Some inmates held in other counties after pod closure
BY KYLE TROUTMAN ktroutman@cassvill-democrat.com
The Barry County Sheriff’s Office is experiencing an uptick in domestic dispute calls, and the closure of a pod in the county jail has resulted in more inmates being held out of the county.
Danny Boyd, Barry County sheriff, said deputies are responding to five or six domestic disputes per day on average, higher than normal and countywide.
“Depending on how intense it can get, two deputies could be on a call for 45 minutes getting both sides of the story,” Boyd said. “There’s so much, it feels like they are just going from call to call.
“We’ve also been helping the Highway Patrol with wrecks because they’ve been hit hard on crashes. It’s hard to keep up.”
Boyd said the domestics are typically between married or dating couples, and most do not result in arrests.
“It’s a lot of the same thing where when we show up the caller just wants the other person to leave but does not want to press charges,” Boyd said. “If you are in an argument with your significant other, try to leave or separate for a little while, because if you are mouthing back and forth, that’s when things escalate. Separate for a bit until you can clear your thoughts.”
Those who are arrested may find themselves in a jail other than Barry County’s, as the Sheriff’s Office has been transporting some inmates to Stone and Greene counties for holding due to the closure of one of the jail pods.
“We are trying to keep numbers down due to the condition of the jail,” Boyd said. “A lot of the ones we are housing now are the failure to appear, non-violent people. We’ve been putting inmates in Stone and Greene counties, but McDonald County is in the same boat as us with not a lot of space, and Christian County is full.”
Boyd said the jail has a total inmate capacity of 68, and with one pod shut down, it is able to hold 45.
The county pas a daily fee to jails housing its inmates, a cost built into the Sheriff’s Office’s annual budget.
“We have to pay a daily fee, and not every jail is the same,” Boyd said. “Greene County runs a little higher, but we budget for this annually and watch our expenditures.”
Boyd said the pod closure has helped stem issues inside the jail, including a recent jailbreak and inmate assault.
“Lowering the overall number of inmates has also helped jail staff,” Boyd said. “We are still doing two-person shifts and are hiring for four open positions. We get a lot of applicants who can’t pass a background check or are convicted felons.”
Correctional officer starting pay is $33,000, but $4,000 from last year.
“It takes two to three weeks to learn the paperwork and process for booking, and training is on-the-job,” Boyd said. “We are also planning to use our closed pod for training in-house.”
