HOWARD COUNTY — Six employees have been terminated at the Howard County Jail following an internal investigation into “allegations of improper activity with inmates” that violated department policies.
Two incidents were referred to the Howard County Prosecutor’s Office, Sheriff Jerry Asher told Call 6 Investigates.
The sheriff released the records Friday afternoon following a records request from Call 6 Investigates Kara Kenney.
Click HERE to read the full report.
Editors Note: A previous version of the document attached above had an incorrect name listed in the final page which was provided by the sheriff's office. The page was corrected and the document edited to include the correct page.
“I have a zero-tolerance policy for violations of this nature,” Asher said. “The actions of a few employees are not representative of the many men and women who work tirelessly and dedicate themselves to honoring the public’s trust as members of the Howard County Sheriff’s Office.”
Of the six terminations, two terminations occurred on the same day as the allegations were reported and three occurred within three days of the reporting following initial investigations, Asher said.
Officer Trevon Johnson was terminated for disclosing confidential information about the investigation to Sgt. Noah Pyke while Pyke was on administrative leave.
All staff receive extensive training on policies including trafficking with an inmate policy, relations with inmates, and staff/inmate communication.
After a second incident surfaced, the sheriff called for corrections division-wide retraining and as of Feb. 28, all staff has received the training review.
All six terminated employees previously received the training.
Officers with their dates of hire and termination:
- Jordan Carpenter: Jan. 3, 2017 to Dec. 3, 2019
- Michael Salinas: May 13, 2018 to Feb. 6, 2020
- Noah Pyke: June 12, 2017 to Feb. 6, 2020
- Jonathan Snow: June 25, 2018 to Feb. 6, 2020
- Trevon Johnson: March 11, 2019 to Feb. 12, 2020
- Tyler Swygert: Jan. 28, 2019 to Feb. 26, 2020
