Republican William Harper is a business owner and has been a member of the Princeton Fire Department for 8 years. Harper said he’s running for jailer because he likes helping people.
click to download audioDeputy Jailer Democrat Cheryl Pettit has worked at the Caldwell County Jail for 8 years and in administration for 5 years. Pettit said she’s running because she knows the jail is vital to the community and she has the budget experience needed to maintain the jail.
click to download audioTo improve the operation of the Caldwell County Jail, Pettit said she would like to have more community involvement for the inmates and enhance staff training, specifically when dealing with drug overdoses and withdrawals.
click to download audioHarper agreed better training to help the employees recognize the issues with the inmates when they come in and also applying for grants to help offset some of the costs in the budget.
To recruit and hire more deputies and staff at the jail, Harper said he would apply for funding to increase the starting pay and have job fairs.
click to download audioPettit said the former jailer has increased the starting pay by $5.00 in the last 4 years. She also noted the two largest jails in the area — Henderson County and Christian County — are severely understaffed and the county jails need to be able to be competitive with what the prisons pay.
Harper said one of the ways to maintain the budget by hiring more deputies and keeping expenses down to manage the budget would be finding ways to save money.
click to download audioPettit said the jail was approved by Caldwell Fiscal Court to have in-house medical that saved the county a lot of money. On the food, she noted, the jail is allocated $45,000 annually to serve over 60,000 plates and the jail has started making its own.
click to download audioThe candidates also discussed ways to implement a better community service program for jail inmates.
To hear the entire discussion, click on the audio link below:
WPKY’s News Edge will have more stories from the Decision 2022 political forum in the coming days.
