Officials Discuss Jail Death

OPTIONS EYED FOR INMATES WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES

— Inmates with mental health issues might be better off held separately from the general population at the Benton County Jail, sheriff-elect Kelley Cradduck said Wednesday.

Cradduck suggested converting part or all of a barracks building at the jail to house prisoners whose mental conditions might require specialized supervision or care. The issue arose following the death of inmate Faith Denise Whitcomb on May 3. Whitcomb was awaiting transfer to the Arkansas State Hospital when she died of undiagnosed cancer.

“When you house people at a jail, you’re responsible for them,” Cradduck said. “It’s certainly a tragic incident, but we need to look at it as an opportunity to make changes to ensure this situation doesn’t happen again.”

Converting the barracks could be part of that solution, he said.

The $2.2 million barracks were built last year to house nonviolent offenders. Those prisoners could be transferred to the main jail, freeing up as many as 144 beds for prisoners with mental health issues, Cradduck said.

“It would give us the chance to make sure they’re watched by jailers and medical staff who are trained to handle and identify mental health issues,” Cradduck said.

The change would be part of a general policy overhaul at the Sheriff’s Office, said Cradduck, who won the Republican nomination for sheriff in May and has no opposition in the November general election.

In the meantime, county officials will ask for a complete report on Whitcomb’s situation, said Justice of the Peace Frank Winscott, R-Rogers.

“We want to make sure the proper procedures are in place, the right processes to make sure everything that can be done is being addressed,” Winscott said. “It may show us opportunities to improve, or it may be that this was unavoidable. It’s certainly unfortunate.”

Sheriff Keith Ferguson said he thinks jail staff did all they could for Whitcomb considering her pancreatic cancer was undiagnosed.

Whitcomb’s family and friends said they expressed concern about her deteriorating health several times to jailers and wrote letters to the court seeking help. Whitcomb complained numerous times during eight months she was in pain and having stomach troubles.

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