Langlade County Jail – former inmate complaint
I realize that being an ex-inmate at the jail discredits me, since no one wants to trust or believe someone with a criminal record. I have never understood this type of thinking, but I know it exists. If someone drove drunk, does that make them a liar? If someone got into a bar fight, does that make them a liar? Do you have family members or friends who have been in jail? Are they liars? In order to make my point here, just because society labels convicts as liars, doesn’t mean that they are.
With that said, I will tell my story about the problems with the Langlade County Jail and their procedures. I realize that being in jail strips your equal rights for the most part, but, according to the laws of this country, inmates are still to be treated humanely. One of those laws also states that inmates have the right to be free of pain.
At one point, I was required to be jailed with huber privileges and before my stay I was to contact the jail nurse about any current prescriptions that I would need while I was there. While this was fine by me, after talking with the nurse, I was told that I could not receive my pain medication because the jail had “too many problems with it”. This medication was Vicodin and it was prescribed to me by my physician. I was confused as to what she meant, well, apparently after speaking more with her, it came to my attention that the “problems” she was referring to was the medication “disappearing” while in the jail. So, in other words, people who work at the jail are stealing Vicodin from the inmates. This totally shocked me! Instead of dealing with the problem of their employees, they had decided not to give out pain medication to the inmates. How could this be? What kind of government operated facility was this?
So, needless to say, while I was an inmate, I had to go without my prescribed medication. So much for being pain free! When I was set to be released, another problem arose. When I had gone in, I had given the nurse the Vicodin that I had, along with Blood Pressure pills, and cholesterol pills. When I was released, all my medications were there, EXCEPT for the Vicodin that I had brought in. Since I was released at midnight, I would have to wait until the next day to contact the nurse about this. So, that is what I did and guess what she said!? Your Vicodin was in with your other medications and she was accusing me of lying about it. Once again I found this to be outrageous. Either the nurse didn’t put the Vicodin in with my other meds, or someone took them from the time she packed them up to when I was released. Needless to say, nothing ever came of this. Who would believe me over the jail nurse, right?
It is just outrageous to me that they can get away with this sort of thing. You would think they would want to catch whoever is stealing meds in the jail – but, apparently not. They would rather just not give you your prescriptions than to deal with the real problem.
There was another guy that was in my cell during my stay who also had pain meds prescribed to him and they wouldn’t give him his either. He was bold enough to throw a fit about it, go to the emergency room and get more. He threatened the nurse and called his own doctor, who then talked to the nurse and eventually the guy did get his pain meds given to him.
I just do not understand how the nurse at the jail can make the decision as to whether or not you will get your prescribed medications? She is not a Doctor and she shouldn’t be acting like one.
I would love to read comments on this and it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if other former inmates have had similar issues.

OK, If you don’t want issues with getting your “prescribed” pain medication, don’t get arrested. It is a VERY simple solution. Pain medication is simply to alleviate pain and MANY physicians prescribe it based on an individuals complaints. Many of the complaints are preceived and many people know how to play the system and get pain medications “prescribed”. Unless you have ocme out of surgery within the few days before your incarceration, you really had no imminent need for pain medication except for your “perceived” comfort.
i may be dumb but dont they have to have 2 ppl to hand out drugs so no one can say they didnt get them and to make sure the right ppl get there meds. why were u on pain meds anyway i have to be half dead for my dr. to give me any pain killers. can u say addicated
(Whats the Problem )So if you got arrested would it be fair for the jailer to beat you after all you did get arrested right that makes it ok
So if you are in jail you should have to deal with pain ( whats the Problem)
almost sounds like something a drug stealing jailer would say
I agree with Whats the problem……..the only one u have to blame for not getting your meds is yourself……..don’t commit a crime and you won’t be in jail and then u have control over everything for yourself………..I have had surgery and my Dr wanted to prescribe me pain meds and I never picked them up…….If I can handle the pain of a C Section without pain meds I don’t think anyone should be wining about not getting their pain meds cause they were in jail……..want your meds don’t go to jail……..
