The head of the Jackson County Department of Corrections Task Force is validating claims made by recent inmates about the conditions inside the jail.
41 Action News talked to Alvin Brooks about some of the key accusations made by Shani Andersen, who was released from the jail a week ago. She complained about black mold inside.
"The ones that we saw, that part was kind of closed off but there were parts of the jail where the population was there. Particularly where the women are," Brooks said.
In November, the task force submitted its final report to the county along with eight recommendations listed here.
Click here to read the entire report.
One of the chief concerns had to do with staffing.
"Their salaries, their training, their assignments," Brooks told 41 Action News.
"Many of them are working overtime," Andersen said. "You also have a lot of people who are working double and triple shifts."
In terms of salaries, there has been some improvement. Last year, the average wage was $11.45 an hour. Right now, the county website lists 11 open corrections officer positions with a starting pay of $13.23 an hour. When it comes to hours though, overtime is listed as a mandatory requirement.
The task force is scheduled to meet with Joe Piccinini, director of the jail, to learn of progress on its recommendations sometime this fall.
Brooks said news of the rape allegations stressed how much the conditions and protocols do need improvement so, "Things would be put into place so that things like this would not happen. Somebody dropped the ball somewhere."
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Dia Wall can be reached at dia.wall@kshb.com.
