Facing the issues: Boyle and Mercer magistrates tour jail
Published 8:21 am Wednesday, November 29, 2017
- Chief Deputy Brian Wofford, second from left, describes contraband that was just found in a cell at the detention center Tuesday afternoon. Boyle County magistrates Dickie Mays, second from right, and Jack Hendricks, far right, look at the stash of contraband including empty plastic jars, cardboard boxes and clothing. At far left, Lt. Gerald Wethington places a bag of contraband onto the table. Wofford said inmates can use these items to assemble a pen for making tattoos and melt the plastic caps to use as the colored inks. "If they (inmates) used their knowledge for good, they'd be very successful," Wofford said.
Magistrates from Boyle and Mercer counties toured the Boyle County Detention Center Tuesday as part of an educational gathering to learn more about how the jail functions and what issues it faces. The tour was organized as part of the counties’ current efforts to decide what to do about the jail, which officials and experts say is overcrowded with inmates; not designed with good sight lines for jail staff; and costing the counties a lot to operate. Brandstetter Carroll has been retained at a price of $75,000 to produce a study documenting how the counties could reduce the number of inmates, provide more rehabilitation options for inmates and/or construct new facilities.
Photos by Robin Hart/rhart@amnews.com
- Chief Deputy Brian Wofford leads several visiting magistrates from Boyle and Mercer counties into the Boyle County Detention Center for a tour of the facility.