SEMO News Service
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. - A welder has been hired to block the escape route three Butler County jail inmates used Monday night, March 11.
Butler County Commissioners Ed Strenfel, Jeff Darnell and Butch Anderson requested an opportunity to view the jail problems Wednesday morning.
After Sheriff Mark Dobbs and Chief Deputy Brian Evans showed the commissioners the problems, the five men agreed on needed repairs. The county budget contains annual funding for repairs.
Strenfel contacted Eric Pratt Welding of Doniphan, Mo., to install a one-fourth inch steel plate over the escape hole in a small shower area under a staircase in one of the second floor cell locks.
Brackets will be used to hold up the steel plate and the nuts will be welded so they cannot be removed by the inmates.
"The welder looked at the area Wednesday afternoon and is expected to start work today," Dobbs said Thursday.
Dobbs and the commissioners also agreed on having an engineer from Smith and Company of Poplar Bluff to inspect the entire jail and determine other actions that need to be taken to prevent escapes.
During the tour, Dobbs pointed out all the small showers for the second floor cell blocks have concrete ceilings except the one where the escape occurred. Part of the shower ceiling is sheetrock. The escapees removed a sheet metal cover over a small hole in the sheetrock portion of the ceiling.
"They were able to access a small space between the ductwork and the main ceiling," Dobbs said.
He said the sheet metal cover had been in place since the days when Bill Heaton was sheriff. Heaton's term ended in 2004.
"The escapees told me two of them held up a third inmate so he could make the hole bigger and then bend the cover back into place," Dobbs said.
The video system at the jail was working, but a camera is not allowed in the shower areas.
Usually, inmates are moved from the group area outside their cells at 10 p.m., but booking in new inmates causes delays sometimes. The escape occurred at about 11:35 p.m.
Dobbs removed a ceiling tile in the lobby to show the commissioners the small hole between the cell block and lobby where the thin escapees squeezed through before dropping down to the lobby floor and running out the door.
"Two city officers had just walked a prisoner through the lobby into the booking room. Fifteen seconds later, the escapees started coming down," Dobbs said.
The city officers discovered the escape as they were leaving the lobby. Dobbs also showed the commissioners the third floor cell block area where there is a sheetrock ceiling under expanded metal and the concrete block walls do not go beyond the ceiling.
A decision will be made to extend the walls or install razor sharp concertina wire in the crawl space area to prevent escapes. An escape from the third floor cell block occurred several years ago.
"The jail will remain on lockdown until we get it fixed," Dobbs said.
The three escapees are lodged is separate isolation cells.
Anderson said he received a call from a citizen Tuesday night who was concerned about his safety.
"We want to assure Butler County citizens it is safe. We are doing what we need to do to correct the problems," Anderson said.