I have to agree with this fella. For all we know, this guy could be suffering from pain recieved in a car accident(not his fault), a work accident(not his fault), a birth defect(agan…not his fault), heck…numerous reasons. How narrow-minded are we all to judge someone without knowing all there is to know about the situation??? Just because he’s been in jail?? C’mon, are you serious? Shame on you all for not taking off those blinders a little bit. I’ve known a good many people that have had their day on the other side of the law…after all none of us are perfect..at least the last time I checked we weren’t. I know it’s sometimes hard to see things from up there on your high horses that you’ve perched yourselves on.
I’m a former resident of Antigo, raised there my whole life til I moved away at the age of 19-20. I know live in Milwaukee and was just messing round on the computer and looked up my old stomping groung. I was completely astounded by what I heard. This town is going to hell in a hand basket. The so called government is more corrupt up there than here. Actually Milwaukee Cops take pride in their job & of course there are bad apples everywhere but Antigo takes the cake. Some of the policemen on your force I went to school with, and I know are FAR from perfect. They partied harder than alot of others. I won’t name names but god knows I could. When I was younger, I told myself I’d be out of that town as soon as I finished school, and I am soo glad I did. It saddens me to see alot of people from my class(’89) still even live there. This town will never change. It’s all in who you know and who you blow and what your last name is. My advice to the guy who got locked up and wasn’t given his prescriptions…get the hell out of that town. The first criminals they should look at are in their own mirrors!!!
An arrest is not an automatic indication that someone is guilty of a crime. Spending time in jail is also not an automatic indication that someone is guilty of a crime. Our system is designed to favor those with money and incarcerate those with none. While the writer implies that he has a criminal record in his opening paragraph, there is no indication that his current incarceration was warranted or that it resulted in a conviction. Therefore, I believe that we must take his statement at face value.
At face value, the writer tells us that a prescribed medication was withheld from him. Regardless of the reasons for its original issuance, I trust that the issuing Doctor was a better judge of necessity than we can be. Depraving someone of something that brings comfort to them is inhumane. That that deprivation was ordered by a non-licensed medical practitioner is abhorrent. Given that this occurred in the County jail is reprehensible.
Rights, like sins, are inalienable to the individual.
To Jaxsin: So cops are bad people because they partied when they were in high school? Give me a break!
my best advice for the gent who was in jail and not given his meds is get an attourney. The nurse is supposed to give out the prescribed meds, and upon release give thim back to the patient. make a police report and file charges. Antigo does have a drug problem, and it seems like the people who serve us(we pay their wages), let’s not forget that,are doing harm!
I have had my own experiences(Family) members, who have not recieved their meds also, so you are not alone in this case.
Also I agree with Joshua, maybe the Feds should come and check it out?
{This comment has been edited}
You know. I am an ex female inmate from the Langlade Cty Jail. And there is a few comments I would like to make about this county and the jail.
#1. Why does it take 5 minutes or more for the fat lazy jailers to come in when they can obviously see someone dying because they have made the attempt to hang themselves. They don’t do nothing else besides eat and talk and pick their *ss#s. Nasty rent a cop pieces of crap. If they were in any other place like a “real” city the police force AND the so called jail “SHERIFFS” would get eaten alive. If you can’t get off of your fat *ss#s to get to someone who is committing suicide in less than five minutes you should get charged with Reckless endangerment.
#2. What the h*ll are you guys feeding people? I basically have been starved in that sh*t jail for a month and a half because of the fact that the food is undercooked and tastes like dish soap. Someone needs to call the health department on you.
#3. Langlade Cty Jail Sherrifs allowed some broad with a staff infection come into general population so others can get it? “Here are some wipes to wipe the toilet seats down before you use them so you don’t get an infection.” Rediculus. Pathetic in humaine people.
#4. Why don’t they do anything about bugs being in the jail? And why do they stack people on the floor with only 1 matteress when the jail administrater simply told Diane Baker infront of us that all of these things are not good.
Langlade Cty is a joke. Pathetic group of imbred pieces of crap that think they are something but ain’t sh*t. All of you can kiss my big white **ss you toothless pieces of sh*t!!!!!!
I agree. Jail should be a comfortable place with the highest quality of foods and the best possible accomodations. Sounds like a place I would do everything I possibly could to avoid. Perhaps it did the trick in your case. If it is so bad, you might think twice about breaking the law again and returning. Oh wait, that might be the point….silly me!
yeah, its supposed to be punishment not a hotel! How much did you pay for your food while you were jailed. Oh wait, the rest of us that were working our asses off and following the laws paid for your food.
