BERRYVILLE - While almost everyone agrees the current Carroll County jail facility is funky, outdated, often overcrowded and in need of replacement, some inmates, attorneys and bailbondsmen believe the treatment of prisoners in the jail is sometimes abusive and barbaric. The Citizen recently heard allegations of rough treatment; denial of medications and medical treatment; substandard food served in non-edible form; unhygienic, squalid conditions; and extended restraint of prisoners.

Sheriff Chuck Medford, the jail administrator, denies that prisoners are abused, though he acknowledges he is responsible for caring for inmates who should be in mental institutions rather than the county jail. He said he is understaffed and not trained to deal with inmates with severe psychological problems.

"I have an obligation to the individuals and the county," Medford told the Citizen. "The best I can do is keep the county from being sued and protect the inmates from themselves. We're not trained for that and shouldn't have to hold them. But unless something is done with the mental health system in Arkansas, we're going to be forced to hold people who should be in mental facilities."

In the Sept. 16 edition, the Citizen reported allegations made by Sam Munday, who at the time was incarcerated at the jail on burglary charges. Munday's attorney, Carroll County public defender Rachel Runnels, told Circuit Court Judge Alan Epley that Munday had been attacked and choked by an officer, denied medical treatment, denied medication for a mental condition, put in a cell with nothing but a bare wire-spring cot, and served his meals - sandwiches - in a blended, liquefied form.

The sheriff and deputies testified that Munday had injured himself while beating on the cell door, was argumentative and combative, and had been placed on a suicide watch after threatening to put his head through the "bean hole," the slot through which food is passed to inmates. Jail personnel admitted in court that Munday was fed liquefied sandwiches, and that his "jail privileges" had been suspended.

The court refused Runnel's motion to release or transfer Munday to another facility, but Epley ordered the prosecutor to file a petition to commit Munday to a mental facility within 48 hours if he continued to be placed on suicide watch. Forty-four hours later Munday was removed from suicide watch and he was able to bond out later that day.

In a memo to the sheriff obtained under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, county prosecutor Tony Rogers warned Medford to thoroughly document when and why a particular prisoner is on suicide watch, and the reasons certain measures are taken for a prisoner's safety. "In regard to [blended] food... I believe it is a good idea to check other jurisdictions to determine whether that is a customary practice, or whether there exists another alternative that would be more feasible. I have strong concerns about this practice and feel it should be an absolute last resort."

Rogers wrote he was concerned about possible liability to the county.

Munday insists he was not suicidal or trying to hurt himself, but was being punished for misbehaving. Medford insists he was only trying to protect Munday from hurting himself. The liquefied meals are served to keep suicidal inmates from trying to choke on their food, Medford said.

The story prompted another inmate to contact the Citizen. Michael Griffis has been in the county jail for nearly two years, and has yet to be tried on six counts of attempted murder and one count of arson. In a letter, and in telephone and written communications, Griffis outlined many other alleged abuses.

Griffis was placed on suicide watch after self-inflicting an 18-inch cut on his leg. He alleges he was placed in a suicide suit, a short quilted gown resembling the chest protector of a baseball catcher, and strapped for 446 hours in a restraint chair. His food was also blended -- white bread, baloney, corn chips and coffee put through a blender - and his supply of toilet paper was limited to just a few sheets at a time, he said. His leg became infected and the suicide suit was wet with his bodily fluids and he had no blankets or mattress to keep him warm in the "frigid" cell.

Medford said toilet paper can also be used to choke on.

Griffis' latest attorney, Stevan Vowell, told the Citizen the jail is always extremely cold, "you could hang meat in there." Vowell said the low temperatures are probably due to the dated physical facility.

At one point, Griffis said two mattresses were returned to his cell, but when he used one to cover up and warm himself, the sheriff got mad and took them away again. Medford said when an inmate uses something for purposes other than its intended use, it is taken away. He produced photos of Griffis laying between the mattresses.

Jail logs document that Griffis was strapped in the restraint chair for two weeks in August, let out under supervision for about 10 minutes every two hours, though over several nights there is no documentation he was let out at all.

Griffis said the suicide gown, soaked with discharge from his oozing, infected leg, and with blood, urine and feces, was taken off him and put it directly on Munday without cleaning.

"His cell was also extremely cold," Griffis wrote. "He tried to curl up on the floor to conserve some heat, but that damned suit was already wet with my body fluids. I could actually hear him clattering his teeth and crying. The day they took him in front of the judge, they gave him clean clothes, then put him in a brand new, just-out-of-the-wrapper suicide suit."

Medford, and jailer Sgt. Beth Reely, emphatically deny that Munday was put into a dirty gown, and said each man had his own gown.

Munday, in a telephone interview after he was out of jail, independently verified Griffis' account, though it should be noted the two men, while in isolation cells, were across the hall from each other and could have communicated.

Munday insists he was not suicidal, but rather placed on disciplinary lockdown. Regarding the suicide dress: "He [Griffis] laid and bled in it for like 30 days," Munday said. "It was really nasty with yellow shit on it.

"They told me to strip and put the suit on 'or else' because I was being punished. When I didn't put it on fast enough, the officer, Michael Brown, physically assaulted me. He said he had the right to do that. He said in court that I came after him, but the other officers there never saw that."

Munday said he was choked, bruised and had his knuckle broken. He said he was refused medical treatment because "that was a privilege, not a right." His hand was put in a half cast after he got out of jail.

"Every officer told me I was on disciplinary lockdown," Munday said. "They put me back on because of a verbal argument with [jailer] Michael Brown." He noted that he was not watched on video in his cell as is the procedure in suicide watches, and rarely checked on. He was also denied visitors, noting his father was told he couldn't visit because he was being disciplined. The jail log shows he was checked on every 15 minutes.

