Jail accused of violating inmates’ civil rights

Sunday, Jan. 10, 1999 | 8:58 a.m.

Onie Cooper and Mary Wilson, board members of the Reno-Sparks NAACP chapter, criticize policies requiring inmates to cut their hair to gain privileges and to work for pennies while being charged $30 a day for room and board.

"(It) sounds like people over in China where they get free or forced labor," Cooper said. "This is America, not a Hitler kind of country."

But Sheriff Richard Kirkland said his jail programs have been cited as a national model, and the 1999 Legislature will consider bills requiring other counties to follow Washoe's lead.

"This has been asked and answered," he said. "The county commission does not tell me what to do. I make those decisions. And that's that."

Jail rules require male inmates to keep their hair cut above their ears and female inmates to keep their hair off collars to gain privileges. Those who fail to follow the rule are confined to their cells 22 hours a day.

Inmates also gain privileges by participating in work crews, which can pay as little as 25 cents an hour. State law allows the jail to charge inmates $30 a day for room and board to help recoup taxpayer dollars.

Cooper and Wilson also want county commissioners to consider complaints about limited inmate access to medical care.

Former inmate Cecelia Herrington contends she wasn't allowed to see a doctor for five days after she fell on a wet floor and hurt her back last month.

Commissioner Pete Sferrazza said he thinks his colleagues should put the issue on the agenda.

"It's a public forum and people should have the right to discuss any issue that concerns the county," he said.