By Kendrick Calfee
The Kansas City Star
LIBERTY, Mo. — Ongoing sewage leaks, allegedly caused by inmates at the Clay County Detention Center, have forced office staff to relocate while renovations take place, a county spokesperson said Friday.
In a recent leak, an overflow of sewage made its way into office areas located below the detention center’s holding cells, said Sarah Boyd, a Clay County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman.
The sewage came out of an overflow drain and seeped into the carpet.
Boyd said inmates have been seen intentionally clogging toilets with items like bedding and clothes. The clogged toilets have exacerbated natural plumbing blockages in the 40-year-old building, Boyd said.
Inmates clogging toilets is a common issue nationwide, and new jails are being built with this occurrence in mind, Boyd said in a phone call Friday.
“We have people in custody charged with crimes that may stem from lacking healthy coping skills and emotional regulation,” Boyd said. “So you know, when they get upset, they may express that inappropriately.”
Boyd said inmates who clog toilets are subject to a disciplinary lockdown, which separates an individual from the general jail population and revokes certain privileges. There is a disciplinary process the sheriff’s office follows for any inmate who violates detention center rules, Boyd said.
During immediate repairs of the most recent leak, workers found a bundle of cloth in the pipes. The county facilities crew believes it to be t-shirts tied together.
Staff relocated after sewage leak
Clay County has moved staff affected by the leak to different buildings. Some county services are now located in an adjoining building, the sheriff’s office said on its website Thursday.
Contractors will remove all of the carpet, sanitize the space, and replace the flooring with a solid surface that can easily be cleaned and sanitized, Boyd said.
Any affected office furniture also will need to be sanitized or replaced. The Sheriff’s Office does not yet have an estimate on how long cleaning and renovations will take.
“We anticipate this will be a multi-month project,” Boyd said. “The contractors have said, ‘let us get in there and see what’s going on, how much remediation we’re going to have to do.’ So we don’t really know yet.”
Services normally housed at 27 South Main Street have moved to an adjoining building at 12 South Water Street in downtown Liberty, Boyd said in an email. Those include These services include Concealed Carry Weapons, Sex Offender Registration and Enforcement and fingerprinting.
The public lobby at 27 S. Main St. is also closed until repairs are completed. People should enter the building from South Water Street, according to a graphic on the sheriff’s office website.
“This relocation is temporary, and we will announce when the 27 S. Main St. location reopens,” Boyd said.
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