While the sheriff insists that Munday was put in the gown, stripped of blankets and mattress and given liquefied meals to protect him from himself, the incident report filed Sept. 5 states the jailer told Munday, "If you don't shut your mouth you will loose (sic) your privilages (sic)." The report does mention that Munday made the head-through-beanhole threat if he wasn't allowed to call his girlfriend, but his disruptive behavior, not a suicide attempt, is the focus of the report. It also notes Munday hit the cell door, then yelled that he'd broken his knuckle, and that Brown restained him in a "lower jaw lock."

Munday said he was in the filthy suicide gown for 15 days. After the first three days, he was given a regular prison suit, but two days later was put back in the same dirty suicide gown. He said a jailer told him he was put in regular clothes for his Sept. 13 court hearing "for appearance reasons - they didn't want the public to see how they were treating me."

Munday said that for five days all his meals were run through a blender. "Whatever the meal was -- meatloaf, gravy and mashed potatoes; baloney sandwiches; beans and rice -- it was blended with the beverage and they told me I had to drink it. For five days, I couldn't hold nothing down. They told me it's a privilege in Carroll County to eat solid food. It was nasty, it smelled like a sewer."

When he was eventually given solid food again, he said it was baloney on white bread with corn chips, three meals a day. Jail logs show the prisoners are given a more varied diet.

According to Munday, a jailer told him that the sheriff said medical treatment, solid food, toothbrushes, toilet paper, blankets, mattresses, shoes and clothes are all privileges, not rights. Munday said he was not permitted to take a shower for five days, and it was seven more days until he could shower again. The sheriff said showers are given twice a week.

The Arkansas Jail Standards state, "All inmates have a right to humane treatment which provides nourishing food, access to medical treatment and dental care where indicated, clean living quarters and a healthy, safe and secure environment. In no way shall denial of regular meal service be used as a disciplinary measure." Another section of the standards states "...the prisoner shall be assigned suitable quarters, clean and adequate bedding and other items necessary for sanitation and proper hygiene."

The jail standards also require that inmates be given any drugs prescribed to them according to the prescription, and that inmates who exhibit strange or abnormal behavior be referred for psychiatric or psychological evaluation as soon as possible."

Munday believes he was placed on disciplinary lockdown after he wrote to the sheriff asking for his psychotropic medications. He said he takes an antiseizure drug and one to control schizophrenia. "The [seizure drug] prescription says don't drop off cold turkey or it can kill you, but the jailers said that was my problem."

Medford said he learned that Munday was on a Texas court order to take anti-psychotic drugs, but that he had let the prescription lapse before he was arrested. "He wanted us to buy his meds," Medford said. "No way. It was a totally pre-existing condition and I don't feel the county should pay for the prescriptions. He let them run out."

Munday said he also witnessed a jailer allow another inmate to assault Griffis. The inmate allegedly attempted to punch Griffis and missed. The jailer allegedly "let him put his stuff down and go at him again." Griffis filed a grievance with the sheriff over the incident.

Griffis has filed many grievances, several about the lack of medical attention and access to medication. The sheriff responded to several by writing "explanation will be provided in court by our attorney when your lawsuit is filed." Griffis has threatened to file a federal civil rights lawsuit.

The complaints are not about all the jailers. "I want you to understand that there are very professional officers here that can be trusted to be professional and carry themselves with integrity and honor," Griffis wrote. However, Griffis charges, "The Sheriff's refusal to attempt to control his jailers is a blatant act of corruption."

Griffis has been in jail without trial for nearly two years because his public defender attorney keeps getting changed due to conflicts. Vowell was assigned to the case last summer.

Vowell told the Citizen he believes the sheriff justifies every harsh measure as being necessary under a suicide watch. "Some go too far, are too extravagant in my opinion." He noted that the cell in which inmates under suicide watch are placed is monitored by video 24 hours a day, so he doesn't understand the need for extended stays in a restraint chair or liquefied meals.

Medford counters that he doesn't have the staff to watch constantly, and therefore the chair, gown and other protective measures are necessary.

Vowell thinks "the sheriff overdid it grossly" with the restraint chair. The manual states it should be used to calm down, sober up or restrain while psychological help is being sought. It should not be used for more than two hours, but may be used up to eight hours under medical supervision. "If his psychological issues are so bad he had to be tied up, he should be in a state hospital."

Medford agrees, but says there are no available beds in state hospitals.

Public defender Runnels said she is very distressed at jail conditions that could be described as medieval, and blames both the physical facility and the administration. She said she believes inmates are denied their medications.

A bail bondsman, who asked not to be identified, said many inmates complain about the treatment in the jail and that "lots of times they are bruised up and they say they beat on them."

"I've been here for 21 months," Griffis wrote. "I have stories from this jail that would draw tears from a glass eye. No, it's not to be the Holiday Inn, but it's not supposed to be Dr. Mengele's workshop either."

Griffis' file shows he is a prolific writer and frequent complainer. It contains reams of grievances and medical complaints. Almost once a day, it seems, he complains of another malady and the need for more medication. Jailers contend Griffis injures himself to obtain medications, and that his time in the chair was necesssary because he kept trying to reopen his leg wound.

Reely said the county has spent more than $15,000 on medical treatment and drugs for Griffis. In fact, while the Citizen was at the jail speaking with Medford, Griffis arrived back from the doctor with $350 worth of new prescription meds.

Munday said he plans to sue the sheriff over his treatment. "They had no reason to treat me like that. The sheriff just thinks he's God."