Another Incident At The Jail?

Posted on October 7, 2022 by Deborah Keller

October 9, 2022

Last night I received a message that an incident had occurred at the jail. The details were a bit fuzzy stating that a shank was used in an assault but later cleared up by a second source.

I asked for a statement from Sheriff Francis last night confirming these events and he has yet to reply.

The allegations are that a violent offender named Stephen Mooney, who is currently being held on a murder charge, (see here) attacked another inmate by placing a bag over his head in an attempt to kill him. It appeared to be a hostage situation and the jail called for assistance from law enforcement personnel.

Individuals from Rutherfordton Police Department and Spindale Police Department arrived at the jail to assist but were not allowed access until the Sheriff could let them in.

It had been said that a request to move Mooney had been made due to his violent nature but was denied by the county for economic reasons. (having to pay to send him somewhere else)

EMS were called to the jail and the injured inmate was transported for medical attention. Last report said the inmate was in ICU on a ventilator and Mooney was being charged with attempted murder.

Updates will be published as we receive them concerning this.

Jail Overdoses AGAIN…..How Many More Will Sheriff Frances Allow?

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Deborah Keller

8-23-2022

Rutherfordton- On Monday night four (4) people overdosed at Rutherford County Detention Center…..AGAIN. EMS was called and messages went out over social media. On Tuesday the Sheriff’s Department released the following Nixle statement concerning the incident at 1:24 pm.

“Detention Center Investigation”

“On August 22, 2022 an investigation revealed that a total of four inmate’s, at the Rutherford County Detention Center, overdosed on some type of narcotic. Three of the inmates were administered Narcan by officers and were transported to Rutherford Regional Medical Center where they were treated and released back into the custody of the Rutherford County Detention Center. The fourth inmate was administered Narcan on a precautionary status and remained at the Rutherford County Detention Center.

This investigation is still active and being conducted by investigators of the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division to determine how the narcotics were brought in to the Detention Center.

Address/Location
Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office
198 N Washington St
Rutherfordton, NC 28139″

Many excuses have been given about these incidents, however excuses are running thin as it just keeps happening over and over again. It is time to stop making excuses and start doing something about this issue. We got lucky this time because no one died. How many more deaths will it take for something concrete to be done?

What will it take to shut down the jail until they can get a plan in place and some real oversight? The current administration says they are doing all they can. Obviously that is not enough. Is it going to take the death of an officer for them to open their eyes about the dangerous situation going on there? The death of inmates does not seem to be enough of a catalyst to change policy.

Who exactly is investigating the occurrences at the jail?

Is Sheriff Chris Francis actually investigating his own department?

How does that work? Not too well it seems.

Has there been any SBI investigations of previous overdoses and deaths? If so why have those results not been released?

It seems that the detention center has been operating with autonomy from Sheriff Francis’ oversight. They all tell each other what a good job they are doing yet people are overdosing and dying there. Change must happen.

Where is DA Ted Bell in all this? Is he not supplied with information as to what is happening? Crimes are obviously being committed but by whom? Are the drugs coming in from visitors or from staff? It is hard to tell when no one talks about it. Are there not cameras at the jail? Between weapons and drugs it seems to be a very dangerous place to work and it is no surprise that staff is afraid for their safety.

Why are inmates allowed to prepare food and serve it to the prisoners? They are considered trustees but with all this going on how can you trust any inmate? How hard would it be to slip drugs into food? At this point how can the public trust anything they are hearing?

I am heartsick over this as the entire community should be. Sheriff Francis is responsible for the safety and well being of those incarcerated under his watch. This negligence is a recurring theme for him. I know he is out of there as soon as the new Sheriff is sworn in but how many “incidents” will happen before then? If he can’t control it then shut it down until someone else can come in, or take it away from him and hire a consultant to run it until a new administration is appointed. Even after he leaves office he is still responsible for what happened during his tenure.

Something must be done. This is totally unacceptable.

Commissioners Vote To Move 911 Operations From Sheriff’s Office Control To County.

Posted on June 7, 2022 by Deborah Keller

June 8,2022

At the scheduled Monday night Commissioners meeting the Commissioners voted to move control of the 911 Operations Center to the County Manager, effective July 1st.

County Manager Steve Garrison brought this item before the commissioners as the last item on the agenda before going into closed session Monday night. You can watch the county commissioners full meeting here.

Over a year ago the NC Association of County Commissioners put together a peer review team from people in other counties, state officials and local representatives to review Rutherford County’s EMS/Rescue/Fire Marshall offices to see about the feasibility of combining them into a consolidated Emergency Services/Public Safety Division. The review showed that although the departments had done a good job consolidation was recommended with several options. This report was presented to the Commissioners in 2021

Consolidation however is not without significant costs therefore after working closely with the Sheriff over the past year the county decided that they would move the 911 Operations Center into a stand alone county department at this time until they can further discuss the cost and planning of a possible future consolidation with Emergency Services.

Commissioner Benfield asked if the 911 Center would keep its DCI certification as it works with other law enforcement offices in regards to warrants if it moves out from under the Sheriff’s Office umbrella. Garrison reassured him that it would be issued a new ORI number from the Sheriff so that it could continue to provide that service. They will look into how other departments want to handle “hot files” which are active warrants that the Center currently holds for those departments. Forest City currently holds their own. This will be part of the process that will be worked out with Director Capt. Scott Schiefelbein and County Manger Steve Garrison.

The Commissioners, after questions from Benfield, voted unanimously to move the operations effective July 1, 2022. We have asked for the peer review report and will report on that when it is received.