Fights, other problems plague Miller County jail

— The beatings of three men incarcerated at the Miller County jail by other inmates this week comes as the facility faces other problems, the sheriff acknowledged.

Sheriff Linda Rambo said the jail's design and the inability of guards to oversee the inmates housed there make it impossible to effectively run the facility.

"If you go in there, you will find drugs, medicine, cell phones. Since we don't have contact visits anymore, we shouldn't be finding as much of that," Rambo said.

Jimmy Dale Dodge Jr., 31, and Bobby Simpson, 25, were beaten by a group of night Tuesday, Rambo said.

"These guys hadn't been back there no time on the same day. This is not one-on-one fighting," she said.

Victor Threadgill, 33, who is charged in the Jan. 11 shooting death of a used car dealer in Little River County, has been attacked twice, Rambo said. Little River County Sheriff Danny Russell said Threadgill was jumped by eight to 10 inmates who were associated with someone Threadgill knew from a previous prison stint.

In some parts of the jail, Plexiglas walls are all that separate the incarcerated from common hallways. Much of it has had to be replaced or repaired because inmates have shattered it. Door hinges can be taken apart - meaning inmates can disassemble the hinges and simply walk into restricted areas.

In one area of the jail, cells with walls made of sheet metal can be dismantled if an inmate manages to smuggle a screwdriver inside.

Rambo said she recently met with the contractors who built the jail about the problems.

"They tell us that they built this jail just the way the previous administration wanted it," she said.

The contractors later returned to fix doors and place expanded metal over areas where only Plexiglas separated hallways, Rambo said.

Staffing also remains a problem. Only 33 people run the jail, including the warden, cook, bookkeeper and commissary attendant. Rambo said on a good day, the jail has six guards to watch its 240 inmates. Arkansas jail standards require one guard to every 10 to 15 inmates.

Meanwhile, former guard Lamain Anderson, 28, faces charges he tried to smuggle tobacco, crack cocaine, marijuana, lighters and small tool kits inside the jail for prisoners. Rambo blamed the fact that jailers are working 12-hour shifts and are underpaid.

"The guards that work here don't make enough. They ought to be on welfare," she said. "The guard we arrested was probably making money for bringing things into the jail."

Upcoming Events