Staffing in Arkansas jails worrisome; 3 inmates escape 1 facility in less than a month

In less than a month three inmates have fled from the Cross County jail in Wynne, and Sheriff J.R. Smith blames under-staffing at his jail for the rash of escapes.

In the latest escape, eight of nine inmates distracted a lone jailer while they were in an exercise yard Sept. 15. The ninth inmate either broke through a fence or climbed over it to freedom. He was captured later, but Smith said a lack of staff could result in more escapes or injuries.

"We've not had anybody hurt yet, knock on wood," the sheriff said. "No jailer has been jumped on, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.

"Problems are less likely to happen if our staff numbers are in our favor. We need to have people watching each other's back."

The Cross County jail employs 18 people. A recent study with the Arkansas Criminal Detention Facilities Committee indicated Smith needed 30 jailers to safely staff the jail.

It's a problem other counties are seeing as well.

"I do see the need for manpower in jails across the state," said Perry County Sheriff Scott Montgomery, who serves as president of the Arkansas Sheriff's Association.

"The biggest mistake I ever made was when we built a new jail [in 2010] and we went from 17 beds to 28 beds," Montgomery said. "The Quorum Court asked me if I could run the new jail with the same staff and I said, 'Sure.'"

He soon realized he needed more employees to handle the increase in prisoners.

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Four years ago, Montgomery had a jail escape that mirrored the one last week in Cross County.

A work release program prisoner stole a wrench from the job and returned to the Perry County jail in Perryville. While other inmates distracted the jailer in the jail's outside exercises yard, the work release inmate used the wrench to undo bolts on a fence and escaped.

"I feel his pain," Montgomery said of Smith's recent troubles.

Courts awarded a former Washington County jail inmate $185,000 after he sued the jail when he was beat and raped while incarcerated there in 2014. The inmate, a juvenile at the time, was held in a cell with other prisoners because of crowding. The lawsuit stated in part that there weren't enough jailers to ensure his safety.

In January, the state Criminal Detention Facilities Committee inspected the Cross County jail and found it was in need of additional staff.

"At times only one 'floor' jailer is on duty within the facility," a facilities committee report noted. "On occasion, only two 'floor' jailers are on duty.

"Jail functions such as employee safety, contraband interdiction, emergency preparedness, exercise yard usage, medical/medication functions, evacuation preparedness, inmate wellness checks, inmate booking/release operations, record management, visitation duties, general risk reduction measures, training needs, protection of county property and basic operational goals are hampered, suffering and at risk given the current staff level," the report noted.

A U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Corrections publication in 2002 called staffing the "most important factor contributing to the ultimate success or failure of the jail."

Lawrence County jail administrator Debbie Burleson met with Criminal Detention Facilities Committee members to discuss staffing the county's new jail. Voters approved a countywide sales tax that will fund construction of a 100-bed jail set to open in February. Currently, county prisoners are housed in a 42-bed facility at the courthouse in Walnut Ridge.

The jail hires 10 full-time employees and four part-time workers.

Burleson said she learned in order to properly staff the new jail, she needed to hire four additional employees.

"We had to have people on the floors and people in the control room," she said of the new jail. "We had to figure out what went where."

Jailers receive a starting pay of $9.68 an hour in Lawrence County, but despite the low pay Burleson doesn't have trouble finding workers.

"There's always someone looking for a job," she said.

Smith's jailers in Cross County make $19,500 a year.

"That's not a lot of money," the sheriff said. "We can only get 18- or 19-year-old kids with that pay. Some can't handle it. As long as you pay $19,500, you get what you pay for.

"It all goes back to money," he said. "You have to up the pay to get people interested in the job."

Smith said he recently interviewed a person for a jailer's position.

"I told the guy about the pay and he had an insulted look on his face," Smith said. "He said he couldn't live on that salary."

Montgomery said several county jails also operate dispatch centers, doubling the need for employees at the facility.

"I've got to have at least two people on each shift," he said. "If dispatch gets busy and pounded, we need someone from the jail to help out.

His jailers earn a starting annual salary of $20,234 a year.

"It's a rough job," he said. "There are days when I can't go to church with my wife and kids because of it. You see a lot of bad things."

Montgomery said he toured several jails across the state in an effort to urge sheriffs to become more involved with the Arkansas Sheriffs Association. While visiting Greene County Sheriff David Carter, he learned of Carter's unique approach to requesting more staff for the 440-bed facility in Paragould.

"He said he needed more manpower, so he brought members of the [Greene County] Quorum Court into the jail to see what his jailers worked with," Montgomery said.

"He said they looked around and said, 'Where are all the guards?' and [Carter] said, 'That's my point.'"

Smith said he often gets "physically sick" at night worrying about his jailers and at times goes to the jail to ensure they are safe.

"We've got people in there who sit for 24 hours a day trying to figure out how to overturn the system," Smith said. "They go for the jugular.

"Without the staff we need, we're too busy working to do our jobs," Smith said.

A Section on 09/25/2017

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