Countywide : Women’s Jail Passes Annual Health Exam

The county’s Central Women’s Jail met all health and safety standards set by law during an annual inspection by county health officials, according to a recent report.

“There is nothing in (the report) that points out deficiencies,” said County Health Officer Dr. L. Rex Ehling. “They were in compliance in all areas.”

The inspection, conducted in December by a team of health care officials, targeted areas such as environment, nutrition and mental health. Officials also scanned the facility, which houses 285 inmates, for problems such as inadequate plumbing and insect infestation.

Only a few minor violations, including leaking washers, were uncovered. “It was really nothing substantial,” Ehling said.

Assistant Sheriff Rocky Hewitt said that the women’s jail has never failed its annual inspection. In the early 1980s, women inmates complained that they were not receiving equal access to certain medical treatments given to their male counterparts. That has since been corrected, officials said.