Another incident at Texas prison

BOISE – A deputy warden is the second worker to leave a Texas prison following incidents with Idaho inmates.

The deputy warden, whose name has not been released, resigned June 4 following a May 30 incident in which, according to an Idaho Department of Correction report obtained by the Idaho Statesman, he punched an Idaho inmate in the jaw.

Another prison worker, a supervisor, was fired following an April 7 incident at the Newton County Correctional Center in Newton, Texas, when six inmates began throwing food trays out the slots of their cells and swearing at guards. Prison workers sprayed them with pepper spray.

The date of the supervisor’s firing has not been released, Melinda Klecker, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Correction, told the Associated Press on Wednesday.

The department announced last week that 419 Idaho inmates currently at the prison will be moved to two other prisons in Texas.

The prisoners are being housed in Texas because Idaho’s prisons are overcrowded. The shift was prompted in part by a request from GEO Group, the company that oversees all three of the Texas prisons. GEO Group wanted the space at the Newton County Correctional Center for Texas inmates, Correction Department officials said.

According to the report on the May 30 incident, an unidentified inmate refused to leave a cell and swore at the deputy warden. He was then pulled from the cell.

The inmate was told he would get a strip search, according to the report, and he made a comment to the deputy warden, who punched him in the jaw.

The inmate was forced to the ground and his pants were pulled off, and he was sprayed with pepper spray. Afterward, the inmate resisted being returned to his cell and was dragged. One officer ordered that the inmate be put on a gurney and carried, but the inmate eventually walked back.

The inmate was then examined by emergency personnel, who noted he had pepper spray in his eyes and a scrape on his back.

After learning of the incident from GEO Group, the Idaho Department of Correction sent Lt. Tim Higgins, who made a report.

The report did not identify the inmate, but The Idaho Statesman received a letter from inmate Randall Swink, 21, of Twin Falls, who wrote that he had been punched and pepper-sprayed.

In a resignation letter written less than a week later, the deputy warden said he left to become part owner in a family business.