Jackson County jail raid highlights new cooperation between sheriff and county exec

Authorities searched the Jackson County jail Wednesday morning for the second time in less than a year.

About 25 deputies from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department and staff from the Jackson County Detention Center’s emergency response team searched the jail.

The search began about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday and focused on inmates on the seventh floor, which houses about 65 inmates. Among them are inmates being held on serious charges, including murder.

One pod of inmates on that floor includes those being held in protective custody.

As Jackson County Sheriff Mike Sharp and Diana Turner, acting director of the Jackson County Department of Corrections, described the events of the morning to reporters assembled outside the jail, search dogs patrolled the interior of the jail looking for contraband.

Turner and Sharp declined to say what they were looking for or what they found.

Last June, about 200 officers from state, local and federal agencies raided the jail during the early morning hours.

Five people, including two guards, were arrested on federal smuggling charges. Two people have since pleaded guilty.

The search Wednesday differed from the one in June in that it focused strictly on inmates. In the latest search, no jail employees are suspected of smuggling contraband into the facility, Sharp said.

The search Wednesday was part of an ongoing investigation initiated by jail staff, Turner said.

The jail staff regularly conducts shakedowns looking for contraband, but this time they required more assistance and sought help from the sheriff’s department, Turner said.

This story was originally published January 31, 2018 at 8:37 AM with the headline "Jackson County jail raid highlights new cooperation between sheriff and county exec."