MERCER COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – According to Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney Brian K. Cochran, the United States Federal District Court Judge Frank Volk “clearly made the right decision by dismissing the Mercer County Commission from a federal lawsuit filed by inmates in the West Virginia Southern Regional Jail.”
Cochran said that “the federal judge is absolutely right in his decision that the plaintiffs utterly failed to provide any foundation for holding the Mercer County Commission or any other County defendant liable for any alleged federal constitutional claims.” “We agree with the federal judge that Mercer County does not own, operate, maintain, or administer the State’s regional jail system.” Cochran said, “All we do is pay the State for the cost of housing our local criminals, and the State is solely responsible for providing those criminals with housing in compliance with the law.” Cochran, a former civil defense lawyer for governmental agencies, said it was very clear to him very early on that the Mercer County Commission would not be civilly liable in any manner whatsoever for the conditions of the Southern Regional Jail but that he and the Mercer County Commission appreciates the assistance of the civil defense law firm of Pullin, Fowler, Flanagan, Brown, and Poe, and in particular attorneys Wendy Greve and Ben Vanston for their assistance to the County in getting this “frivolous lawsuit against Mercer County” dismissed.
“Neither I nor any of our county commissioners believe in inmates being mistreated in any way, but the fact is that the Mercer County Commission’s sole involvement with the Southern Regional Jail is simply a contractual agreement where our County pays the state to maintain and operate the jail.” Cochran further said that “Mercer County has done nothing wrong, and the legal work put into the defense of the county regarding this civil case led to Judge Volk’s decision, which has potentially saved Mercer County close to a million dollars.”
