Investigation Reveals Buchanan County Inmates Released Early, Without Court Order

(Independence, IA) — A special investigation by the State Auditor’s Office finds about 250 instances in which time served by inmates in the Buchanan County Jail did not match their sentence, or there were no records to back up their release date. The Buchanan County Jail administrator and another deputy were placed on leave in May of last year and they resigned the next month. It happened after an inmate spotted out in the community and taken back into custody told investigators he’d been released to get dental care on his own and was to return to jail under “a gentleman’s agreement.” The investigation reviewed jail records over a 25 month period. It found one person was released 53 days before his or her sentence was up. There were more than 200 instances when jail time served either wasn’t recorded or was a couple of days shorter than the sentence. There were another 40 instances in which an individual was kept in jail past his or her sentence. Eight people were released a week or more early. Auditors said billing and payment records for inmates’ room and board were incomplete.