Tag Archive for 'Fayette County jail'

Jail employee sues Fayette government

Published
by
Steve Lannen
on January 16, 2009
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

By Steve Lannen
slannen@herald-leader.com

A Lexington-Fayette jail employee says she is being retaliated against because she brought concerns about a courts employee with a criminal record to the attention of police and prosecutors.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday against Lexington’s Urban County Government in Fayette Circuit Court, Doris Zirbes states she was placed on administrative leave earlier this week and is the subject of a jail internal affairs investigation.

She states that jail officials violated the whistle blower statute because the discipline against her is retaliation for informing police and prosecutors that a state Administrative Office of the Courts pre-trial officer, who works in the same part of the jail as Zirbes, has a lengthy criminal record and regularly has access to law enforcement databases.

Zirbes’ lawsuit states that Francis Baker, who has multiple convictions dating to 1981 and was on parole as recently as August, improperly has access to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center and the Law Enforcement Information Network of Kentucky databases. The information is used to research criminal records of inmates and make decisions about setting bonds.

AOC spokeswoman Leigh Anne Hiatt confirmed that Baker is an employee and said he is in good standing. However, she disputed the lawsuit’s assertion that Baker has improper access to databases and said he does not touch NCIC/LINK because of his record. He uses other databases for his job, Hiatt said.

Zirbes said she was disciplined for going outside the jail and disclosing jail policy to outside agencies. In 2007, she was also disciplined for going outside her chain of command to communicate with a federal agency.

A spokesman for the Fayette jail declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Larson said yesterday he did not like the idea of felons accessing databases with sensitive law enforcement information even if it was in line with AOC policy.

“I don’t like convicted felons making decisions on custody issues. It doesn’t sound right. If they want to hire convicted felons, put them somewhere else, but don’t let them help make decisions about setting bond,” Larson said.

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Audit: finance control lax at Fayette jail

Published
by
Steve Lannen
on January 16, 2009
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

An internal city audit of purchasing at the Fayette County Detention Center raises questions about the jail’s discretionary spending account, the facility’s computer operating system and the Lexington company that developed it.

Jail officials paid Cottrell Consulting, a small software development company, more than $752,000 between 1999 and 2008 for software development work at the jail, including $451,476 that was paid out of a discretionary Phone Revenue Account, according to the audit.

The audit recommends closing that account, which previously operated at the discretion of the Community Corrections director and still has a balance of $1.24 million. The money would be transferred to the city’s general fund.

The jail’s contract with Cottrell Consulting wasn’t approved by the mayor, as required by the city’s charter, and sometimes did not go through the mandated competitive bidding process, the audit found.

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City settles overtime lawsuit with jail officers

Published
by
H-L Justice Team
on August 28, 2008
in Courts
. 8 Comments

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

The city has settled a lawsuit about overtime pay for more than 300 current and former Fayette County Detention Center corrections officers.

The details of the settlement — including the total amount — will not be made public until a hearing next week before U.S. District Judge Jennifer Coffman, who must approve the agreement.

Attorney Tom Miller, who represents the corrections officers, confirmed Thursday that the lawsuit was settled earlier this month.

The lawsuit alleges that the city engaged in longstanding, widespread and multiple violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards act and the Kentucky Wage and Hours Act.

Corrections officers were often asked to perform job duties while on their 20-minute lunch breaks but were not paid for the breaks. Officers also were not paid if they had to come in early or had to stay after their eight-hour shifts. Some higher-ranking officers at the jail were required to take compensatory time — additional hours off — instead of overtime.

As part of the settlement, the jail must change its policies to pay people for their lunch breaks if they are required to work, Miller said.

The city had argued that it had not knowingly violated any federal or state labor laws. But the city lost on several key motions — including whether the case could be opened to all current and former jailers.

Eventually, 316 current and former corrections officers joined the lawsuit. Those officers will receive some compensation for previously worked overtime. The formula for providing back pay has not yet been made public.

Susan Straub, spokeswoman for Mayor Jim Newberry, declined to comment on the settlement.

The settlement is just one of many legal troubles surrounding the Fayette County Detention Center. Earlier this year, four current officers and one former officer were indicted on charges that they beat inmates at the facility and then covered it up.

Also, the jail has been named in several civil lawsuits filed by former inmates who allege abuse at the hands of guards.

Miller said the settlement is final but must be approved by Coffman. A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 4 in federal court in Lexington.

Miller said corrections officers are finally getting what has long been due.

“These are people that are educated, dedicated, hard-working, loyal, underpaid and very smart. They do a job that I could never do myself,” Miller said. “That’s the reason that my law firm accepted this job. It’s because we believed in the people, and we believed in their cause.”

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