If someone wants to commit suicide, let them. Why should more of my tax money be spent on making them better? I’m sure they don’t pay for their own care so somebody has to. Plus, it would be cheaper for everyone if they would, and MORE FOOD FOR YOU!
Anybody else feel bad for F**K Antigo Jail!!?
how true that jail sucks, i’ve been there made a huge mistake in my life and u know what i woke me up, haven’t been there since and won’t go there again, am i a criminal no just wrong place wrong time. and just so u understand jail is not supposed to b posh and cozy, be happy u dont have chain gangs and shot guns with sheriffs sitting on a high horse, cause if i could have my way you’de all be doing the s%#^%y jobs that some of have to do get your a@#es out there and be respectable, dont blame society because you messed up, take responsibility for your actions, i did and you know what, i’m glad, cause i woke up, more of us should do the same
wow, life as usual, that is one of the most introspective and intelligent things ever said on this site. Its nice to see someone in this town take responsibility for their actions instead of blaming someone else.
Why blame someone else, no one told me to drive or drink too much or at that time in my life experiment with pot, but those choices were mine, and mine only. I woke up the next morning in the klink, no one would come get me and I almost lost my job, that should wake anyone up especially a just turned 21 year old person. Now I think of myself as a responsible parent and citizen who is sick of the sh*t we have to take from dead beats living off society. Like I said I paid my dues and even talk openly about it. But I would also like to see the chain gangs and get the Sheriff from Maricopia County here and a few other places, life in the klink wouldnt be quite so posh for those who deserve to be there. And in that case if you broke the law you deserve to be there, no buts about it.
What is wrong with this town? Can anyone tell me the century Antigo is stuck in? Unlike the majority of these comments I see how very wrong the meds problem is. Here a story for all of you slow minded folks of Antigo…. I had a friend with a SEIZURE medication that the nurse at the antigo county jail thought was unneccessary. So she refused to to give it to him. He was arrested on a Friday and on Sunday he had a grand-maul seizure during which he hit his head and had to be rush to the ER for stitches. The doctors patched him up and gave him much needed seizure meds to bring his levels back up. (most seizure meds have an accum. effect) On Monday, he saw the judge and was actually released and the charges were dropped because he had been picked up on a crime he didn’t commit! The real criminal was arrested for that crime at a later date. So lets see an INNOCENT man goes to jail and is put in a life threating situation (yes people DIE from seizures and from hitting their head BOTH) yet the nurse still has a job and still thinks as a NURSE NOT DOCTOR she has the right to decide who gets their meds and who doesn’t. Boy I wonder which of the great last names in this town she is related to? I just wanted you to know it isnt just you and it isn’t just the guilty and it isn’t just pain meds. Geez Antigo wake up if you feel that inmates have no rights move to the middle east and polish the guns for the firing squad. Or go to China and pile the rocks so we can stone people to death. What is wrong with you? You should be ashamed.
Are there any places that give free records for inmates without having to co to the court?
That whole Mickey Mouse court system and inhumane jail systemis a joke. This town has the most corrupt system in place,like when DA and Judge and their assistants laugh at you and make fun of your Family behind your back,so unprofessional I did not experience this,I saw it sitting in court for 3 hours on a God damn seat belt ticket,which was on but not their way,Regardless there are a few great sheriffs and police officers there,unlike that little man with his I am to good for everyone thats not a cop,(Duality)You know who it is he has got to be the most unprofessional piece of work I have ever seen,besides the court room,and for guy without pain meds,I feel for him cause I know exactly what he means this hospital here is a absolute catastrophe, Those idiots there cant fix a Broken fingernail,They dont give pain pills out for nothing cause this town and there half dead comities that make all decisions and work with the keystone cops,theres a pain medication problem in this town and there gonna fix it by not prescribing pain meds when you really need them,Heres a suggestion cops and 90 yr old decision maker,stop taking the legal stuff kids can do so they have something to do besides sit in a house and use illegal drugs,Heres my last comment Walmart,court system,75%police force need to be investigated by higher corporate people and this sh#t will not be the same,write your congressman about this joke of a town and the cops here want a real cop job go to LA,Milwaukee, Detroit and you will feel the unprofessionalism you give out ` What a Joke of a town’Professional that is People here are great wrong people in wrong jobs creates a landslide that wont end here in ANTIGO
ignorant people suck! says:You are a cop or a complete idiot you want to cry about taxes for jail and whine about how your paying for him to eat your pathetic thats your tax cry you baby,got to have a better one than that like all the Durango’s sheriffs drive, that man in jail paid for threw federal money cause of his stay there and he paid to be on work release it isn’t free IDIOT!! Dont open your mouth when you havent got a clue,everything that people complain about some As!hole here hold a title making big dollars everything even jail is nothing but a money pit, Business all come down to Money thats all the court hospital and Walmart care about and only themselves,MONEY,MONEY,MONEY
As a former Antigo resident, having spent the first seventeen years of my life there from 1979 to 1998, all I have to say is that the town is a frozen hell filled with corruption. The legal system is a pathetic joke, as are most of the city officials. The town is overrun with drugs and crime because all of the cops are hold up at the Two Angels drinking coffee and getting fatter while playing cards. I got out as soon as I graduated and if you have half of a brain, which if you are still there chances are you do not, you will pack your belongings and do the same thing.
