Cocke Co. officials detail issues at jail in light of recent overdoses and lawsuit

NEWPORT, Tenn. (WVLT) - In the past month, an inmate sued county officials after he claimed he was beaten by fellow inmates and left for 12 hours before receiving medical care, according to the lawsuit. Just a week later, Sheriff CJ Ball said five female inmates overdosed in the jail after an inmate arrested on drug charges smuggled a mixture of meth, heroin, and fentanyl into the jail.

Those five inmates survived after 20 doses of Narcan were administered, according to Ball.

As for how the jail moves forward, head of corrections Josh Hartsell, said there were a few simple answers that came with a costly price tag.

“Between deterioration of the facilities and short staffed facility, it gives us a problem. One hundred and fifty inmates to four officers working a shift is rough,” said Hartsell.

Without enough staff, Hartsell said it’s impossible to see everything that happens in the jail which makes it easier for illegal activity.

The drug overdoses were able to happen because there wasn’t a body scanner at the jail, according to Hartsell.

Hartsell said he’s aware that the jail has been an increased target for lawsuit’s after the jail lost it’s state certification in 2017 after administration failed to classify the facility.

“We spend $40,000 to $50,000 a year on building maintenance and it’s just a band aid,” said Hartsell, who said they need more money to build a new facility which they’ve been asking for for years.

The head of corrections added that they’re in the process of applying for a grant to give them funding for a new body scanner for the jail which would help keep inmates safer.

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