The Pulaski County Quorum Court has moved forward with a request from the sheriff's office to appropriate $630,000 to buy and install fencing on the second floor of the jail to prevent suicide attempts by jumping.
Justices of the peace did not discuss the ordinance but gave tentative approval by a 15-0 vote Tuesday night. A final vote is expected at the Aug. 25 meeting.
Pulaski County Sheriff Doc Holladay cited suicides and suicide attempts at the jail in the past two years as reasons for installing the safety fence.
"I'm not convinced we can prevent everything in our facility. ... Sometimes when an individual is intent on harming themselves they can find a way to do it," he said.
Holladay said it's his duty as custodian of the jail to do what he can to prevent inmates from harming themselves.
Act 1188, which levies a $5 fee on people found guilty of misdemeanor and traffic offenses, can fund the project's cost.
The ordinance also includes $107,000 in Act 1188 funds for new locks and doors at the youth lockup and $76,000 for repairs to coolers at the adult jail.
Deaths by falling from the second floor are not uncommon at the jail. A rail exists to keep people from falling accidentally, but inmates have jumped in suicide attempts before.
The jail does not include the method of suicide in its reports, sheriff's office spokesman Capt. Carl Minden said, but officials recalled two deaths from falling in the past two years.
On April 19, Norman Robert Schroeder, 59, died after he fell from the second floor of a jail unit, hitting his head and landing on his back, according to a report.
On March 27, 2014, Richard S. Plant, 40, placed his head in between the bars of the existing railing and dove to the floor, landing on the top of his head, according to a report. He was later pronounced dead.
Both deaths were classified as suicides by authorities.
Earlier this year, an inmate injured both legs after falling from the second floor of a jail unit, Minden said.
Holladay said after the meeting that the sheriff's office researched upper-level fences at jails and prisons in the state and region and consulted with a contractor who had done such a project before. The $630,000 is an estimate, and bids will have to be solicited to determine the actual cost, he said.
"We have an idea of what we want," he said.
Jail units are open rooms with doors along three of the edges on the first floor leading to individual cells. In units with second floors, the units have staircases that lead to an upper deck with three more walls of cells on the outside and a railing on the other.
The jail has 18 units, but only 15 have second floors.
Holladay said eight units would be outfitted with a fence in the first year of construction and seven in a second year.
Holladay said the sheriff's office would try to ensure that the fence materials used can't be torn apart or turned into a weapon.
Holladay said after the meeting that he was pleased the ordinance was moving forward.
"I just think it's a wise thing," he said.
Metro on 08/12/2015