Mercer County prosecutor agrees with dismissal of regional jail lawsuit

Greg Jordan, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va.
·2 min read
1
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Mar. 19—By GREG JORDAN

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PRINCETON — Mercer County's prosecuting attorney says he agrees with a federal judge's decision to dismiss Mercer County from a lawsuit filed by inmates being held at the Southern Regional Jail.

Prosecuting Attorney Brian K. Cochran said that United States Federal District Court Judge Frank Volk "clearly made the right decision by dismissing the Mercer County Commission from a federal lawsuit filed by inmates in the West Virginia Southern Regional Jail."

"The federal judge is absolutely right in his decision that the plaintiffs utterly failed to provide any foundation for holding the Mercer County Commission or any other county defendant liable for any alleged federal constitutional claims," Cochran said.

"We agree with the federal judge that Mercer County does not own, operate, maintain, or administer the state's regional jail system," Cochran said. "All we do is pay the state for the cost of housing our local criminals and the state is solely responsible for providing those criminals with housing in compliance with the law".

Cochran, a former civil defense lawyer for governmental agencies, said it was very clear to him that the Mercer County Commission would not be civilly liable in any manner whatsoever for the conditions of the Southern Regional Jail, but that he and the Mercer County Commission appreciates the assistance of the civil defense law firm of Pullin, Fowler, Flanagan, Brown, and Poe, and in particular attorneys Wendy Greve and Ben Vanston for their assistance to the county in getting this "frivolous lawsuit against Mercer County" dismissed.

"Neither me or any of our county commissioners believe in inmates being mistreated in any way but the fact is that the Mercer County Commission's sole involvement with the Southern Regional Jail is simply a contractual agreement where our county pays the state to maintain and operate the jail," he said.

"Mercer County has done nothing wrong and the legal work put into the defense of the county in regarding this civil case that led to Judge Volk's decision has potentially saved Mercer County close to a million dollars," Cochran said.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com