Clarksville, TN – The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) continues to work diligently to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the Jail and Public Safety Complex.
“I want the public to know that our jail staff and medical provider have protocols in place for viral outbreaks as a general rule. These protocols may be inconvenient for some but are designed to greatly reduce the opportunity for a virus like this to spread in a jail setting. Comparing our numbers with other jails our size, I would say that we have been very fortunate,” said Montgomery County Sheriff John Fuson.
The following measures, which started earlier this year, will continue for the health and safety of staff, inmates, and deputies.
- Daily temperature checks for all staff and deputies when they enter the building.
- Temperature checks and health screenings conducted by medical staff for all arrestees prior to booking.
- Mandatory masks for all staff, deputies, and inmates (when out of their cell).
- Protective barriers are still in place in booking.
- All inmates are initially placed in an intake pod for approximately one week before joining the general population.
- Any arrestee exhibiting symptoms, have a known exposure to a confirmed case, or states they have been exposed is tested for coronavirus.
- Any inmate exhibiting symptoms or had a known exposure to COVID-19 Coronavirus is tested and placed in the quarantine pod.
- Any inmate that tests positive for COVID-19 Coronavirus is placed in the isolation pod.
- All commissary items are quarantined for four days prior to distribution to inmates.
- All inmate are provided hygiene items at no cost.
- Video visitation is limited to one person per inmate. Visitors must wear mask and practice social distancing in the visitation area.
- The virtual visitation kiosks used by the public and inmates are cleaned after each use.
In addition the following measures have been put in place:
- Thermal cameras have been installed to check the temperature of all visitors entering the building.
- Inmate recreation is limited to one hour a day with a limited number of inmates in the recreation area at one time. As before, all equipment is cleaned after each recreation time.
- Inmates who tested positive for coronavirus will be transferred back to general population when they have recovered and are cleared by jail medical staff.
- Inmate movement within pods have been limited.
As of August 4th, 2020 there are nine inmates and three deputies who have tested positive for COVID-19 Coronavirus.
“We will continue to follow our current playbook while adding additional layers of protection where and when we can. I ask everyone to be patient with us as we continue to work through this pandemic. The safety of the inmates and our staff is and will continue to be a top priority,” Sheriff Fuson stated.
