INMATE SEARCH IGNITES DOPE FEUD

PAINTSVILLE - Regional jail officials blame court bailiffs with allowing a
Johnson County prisoner access to drugs during a district court hearing
Wednesday, but Sheriff Bill Witten says the inmate had to have gotten the
drugs from jail.

Dolphia Kelly, 27, of Staffordsville, was charged Wednesday with promoting
contraband after jail officials found suspected crystal meth and a
make-shift smoking device in his possession after the court hearing.

"It would be virtually impossible for (Kelly) to get the drugs at jail,"
supervisor Rodney Patrick said, noting that the inmate was searched when he
was lodged in jail and detained "in the hole" until he was taken to court.

"If that's true, why do they need a drug dog," the sheriff said.

Patrick said Kelly was "segregated" from others after drugs were allegedly
discovered in his possession at the time of his arrest.

"Them boys, that night, thoroughly searched him," he said. "They found a
whole lot of stuff...a little bit of everything."

Witten said jail officials may claim that Kelly didn't have the drugs when
he left the facility, but noted that Kelly's documented statement to police
officers involves the inmate finding the smoking device in the drunk tank,
where he was being held.

Sgt. H.D. Dotson, who charged Kelly with promoting contraband, said the
prisoner gave a different explanation for obtaining the suspected crystal
meth. Kelly reportedly said in his statement that he got the drug from a
local woman, who was temporarily detained in custody Wednesday. Kelly said
he asked the woman for a cigarette and she gave him a partial pack, which
he says contained the drug.

"It didn't happen," the sheriff said. "The male and female prisoners are
kept separate at all times when they're awaiting their court appearances
and are never left unattended."

The sheriff said he had talked with bailiffs on duty Wednesday and they
confirmed that Kelly could not have gotten the drug from the woman, who was
later released while at court.

"I've repeatedly asked the jail to put inmates in jumpsuits," the sheriff
said, adding that drugs were confiscated from Kelly when he was arrested
early Wednesday morning.

"They turned around and gave him his street clothes for the court appearance."

Witten said all inmates should be given jail-issue clothes during their
stays at the facility, because drugs and/or paraphernalia can be hidden in
clothing. The sheriff said keeping inmates from personal belongings, such
as clothing, will help curb the flow of drugs in the detention center.

When asked to respond to the sheriff's contention that Kelly must have had
the drugs when he left the jail, Patrick said he was "not with nothing
negative here at the jail. "We do the best job we can do," he continued,
adding that Witten's statement would give the jail a "black eye." "You tell
me what's good written on the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center," Patrick
said, citing a recent Big Sandy News story about a controversial 5 percent
across-the-board pay raise for jail employees.

"If we get a raise, they run that in the paper," he said. Kelly was
arraigned in Johnson District Court Wednesday for the charge of promoting
contraband. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. May 22.