Eight candidates debate in Whitley County Jailer forum

Above, candidates for Whitley County Jailer squared off Monday in a forum, sponsored by the Whitley County UNITE Coalition. It was held at Williamsburg City Hall.

(Editor’s note: Due to the amount of subject matter, the second part of this story will appear in the May 14 edition of the News Journal.)

Why are they running for Whitley County Jailer? What program at the Whitley County Detention Center would they most like to keep? What programs would they like to see improved?

These are some of the questions posed to the eight of the 11 candidates running for Whitley County Jailer, who chose to participate in a forum Monday evening sponsored by the Whitley County UNITE Coalition.

The eight candidates, who attended Monday’s forum, included: Russell Smith, Daniel Essek, Sandra Hoke, Melinda Moses, Tommy Hurst, Brian Lawson, Robert Taylor and Shawn Jackson.

Candidates not attending Monday’s forum included: Will Leach, Ralph Skidmore and Arnold Gene Young.

Operation UNITE board member Angie Bowling moderated the forum.

Introduction

Smith is a lifelong resident of Whitley County, who has run his own business for over 20 years, Smith Towing, Frame and Body.

"We have always dealt with the public. I like to help people," Smith noted.

Essek is a retired truck driver.

"Basically, I have seen the problems at the Whitley County Jail and I would like the chance to solve those problems," he said.
"I stand for a full audit of the jail in order to find out exactly where the problems lie."

Essek said one big problem he sees at the jail is that too many inmates are having positive drug tests.

Hoke is the current chief deputy jailer at the Whitley County Detention Center, and has been employed there for nine years.

"My goal is to be jailer so I can continue to take care of the family members and the inmates," she said. "I am all for the substance abuse program and the re-entry program."

Moses is a registered nurse, who used to work at the Whitley County Detention Center for two years.

"I killed no one at the jail. One person died while I was there. He was there less than four hours," Moses noted. "He had swallowed substances prior to him coming in and didn’t tell anyone."

Moses said she has been a manager of one of the busiest emergency rooms in Southeast Kentucky.

"We have a problem here with addiction. If it has not hit your home yet, it should be on your prayer list because it is coming."

Moses said she wants to improve leadership and communications with law enforcement if elected.

Hurst has previously worked at a small business in Williamsburg where he made his way up to management.

In addition, he formerly worked at the Warren County Detention Center where he worked as a shift supervisor.

He currently is a supervisor over court security at the Whitley County Judicial Center.

Hurst said he has policies and procedures that he would like to implement at the detention center and then would see what works and what doesn’t.

Lawson is currently a sergeant with the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department where he has worked the last nine years.

In addition, Lawson has worked as a substitute teacher and has coached at every level from peewee to high school. He has a wife and three small children.

"I understand the challenges that our families are facing. I understand the challenges that we are facing in the jail. I understand the budget problem we are having at the jail," Lawson said.

If elected, Lawson said he will seek out every avenue of revenue that he can find for the jail. The three principals he will use in running his administration are faith, family and community.

Taylor has had more than 20 years of military experience and did two tours in Iraq. He has over 11 years of experience working in corrections, including eight years with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Taylor said running a jail is a business and a jail is designed to make money.

"You have to implement different programs and cut certain areas to make it work," Taylor said.

He said there is a real problem at the jail with habitual offenders.

"If you can’t find them some type of job or some type of skill, they are going to continue coming back to you," Taylor said.
Jackson is a former police officer, who has worked at the Corbin Police Department, Williamsburg Police Department and most recently the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department.

"There are so many good things that can happen here in Whitley County with the jail being one of them," Jackson said. "As Mr. Taylor spoke of, the jail is a business. It can be successful or it can suck the county dry."

Jackson said he would establish a good team at the jail and surround himself by good people, who would all take drug tests.

Current programs

What current programs would you keep and what are the top two programs you would improve upon?

Hoke, Moses, Hurst, Taylor, Jackson and Smith all agreed that the program they would most like to keep is the inmate work program where state inmates are assigned to work with one of eight different programs throughout the county.

This includes the liter abatement program where inmates pick-up trash along the side of the road.

Lawson added that he would like to see the liter abatement program expanded to other parts of the county, such as Ancil Leach Hollow where he lives.

Hoke, Moses, Hurst, Taylor, Jackson, Smith and Lawson all agreed it is a program that needs to be more closely monitored.
Essek said that the inmate garden is the program he would most like to keep and he would like to expand it and sell any surplus food.

Lawson said the GED program is the one he would most like to keep.

"I think education is the key to success," Lawson noted adding that we educate children all of their lives. "Why when somebody makes a mistake would you stop educating them."

Essek said the top areas he would most like to improve on are the jail website in order to make records more transparent.

He would also like to improve the budget and make the jail operate more efficiently.

Hoke would like to expand the drug counseling program at the jail and is working to start a re-entry program.

Moses would like to implement a re-entry program and improve the leadership, integrity and morale at the jail.

Hurst would like to expand the Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous programs by starting a mentoring program with community volunteers from local churches.

This would give the inmates someone they could turn to for help once they are released.

Being released from jail can be a qualifying act to sign up for insurance and Hurst said he would work to make sure inmates were signed up before they left the jail.

Lawson said he would like to expand 12-step programs at the jail, offer more faith-based services, and work through area job placement programs so inmates can be told about available jobs when they are released from custody.

Taylor wants to improve upon the jail budget situation. The detention center has a $2.9 million budget and has gone over budget by at least $100,000 the last few years.

He would also like to expand the jail garden and make it a fully functioning agriculture farm that raises cattle and chickens in the hopes of offsetting the $320,000, which is spent annually to feed inmates.

Jackson said there are a lot of good programs at the jail, like the inmate work program, the jail garden and the budget situation that need to be managed properly.

Smith said he would like to improve on any program to help the inmates with drug rehabilitation or that would teach them a trade for when they leave jail.