ref;jane does comment- glad you moved yet i believe if you check into your new hometowns history i believe it would parallel your comments made against the city of antigo.are there problems here? of course, no town,city or village is perfect.corruption is everywhere.be specific and adress your concerns instead if indiscriminantly bashing. i once saw things as you.im a past career criminal(ashamedly) who thru many yrs ofcounseling has seen the light and changed my life.i am guilty of all i did and had to pay for it.i will forever be branded/stigmatized for that which i have done.that gives me no right to bash and blame everyone else.climb out of the pity bag. we have some very fine law enforcement officers who after all i have done to this community never gave up on me and have helped me tremendously.theres bad apples everywhere,sooner or later they come to light and are dealt with. move? no, ill stick it out and face the music.ill do the best i can to improve my community and be the best person i can.please e-mail us from the next 20 towns you move to……………………….
Whomever this nurse is, she needs to be investigated. She sounds like maybe she’s hoarding the medications. She gives all nurses a bad name. What a b#tch.
As a former resident whom deals in a big city coutroom on a professional basis, I just want to add something. I had to attend a court proceeding in Antigo a few months back (non criminal) I happen to irritate a certain attorney, prominent in the city and they refused to show. The judge and the other three attorney’s laughed at their behavior and disregarded the no show. Since there was not resolution to the situation that day, the judge demanded that I drive the four hours to attend the next court proceeding. I refused on the grounds that the attorney didn’t have to show nor do I feel I should. I demanded that I have the right to attend via a teleconference. Your wonderful judge told me he would have a sheriff in my county of residence to stand by. I am sure the sheriff in my town has better things to do with his time than await this call. What a joke they are. I read the ADJ and see all the problems with drugs. I shake my head. Wake up people! Get these people something else to do with their time. As for the nurse shame on them, they need to be fired from their position and a sweep needs to happen within the jail system. I think Mr. Brandt should put that on top of his list for reform.
