Published: September 18, 2008 09:21 am         

Civil action filed against Hollingsworth

Sept. 10, 2008 — A former state inmate at the Carter County Detention Center filed a civil lawsuit June 9 against the jail’s maintenance officer Keith Hollingsworth claiming that he inappropriately touched her, causing her to fear for her life.



Heather Lynn Jones is now in the custody of the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center in LaGrange. The suit states that between April and June 2007, Hollingsworth allegedly put his hands up her blouse, touched private parts of her body and inserted his fingers inside her. In her personal statement written in the suit, Jones said Hollingsworth would enter her pod area saying he needed to address plumbing problems. She said once inside the cell, he touched her, causing her to feel “embarrassed, ashamed, angry but powerless at the same time.”



The alleged incidents weren’t reported until Jones was taken to LaGrange. “My accusers brother-in-law was the head jailer and I was afraid for my life,” the suit states. Jones is seeking damages for her pain and suffering and also to ensure such incidents don’t happen to future female detained in the CCDC.



Jailer Randy Binion was asked about the suit, but said pending the case he couldn’t make comment. A summons was sent by certified mail to both Binion and Hollingsworth Aug. 27 informing them of the suit.



Meanwhile, during a regular Carter County Fiscal Court meeting Tuesday, a concerned citizen (asked to be left anonymous) asked the court why Hollingsworth hadn’t been fired from his position at the jail based on the pending lawsuit.



Carter County Attorney Bob Miller said the court doesn’t have the authority to dismiss Hollingsworth.



“Randy is an elected official and Keith works for him,” Miller said. “It would have to be his decision whether to fire Keith. As the county legal advisor, if that was a situation the fiscal court had any control; we wouldn’t fire someone just because there was a lawsuit against him or her. That’s doesn’t mean a person is guilty. If they were let go and then found innocent, they could sue the county.”



Carter County Judge Executive Charles Wallace said the court only has authority over funding. “We take care of the money, but Randy is in charge of day-to-day operations at the jail,” Wallace said.



Magistrate Millard Cordle spoke up and said he recommended several months ago that the fiscal court and jail staff gather for a meeting to work on potential problems at the jail. “As a whole fiscal court we have asked him to do something about some things down there,” Cordell said. “Believe me, we have addressed several issues.”



Also during the meeting, Cordle asked the court to make a motion to hire an administrator to help Binion with the jail. “I hate to do what I’m about to, but we need to hire someone to help down there,” Cordle said. “It should be a person who will work five days a week and go in on weekends and keep a check on things. I am very dissatisfied with how it’s (jail) operated. It’s like pouring money down a crawdad hole.”



Magistrate Judy Roark spoke up and said she would rather have the fiscal court look into any matters at the jail instead of hiring an administrator at this time. The motion died at the table.

     

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.