Scott County holding inmates indefinitely for neighboring jail

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- The New Madrid County Jail is closed, indefinitely, amid concerns it may lose insurance.

New Madrid County Clerk Clement Cravens told the Sikeston Standard Democrat a decision was made to close the jail after a meeting with the attorney for the Missouri Public Entity Risk Management Fund, which provides the jail's insurance. The firm recently told the county it no longer would provide insurance coverage for future assaults at the county's jail facility unless corrective measures were taken.

"In that discussion with the attorney, a lot of things were discussed on what it would take to get the jail up to speed and all the costs involved," Cravens said. "The more [the county commissioners] thought about the outlay of expenditures ... they decided to close the jail right now and take another look at the situation sometime after the end of year."

While the county earlier this month had begun renovations, including a video monitoring system and improvements to jail doors, those plans have been put on hold, according the Standard Democrat.

The improvements and closure come more than two years after an assault proved fatal at the jail. In 2012, inmate John Wayne Reynolds was assaulted and died from injuries he sustained from other inmates. The day before, another inmate was beaten and treated for a black eye, concussions and abrasions, according to a previous story from the Southeast Missourian. Most recently, June 21, another inmate was assaulted at the jail.

Jan Morgan, Reynolds' mother, said in a telephone interview with the Scott County Signal that the jail closure is a result of a wrongful-death lawsuit the family has filed against the county.

Morgan, who lives near Commerce, Missouri, said her son's death could have been prevented had the beatings been stopped and investigations taken place.

"There were no cameras in that jail and the doors didn't even lock," Morgan said. "Yes, the mold was there and living conditions were deplorable, but it is also the jail staff; it's jailers and sheriff that needed to be investigated," she said.

Morgan said she is angry that no one took time to investigate things before her son's death, and does not regret the family has pushed the issue, leading to an investigation.

During a Scott County Commission meeting July 8, the commission and Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter said the county had begun holding New Madrid County prisoners while the neighboring county made renovations. According to the Standard Democrat, 28 prisoners were moved to the Scott County Jail in Benton, Missouri, on July 2.

Improvement plans for the New Madrid County Jail, which has a 40-bed capacity, included the $30,000 of new security cameras to monitor cell areas, new electronic jail-cell doors and a new roof, according a story in the Standard Democrat.

All prisoners were moved and facilities were closed July 10.

On Wednesday, Walter said New Madrid County has asked for bids from surrounding counties to house inmates, which would be an added source of income for the county awarded the bid.

Before plans arose to close the jail indefinitely, Walter and Scott County First District Commissioner Dennis Ziegenhorn spoke about offering to board New Madrid County's inmates.

"Obviously taking care of a county's own inmates is priority and, if space is available, housing inmates for other counties/locations happens quite often," Walter said.

The inmate population in a county jail is something that can change within hours, Walter said. The capacity for Scott County Jail is 120.

"The majority of the inmates that we hold are in the Scott County Jail on state charges, as are most inmates that New Madrid County houses, as well. I do not see that housing inmates from another county would cause any added problems in any jail," Walter said.

"Today you could be at 80 inmates and tomorrow you could be at 130," Walter said. "There's a lot of outstanding warrants out there."

But for the time being, "Our jail population has been down a bit so we have room to bring them in," he said. "Dennis and I had both talked about [offering to board New Madrid County's inmates]. He made a call to New Madrid County and talked to their commissioner and everybody is on the same page."

"They were able to bring them all without our help," Walter said. "Right now everything seems to be going fine."

The boarding charge of $37 per day per inmate works out to "cover our costs and make just a little for Scott County," Walter said. "We want to help our neighbors out; we are not looking to take advantage of anybody."

Accused murderer Neil Howland Jr. of Scott City was being held at the New Madrid County Jail awaiting his October trial date.

New Madrid County Sheriff Terry Stevens was not available for comment.

skluesner@semissourian.com

388-3648

Pertinent address:

Benton, Mo.

New Madrid, Mo.