...I've found that more often than not, where there's enough smoke, there is fire. 

I’ve found that when dealing with people on the wrong side of the criminal justice system that when you get through the smoke, the accused is the cause of the fire.  Most will look you in the eye & lie through their teeth.  For example, I searched a person one evening.  Before I touched him, I asked if he had anything in his pockets that I needed to know about.  He told me no.  The 1^st pocket I stuck my hand in had a knife.  It beats the heck out of me why a person would be so ready to lie when they know they’ve been caught.  The majority of the ones complaining the loudest will set down one day, stop whining about how the world was out to get them & say, “Yep, I was stupid when I was young”.  Unfortunately, some most love jail because they keep coming back. 

Why does the jail put drunks and violent prisoners together?  Doesn't that make for more trouble?

Intoxicated & violent inmates do not get put together.  If an inmate gets violent, they get separated until they calm down.  That’s not to say a drunk can’t turn violent after they get put in there with other people, but if this happens, they’re quickly removed (unless they’re the only person in there).  Sometimes people with bad attitudes don’t get along with other people with bad attitudes. 

Is there only one cell that compromises the drunk tank?  How many beds are in the drunk tank?  Are men and women ever in the drunk tank at one time?

There is only one “Drunk Tank”.  There are no beds, just benches.  The reason is because it’s not a permanent place to house inmates.  They’re put in there just long enough to sober up, calm down or make bail.  The other reason there is not soft furniture (beds) is because intoxicated people like to vomit & use the restroom on themselves, benches, walls, etc.  Men & women are not put together in any cell.

What is a typical day's menu like at the jail? 

The best description I can give you is it compares to the food that you’d find in any public school cafeteria.  The only difference is the portions are bigger than a school kid would get.  I got a smile on the $1 a day comment.  A candy bar around here will cost you 79 to 99 cents so the $1 thing must be from an infomercial about starving pygmies in Africa. 

I've known of inmates faking things to get medicine or get to hospital, but some injuries and illnesses cannot be faked.  Do you know anything about Robert Day's injuries?

I’m not aware of Mr. Day’s situation.  I am aware of Kevin Sandefur & Ryan Wilcox.  Inmates fake things & injure themselves all the time just to get out of the cell.  I’m not sure if you’re aware, but a Deputy or Jailer always seems to be on the way or just returning from the hospital.  The biggest problem with that is Duncan Hospital will send you a bill if you just drive down the road & look at the emergency room.  That costs thousands of dollars in hospital fees, many from bogus injuries/illnesses where the hospital does nothing because nothing is wrong.  The other problem is that it causes a lot of wear & tear on vehicles, it’s a security risk to the public & hospital employees, it takes a Deputy/Jailer away from other duties, etc.  The Sheriff is working to have a Physicians Asst hired to be at the jail a few times a week to head a lot of this off.  A P.A. would be able to prescribe medications, identify fake injuries & provide treatment for legitimate ones.  Our only alternative is the expensive emergency room.  This would save thousands of dollars.

I have to wonder what makes so many prisoners in one facility risk losing visits or phone calls or being isolated or denied medicine or even physically hurt? 

Let me start with this.  Drugs cause violent behavior, anxiety, aggressiveness, paranoia, hallucinations, psychotic behavior, etc.  Oklahoma, Kansas & Missouri are the top 3 in the nation in Meth activities.  Stephens County is #1 in Oklahoma in Meth.  The vast majority of the people in our jail are there because of drug related activity.  90% of those are Meth related.  You tell me why these people do things that don’t make sense.  Stephens County Jail didn’t cause their problems...it’s the result of them.  You would still be surprised at the amount of inmates that lie for no other reason than to have something to do.  It’s a game…its resistance.  There are cases out there in the world where revenge has become the only reason for a person’s existence.  For example, a man & woman break their relationship.  She is so mad at him that she completely engulfs herself in ensuring that his life is miserable.  She calls him names, tells lies about him to friends, stalks, scratches the paint on his car, etc.  This can sometimes go on for years.  Later on down the road, he moves from the area or gets married.  Instead of finding something else to do, she commits suicide because her biggest reason for living (revenge) is gone.  Sad but true.  It’s a way of resistance.  It’s a way of saying, “You don’t control me”.  If a 5 year old does it, we call it a temper tantrum.

Honest investigations are very difficult in cases like this because of 'the code of silence' that bond these groups. I'm not saying that's what is happening in Duncan, but it is a possibility. 

If someone thinks it’s a problem here they don’t need to hire a $25,000 lawyer.  A defense lawyer can’t file charges or make arrests anyway so why spend the money?  Why not go to the D.A., Attorney General, Police Chief, a D.A. in another area, State Police, FBI, OK State Bureau of Investigations (OSBI), Dept of Corrections, etc.  Many of them have been notified & have looked into it.  Why hasn’t anything been done?  My guess would be because the investigations have turned up nothing.  I know for a fact that the Sheriff has invited these people to go into the jail & take a look for themselves.

Sure, there’re bad people in every profession.  Duncan & Stephens County is a little big for the small town justice like you see on TV.  But it’s also small enough that bad people can’t hide in the crowd.  Let’s say for a minute that there is a “code of silence” here.  The only way a broken bone is silenced is if you find that it didn’t exist in the 1^st place.  I didn’t see a broken hand that night, neither did the doctor or the x-ray.  As a matter of fact, there was no swelling, redness, bruising…nothing.  I don’t know about a broken foot, but it’s my understanding that he doesn’t limp.  He’s either tough as hell, or there’s no broken foot.  That particular inmate told me that another inmate closed a cell door on his hand, not the jail house humor of a rouge jailer.  I can’t say that I blame him for wanting to get out of jail for a little while.  It’s not a fun place to be. 

Doesn’t it make sense that as soon as Mr. Wilcox was released & went to the doctor for his “untreated gunshot wound” that a flag would have went up that no code of silence could hide?  By the way, Mr. Wilcox hasn’t disappeared & laying dead somewhere.  He’s alive & well & not hard to find.  I see his dad almost everyday but his mother died in a car wreck several years ago.  As a matter of fact, I dated his sister when I was in high school & she lives in Oklahoma City now.  He still hasn’t told the truth about how he got shot but lets just say that something went bad at the house he was at that night & we don’t make a habit out of arresting people just for being injured. 

You just can’t hide things like tortured & starving inmates, medical conditions, black mold or any other kind of “human rights violation”.  They haven’t been found because they don’t exist like the stories tell of.  Denial & lack of responsibility for ones own actions is a player in this game.  I hear, “It’s not my fault” all the time.