(COLUMBUS) – Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers is trying to find a way to pay for a body scanner at the jail.
Jail staff have seen several attempts at bringing narcotics and other contraband into the jail, including three recent cases where inmates allegedly attempted to hide contraband in a body cavity.
An inmate must be taken to a hospital to be checked when jail staff or a deputy believe they are hiding contraband. Local inmates have also been driven to Johnson County to be put through the scanner at their jail.
Sheriff Matt Myers estimates it will cost $180,000 to purchase and install a body scanner at the jail.
During the Bartholomew County Council meeting, Sheriff Myers told officials he could pay $50,000 toward the scanner out of the jail’s commissary budget. The remaining amount will need to be paid with county funds. Council members indicated a willingness to find the funds and tabled the issued until the next council meeting.
Sheriff Myers says he hopes to have a scanner installed and the jail staff trained by July.
That is when an old section of the jail is set to be reopened as part of the community’s efforts to fight addiction.
Sheriff Myers says bringing drugs into the jail is not only a crime, but it is extremely dangerous and puts the safety of corrections officers, staff, inmates and members of our community at risk.