FROM A RECENT EMAIL I RECEIVED: MAYBE YOU SHOULD CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY – READ THE FOLLOWING: SHERIFF JOE IS AT IT AGAIN! You all remember Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona , who painted the jail cells pink and made the inmates wear pink prison garb. Well………. SHERIFF JOE IS AT IT AGAIN! Oh, there’s MUCH more to know about Sheriff Joe! Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department over, and the County Supervisors said okay. The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who’d like to adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dog s off the street, given them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows. The best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3 million. Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a Maricopa County shelter two years ago. He was neutered and current on all shots, in great health, and even had a microchip inserted the day we got him. Cost us $78. The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day. Most of his budget is for utilities, building maintenance, etc. He pays the prisoners out of the fees collected for adopted animals. I have long wondered when the rest of the country would take a look at the way he runs the jail system and copy some of his ideas. He has a huge farm, donated to the county years ago, where inmates can work, and they grow most of their own fresh vegetables and food, doing all the work and harvesting by hand. He has a pretty good sized hog farm, which provides meat and fertilizer. It fertilizes the Christmas tree nursery, where prisoners work, and you can buy a living Christmas tree for $6 – $8 for the holidays and plant it later. We have six trees in our yard from the prison. Yup, he was re-elected last year with 83% of the vote… Now he’s in trouble with the ACLU again. He painted all his buses and vehicles with a mural that has a special hotline phone number painted on it, where you can call and report suspected illegal aliens. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement wasn’t doing enough in his eyes, so he had 40 deputies trained specifically for enforcing immigration laws, started up his hotline, and bought 4 new buses just for hauling folks back to the border. He’s kind of a ‘Git-R Dun’ kind of Sheriff. TO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO.. HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFF AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER. THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY: Sheriff Joe Arpaio (in Arizona ) who created the ‘Tent City Jail’: **He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.. **He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. **Took away their weights. **Cut off all but ‘G’ movies. **He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects. **Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn’t get sued for discrimination. **He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails, so he hooked up the cable TV again…..BUT only let in the Disney channel and the Weather channel… **When asked why the weather channel, he replied, “So they will know how hot it’s gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs.” **He cut off coffee since it has zero nutritional value. **When the inmates complained, he told them, “This isn’t The Ritz/Carlton……. If you don’t like it, don’t come back.” More On The Arizona Sheriff: With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record), the Associated Press reports: About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed-wire-surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts. On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached 138 degrees inside the week before. Many were also swathed in wet, pink towels as sweat collected on their chests and dripped down to their PINK SOCKS. “It feels like we are in a furnace,” said James Zanzot, an inmate who has lived in the TENTS for 1 year. “It’s inhumane..” Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic.. He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates, “It’s 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to wear full battle gear, but they didn’t commit any crimes, so shut your mouths!” Way to go, Sheriff! Maybe if all prisons were like this one there would be a lot less crime and/or repeat offenders. Criminals should be punished for their crimes – not live in luxury until it’s time for their parole, only to go out and commit another crime so they can get back in to live on taxpayers’ money and enjoy things taxpayers can’t afford to have for themselves. If you agree, pass this on. If not, just delete it.
I was told about this site and decided to look into a few of the comments to see what it is all about. This one caught my interest to the point of a gentleman having the courage to state to the fact he has been incarcerated at times. Being incarcerated doesn’t mean you are the lowest form of scum on the earth. It happens! As the law does not discriminate whom is to be arrested, so does the saying those incarcerated doesn’t mean they are all bad. Some people are incarcerated for “freedom of speech”, standing up for their rights, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is shown through history to even the Bible. Jesus was incarcerated for his belief and preaching it. At saying that, I must also state there are many that need to be incarcerated due to the danger of others or themselves. A war goes on now due to this fact.
Now the original statement being made dealt with medication not being given out to the prisoner due to the statement by the nurse, “to many problems with it”. The gentleman is right to the point if it is prescribe medication, he should of gotten it. The procedure in prisons is when medication is given out, a nurse is present to watch the patient take the medication, roll his tonuge opening his mouth to show the nurse the medication was taken orally, and then the offender signs or initials the medication card to show he took it or signs it to refuse it. The medications are in plastic pop out cardboards that when the medication is administered, the count comes out right every time. This was established not only to protect the offender, but also to keep count due to mishandling the medication by the state employee. I can’t say if what was done was handled right. But what I can say is there are procedures that are to be followed at all times, whether you are incarcerated or not. The problem today is no one wants to follow procedures or want to follow through what is right or wrong. You can go into many directions on this comment. But I take my hat off to you for speaking up for your rights even though there are times we forget to respect the rights of all.
Sorry, but was reading these articles once more and it caught my attention again about whom is paying for the prisoners stay. The gentleman whom ask the first question about his medication also stated that he was let out to work on the huber law. That means he was released to go to a job and work instead of just lying back in the jail waitting for his time to go by where then the tax payers money now comes into the situation. When the working day was over, he then had to return back to the jail to be locked in once more. If your very interested in what crime was done by this individual, this would tell you that he was trusted to be able to go out to the work force, also showing that the crime was not one that would cause fear by causing harm to anyone on the outs. You would be surprised if you knew how many people working out in the community are on the huber law. They are paying for their crimes.
Plus when you are on huber law, your paychecks are brought in to the jail where the food you eat plus the room and board is deducted from the paychecks, plus whatever charges you need to cover from the court sentencing at a percentage rate. Just for your information.