photos — as well as medical information like diagnoses and treatments — may have been released.
After completing its internal review, the Multnomah County Health Department sent letters notifying all patients whose information was disclosed.
Officials said they believe there is a “low to moderate” risk of the information getting into the wrong hands because it was only shared among county staff and the patients’ attorneys, but the county is offering free identity theft protection services to all of the people who were incarcerated and affected by the data transfer.
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