This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Posted: 9:38 AM- The Utah Department of Corrections said today it removed all 45 remaining state inmates from the Daggett County Jail Wednesday evening.
Earlier Wednesday the department had pulled 20 state inmates.
They were taken to the Draper and Gunnison facilities, and some will transfer to other county jail facilities as space is made available, according to Tom Patterson, executive director of the Utah Department of Corrections.
The move was due to security and management concerns with the Daggett facility, where two murderers escaped two weeks ago.
A review of the Daggett County Jail by Corrections raised serious security issues related to management, training, personnel, and facilities, the department said.
Two days after the escape, Patterson toured the jail and emerged perplexed by security gaps. He spoke incredulously about a door that did not lock, procedures that allowed low-risk inmates to mix with convicted murderers, a significant staffing shortage and basic infrastructure short- comings, such as cameras that did not work and a lack of fencing.
"Because security concerns related to this facility and its management remain presently unresolved, it is prudent to withdraw all state inmates from the Daggett County Jail in the interest of public safety," Patterson said in a press release this morning.
"It is our hope that concerns regarding security oversight, jail procedures and facility inadequacies will be fully addressed quickly. We reiterate our commitment to assist Daggett County in addressing financial concerns that may result from this difficult decision and in making the necessary adjustments to ensure public safety. We are hopeful that, through continued collaboration, the changes will be made so that state inmates can again be safely housed at Daggett County Jail."