Court votes to close Hickman jail
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
August 13, 2015
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/081315_PS_Hickman_Jail
In a specially-convened meeting, the Hickman County Fiscal Court voted Wednesday morning to close the Hickman County Jail.
County Judge-Executive Kenny Wilson said the closure would take effect within the next two weeks. The 54 inmates housed in jail are already being transferred to facilities in Fulton, Graves and Marshall counties, he added, while one inmate is waiting to be transferred to the McCracken County Jail.
"The closing of the jail was purely one simple thing - it was a financial issue," Wilson said.
This is not the first time the fiscal court has considered closing the facility. Less than two years ago, the court met to discuss the jail's lack of adequate revenue but decided not to take action at that time, Wilson said.
Wednesday's decision boiled down to three factors, the judge said - money, lack of inmates and loss of employees.
"As of today, we were only housing three of our own county inmates," he said. "Two weeks ago, we didn't have a single county inmate in our whole facility. To at least break even at the jail, we have to have 50 state-paying inmates each month."
The facility gets paid approximately $31 a day per state inmate, the judge explained. In order to operate the jail - including paying its utility bills and its employees, and covering the cost of the inmates - the facility needs to house a minimum of 50 state inmates at all times, which wasn't happening.
"We might jump up to 50 state inmates (one month) but then jump down to 30 or 40 the next," Wilson said. "If we have an average of 40 state inmates (per month) for the year, we've lost $108,000 that year."
The final factor, Wilson said, was that the jail had been down three employees for several months and a fourth employee was just about to retire.
"We had advertised on jail websites, social media and in newspapers to fill those positions but due to what we can pay - and that's $8.25 an hour - we didn't have any takers for those jobs, so our current employees were having to cover those gaps," he said. "Last month, we paid out a total 5,000 extra dollars just for overtime."
Built in 2000, Hickman County Jail was capable of housing approximately 80 to 90 inmates and employed 14 people - five of which man the 911 dispatch center, which is also housed in the building, Hickman Jailer Chad Barber said.
While the rest of the facility will be shut down, the dispatch center will continue to operate in the building and those employees will keep their jobs.
Barber also will be staying on as the county's transportation officer, meaning he will be responsible for transporting inmates to and from court dates, medical facilities and other locations.
The other nine employees will lose their jobs in the next two weeks, Barber said.
"That's the one thing that bothered me was my employees, that they were losing their jobs, and that hurt me more than anything," he said.
However, Fulton County Jail, which is located "just a stone's throw away," is expanding, Barber said, and will be looking to take on more employees once the construction is finished at the end of March.
Fulton Jailer Ricky Parnell said his facility is adding 165 beds and will need 12 to 15 more employees once the construction is complete. The Hickman staff will get first consideration, he added.
"They're already trained, they've already gone through deputy-jailers training," Parnell said. "They've lost their jobs, they've lost their livelihoods and … I plan on bringing as many of them here as I can."
Ultimately, Barber said he understands the fiscal court's decision.
"They did everything they could to try to keep this place open," he said. "They really tried to keep it afloat - they worked with me, they called other magistrates to try to get more state inmates in here, but the jail was just costing too much money."
Meanwhile, Wilson said the fiscal court will start brainstorming to find other uses for the Hickman building, which the county is still paying for.
"We still have a $170,000 payment on the jail and 10 payments left," Wilson said. "So, we will find other uses for the building. That will be our goal - the fiscal court's goal."
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
County Judge-Executive Kenny Wilson said the closure would take effect within the next two weeks. The 54 inmates housed in jail are already being transferred to facilities in Fulton, Graves and Marshall counties, he added, while one inmate is waiting to be transferred to the McCracken County Jail.
"The closing of the jail was purely one simple thing - it was a financial issue," Wilson said.
This is not the first time the fiscal court has considered closing the facility. Less than two years ago, the court met to discuss the jail's lack of adequate revenue but decided not to take action at that time, Wilson said.
Wednesday's decision boiled down to three factors, the judge said - money, lack of inmates and loss of employees.
"As of today, we were only housing three of our own county inmates," he said. "Two weeks ago, we didn't have a single county inmate in our whole facility. To at least break even at the jail, we have to have 50 state-paying inmates each month."
The facility gets paid approximately $31 a day per state inmate, the judge explained. In order to operate the jail - including paying its utility bills and its employees, and covering the cost of the inmates - the facility needs to house a minimum of 50 state inmates at all times, which wasn't happening.
"We might jump up to 50 state inmates (one month) but then jump down to 30 or 40 the next," Wilson said. "If we have an average of 40 state inmates (per month) for the year, we've lost $108,000 that year."
The final factor, Wilson said, was that the jail had been down three employees for several months and a fourth employee was just about to retire.
"We had advertised on jail websites, social media and in newspapers to fill those positions but due to what we can pay - and that's $8.25 an hour - we didn't have any takers for those jobs, so our current employees were having to cover those gaps," he said. "Last month, we paid out a total 5,000 extra dollars just for overtime."
Built in 2000, Hickman County Jail was capable of housing approximately 80 to 90 inmates and employed 14 people - five of which man the 911 dispatch center, which is also housed in the building, Hickman Jailer Chad Barber said.
While the rest of the facility will be shut down, the dispatch center will continue to operate in the building and those employees will keep their jobs.
Barber also will be staying on as the county's transportation officer, meaning he will be responsible for transporting inmates to and from court dates, medical facilities and other locations.
The other nine employees will lose their jobs in the next two weeks, Barber said.
"That's the one thing that bothered me was my employees, that they were losing their jobs, and that hurt me more than anything," he said.
However, Fulton County Jail, which is located "just a stone's throw away," is expanding, Barber said, and will be looking to take on more employees once the construction is finished at the end of March.
Fulton Jailer Ricky Parnell said his facility is adding 165 beds and will need 12 to 15 more employees once the construction is complete. The Hickman staff will get first consideration, he added.
"They're already trained, they've already gone through deputy-jailers training," Parnell said. "They've lost their jobs, they've lost their livelihoods and … I plan on bringing as many of them here as I can."
Ultimately, Barber said he understands the fiscal court's decision.
"They did everything they could to try to keep this place open," he said. "They really tried to keep it afloat - they worked with me, they called other magistrates to try to get more state inmates in here, but the jail was just costing too much money."
Meanwhile, Wilson said the fiscal court will start brainstorming to find other uses for the Hickman building, which the county is still paying for.
"We still have a $170,000 payment on the jail and 10 payments left," Wilson said. "So, we will find other uses for the building. That will be our goal - the fiscal court's goal."
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
