KFDA - NewsChannel 10 / Amarillo News, Weather, Sports11th inmate escape bringing about new security policies

NewsChannel 10

Clovis, New Mexico - The list of inmates who have escaped from the Curry County jail continues to grow, after yet another jail break Sunday.

The escaped inmate is back behind bars, but it still has many worried about the security of the jail and about their safety.

Arizona Soto, Jr. is the 11th inmate to escape from the Curry County Detention Center in the last five years.

Although the facility has made changes each time to prevent it from happening again, it didn't stop him Sunday morning.

Soto and a work detail crew were waxing the floors of an administration office early Sunday morning, when he took off running down a hallway and bolted out an unlocked door. A supervisor was monitoring these inmates, but he is not the only one to blame for this escape.

That's because Soto is not approved for work detail and is not supposed to leave his cell area. But a new policy should prevent this error from happening again.

Interim Jail Administrator Tori Sandoval explains, "Unless they are sentenced to us 364 days or less, and I personally sign off on them, they do not come out period."

The county is currently investigating the issue to determine which personnel are responsible for the mistake, but they say it can happen anywhere.

Assistant County Manager Connie Harrison says, "In a jail facility inmates have 24 hours a day to sit and think."

Sandoval says, "It's up to us to step up our game and make the place secure, as well as the public feel secure at all times."

Besides the new work detail eligibility policy, officers will now be assigned permanent jobs rather than rotating.

They will also receive more training, which both the county and the jail feel will combat the growing problem.

Harrison says, "I think so many people still have the 8 who escaped in their mind. That was a very dramatic time. It was a time that we as a county took responsibility for and we do take responsibility for each of these escapes."

Soto is currently being held in isolation and was arraigned today to face additional charges for escaping.