Commissioners want answers in jail escape

The way two inmates escaped from Warren County Jail on Tuesday has county officials searching for answers.

The inmates didn’t slip away from guards, or sneak through an unlocked door. They escaped from a locked cell ‘ supposedly one of the most secure places in the entire jail ‘ by kicking out a bar.

‘If we’re going to spend $6.5 million for a jail, we need to know what happened,’ said Herschel Wells, chairman of the county’s Jail Oversight Committee. ‘We need to take a look at this.’

Wells scheduled a meeting of the Jail Oversight Committee for this morning at 9 a.m. specifically to address the escape. He said he wants to see first hand what happened.

Jail Oversight Committee member Carl Bouldin shares Wells’ concern.

‘I don’t know if you can make a perfect jail, a jail that nobody can escape from,’ said Bouldin. ‘But I thought we had a good, safe jail. If you can get out just by kicking a bar, then something is wrong.’

The jail, with a capacity to hold 285 inmates, has been in use for over two years. There was an open house for county residents to tour the facility on Feb. 27, 2005. Prisoners began to be housed at the facility shortly thereafter.

‘I’m disappointed in our jail,’ said Earl Jones, a member of the Jail Oversight Committee. ‘It’s been nothing but a money pit.’

Jones said he doesn’t know how inmates could escape from a locked cell and added there are still two or three more barriers they must navigate before they can taste freedom.

Jones added that he continues to be amazed by the ingenuity of some criminals.

‘If they would just put one-third of the effort they use to do bad things and put it toward doing what’s right, there would be no reason for them to be in jail in the first place,’ said Jones. ‘It’s amazing some of the things they come up with.’

Jones and Bouldin both talked about a noose that inmates made from toilet paper that was as sturdy as rope. And they both mentioned a workable key that was made from a piece of plastic.