Putnam Sheriff’s Office Continuously Working To Prevent Drugs From Entering Jail

Putnam County Sheriff’s Office is doing everything it can to try and prevent illicit substances from entering the jail.

That after two overdose incidents over the last few weeks. In both cases, the drugs were hidden in a body cavity then shared with inmates. Sheriff Eddie Farris said it is not entirely possible to stop drugs from entering the facility.

“We do everything we can, we’ve got the x-ray machine, we’ve got technology, we strip search,” Farris said. “But that doesn’t mean that something can’t be missed or something doesn’t show up. So those are the instances that we’re missing and that are coming by or slipping by.”

Farris said one thing the office does to further investigate potential smuggling cases is called “dry cell.” He said inmates will be held in a cell without running water for close examination should they try to pass something or dispose of any substance.

Farris said the current jail facility only has two dry cells. He said once the new jail facility is complete they will have more room for dry cell holding

“20 years ago, ten years ago when we had people sneaking narcotics and drugs into our facility, we may catch those individuals after they’ve done the drugs we’ll drug test them, then we report that to their probation, we report it to the district attorney, we add additional charges,” Farris said.”The difference today with fentanyl those people are not just doing drugs and getting high, they’re overdosing. They’re overdosing and dying. So that’s why it’s so critical, that’s why it’s showing up.”

Farris said while it is a rare occurrence for drugs to get into the facility, it is still an ongoing issue in facilities across the state and the country.