Ex-inmate: Henry County jail fire is rebuke of poor conditions

NEW CASTLE, Ind. (WISH) — Ric McCorkle said in his first two years as Henry County sheriff, inmates have set fire to his jail roughly a dozen times.

“None to this magnitude,” McCorkle said referring to the fire set overnight Wednesday morning that forced the jail to evacuate its 124 inmates to other areas of the facility.

“Our people started to smell smoke and we moved the males to the rec area and the females to the library,” McCorkle said.

The fire broke out around 2 a.m. Wednesday morning in middle of the jail, McCorkle said.

Sheriff McCorkle said the inmates likely used toilet paper and clothing in a microwave to spark the fire that created smoke damage to an area of the jail that has been problematic in the past.

“They manage to stuff (paper) up inside. Writing material, toilet paper – those kind of things up there – and get it hot enough to where it would weaken the rubber that is near the bulk head area of the door,” McCorkle said.

By starting fires, McCorkle said the inmates have repeatedly been able to gain access to a common area that is outside their cells.

The inmates’ attempt early Wednesday to do this again failed to trip the lock, McCorkle said, because of recent security upgrades.

“By putting copper up there, hopefully they won’t be able to circumvent those doors,” McCorkle said.

But former inmates tell I-Team 8 that the jail has been problematic for years. They’ve complained about overcrowding, poor conditions and – at times – being forced to urinate in a floor drain.

One of those former inmates who agreed to be interviewed was Steven Dunn.

“I’ve been to a lot of other facilities. I’ve never seen no facility as bad as this one. They are crying out for a reason if the public would help us and help us do something about this,” said Dunn.

State correctional records show he has served time for armed robbery, burglary and theft. While he wouldn’t discuss his current affairs, Dunn said he was released from the Henry County Jail about a week ago.

When asked to describe the facility, he said: “Unfit for humans. I know it’s not supposed to be peaches and cream. But it’s bad.”

There are at least two active federal lawsuits against the Henry County Sheriff’s Office related to conditions at the jail. One lawsuit, filed by an inmate with diabetes, said he received poor medical care while at the jail and had to be hospitalized. McCorkle said his own jail records show the inmate was treated properly.

The other lawsuit filed by a former inmate alleges that he was exposed to “no running water” and “raw sewage” while staying in the “B” block of the jail.

When I-Team 8 asked Sheriff McCorkle about these allegations of poor conditions and if he thought that the fires were somehow connected to them, he said:

“I will tell you this, the problems we have had in the past is those doors, (and) not being able to secure those people in their cells.The reason we are fixing it is to make a safer environment for both the incarcerated and the individuals working here,” he said.

McCorkle went on to add that his staffers have told him that they have – at times – felt unsafe.

“I’ve had people tell me that they don’t feel safe, absolutely. That’s why we work so hard to get those doors working, because it is a tough situation,” he said. “When you open that door and there is 24 individuals there, who could attack you, that’s not a safe situation, so we have worked very hard to fix that.”

When asked directly about the plumbing issues, McCorkle said that he has spent upwards of $30,000 to repair the plumbing.

As for inmates being forced to urinate in floor drains, as some former inmates have alleged to I-Team 8, McCorkle said it is very possible that it’s occurring, but that the inmates are doing it by choice.

“As far as peeing in the floor drains, they are in the day area. That’s where we are holding our overflow while we work on fixing the doors. That’s where they are so they do have to have permission to go to the restroom.”

Asked to comment on the issues with sewage backups, he said: “For now we are fixed. I can’t tell you that will be that way next week but for now the facility is working.”

County commissioner records show that McCorkle sought and was granted money to make repairs to the jails roof and doors this year.