Oct 31, 2002 By Amy Karpinsky 2 min read

Fayette County Prison Warden Larry Medlock said the prison had its highest average ever last month. Medlock told the prison board at its monthly meeting that prison had an average of 245 prisoners last month. He said there were 246 inmates in the facility Wednesday morning.

He said the previous high was in July 2001 with 244 inmates. Medlock noted that while the prison usually has its highest number of inmates in the summer, it doesn’t appear that the numbers are going down this fall.

Fayette County Sheriff Gary Brownfield, a former state trooper, said in the summer misdemeanor crimes such as underage drinking and disorderly conduct are common. He said in the fall and winter months, burglaries and armed robberies occur. He said it amounts to criminals doing their Christmas shopping.

“If they can’t afford to buy presents they find other ways to get them,” Brownfield said.

Medlock reported that there are currently 68 inmates housed in the minimum-security annex. He said they have 70 beds but two inmates were temporarily taken out of the facility due to a sprinkler leak.

Since the $1 million steel facility was constructed, the county has been able to save money by keeping prisoners in the county instead of sending them to prisons outside the county as in the past. Brownfield said the new facility will save the county a lot of money over time.

An unusually high number of female inmates led to sending a few out of the county recently. Medlock said the jail cell rentals will be included in next month’s bills.

Currently the county is not paying to house women prisoners out of county. There are four Fayette County women at the Washington County Prison but they are being kept there as an agreement in which a Washington County male inmate is being house d in Fayette County.