BEDFORD – Lawrence County Sheriff Greg Day told the commissioners Tuesday morning he is actively addressing staffing shortages at the Lawrence County Jail and Central Dispatch.
Sheriff Day has invited 23 people to complete testing for jail positions.
In the jail, the department is currently short one male jailer and three female matrons.
“Hopefully we will have a good turnout and be able to fill those positions,” said Sheriff Day.
The jail population this morning was 101 inmates, of those 76 were males, 25 were females, seven were Department of Correction holds and two parole holds, and nine were Level 6 felons.
“Four of the Department of Correction holds will be leaving by the end of the week,” added Sheriff Day.
Chief Public Defender Tim Sledd reported to the commissioners that he, Prosecutor Sam Arp, and all three judges keep a close eye on the jail population every day.
“We have our finger on the pulse of the jail population,” added Sledd. “We don’t want to be housing inmates for long periods of time. But there are those that have heavy charges and they will have to sit in jail for a while.”
Commissioner President Dustin Gabhart praised Sledd, the prosecutor, and the judges for their efforts in keeping jail numbers down.
“Judge Cline and Prosecutor Arp and Sheriff Day and the other judges made promises when they were seeking office and along with you when you took your office,” said Gabhart. “You all have worked hard to keep those promises and I want to give you all credit for working together.”
