Leak Forces County Jail to Relocate 7 Prisoners

WATONGA – Blaine County Sheriff Travis Daugherty told county commissioners Monday that a leak inside the Blaine County Jail has forced the relocation of seven prisoners to another county.

Daugherty gave the news during the commissioners’ regular weekly meeting at the County Courthouse.

“We had water running down a wall through a crack into the bed of one of the inmates,” Daugherty said, “so we moved them out of there. We had a plumber out there to try and figure out where the water’s coming from. He cannot figure out exactly where it’s coming from.”

Daugherty said it looks like some cracked floor drains “may be the issue.” The sheriff’s office is trying to “get an idea of what it’s going to cost to fix this,” he said.

After passing a proposition to use existing funds for construction, the county is currently investigating the viability of building a new, larger jail

Ḋaugherty said the cost of housing so many inmates with another county “is going to add up.”

Earlier in the meeting, the commissioners also:

• Approved blanket purchase orders

• Published notice and invitation to bid for six-month bids from Jan. 1 through June 30, 2022

• Published notice and invitation to bid for 12-month bids from Jan. 1, through Dec. 31, 2022

• Tabled a contract for reroofing the Blaine County Courthouse and annex with Universal Roofing & Sheet Metal, Inc.

• Approved a request from the Geary Fire Department to purchase radio equipment from Chickasaw Personal Communications for $5,343.35

• Approved two access drive permits for Continental Resources

• Approved a resolution to dispose of two disc mowers and a 2016 VAS caddy

The meeting was attended by commissioners Raymond Scheffler, Brandon Schultz and Mike Allen, and by Daugherty, Jennifer Coffman of the sheriff’s office, county clerk Jennifer Haigler, county treasurer Donna Hoskins, court clerk Christy Matli, election secretary Brenda Rice, Becky Bedwell of the OSU Extension office, and emergency manager Jim Shelton.