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Sheriff, jail staff contract COVID, inmates shipped to Cooper Co.

Justin Addison, Editor/Publisher
Posted 12/1/20

The Howard County Jail is empty. All 15 inmates have been transferred to the Cooper County Jail in Boonville amid an outbreak of COVID-19 at the jail and Sheriff’s Department.

The department …

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Sheriff, jail staff contract COVID, inmates shipped to Cooper Co.

Posted

The Howard County Jail is empty. All 15 inmates have been transferred to the Cooper County Jail in Boonville amid an outbreak of COVID-19 at the jail and Sheriff’s Department.

The department made the announcement Saturday on its Facebook page. Howard County Sheriff Mike Neal confirmed that he, along with at least one deputy and most jail staff have contracted SARS-CoV- 2. He said that a lack of healthy jailers led to the decision to transfer the inmates to Boonville.

“I had no people. Everybody’s sick,” he said.

The cost to house each inmate in Cooper County runs from $35 to $40 per day, according to Sheriff Neal. He said Monday he expects the inmates to remain there until at least mid-December. In the meantime, healthy jail and department staff are busy cleaning and disinfecting the entire building. Any court dates for inmates until then will be held via video-conferencing.

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