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Woman Left In Cell For 4 Days Without Water

Sheriff: Bailiff Will Likely Be Back On Job Soon

POSTED: Tuesday, March 11, 2008

An Arkansas woman was left in a secure holding area at the Washington County Courthouse in Fayetteville over the weekend, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

At about 9:40 a.m. Monday, courthouse staff notified the Washington County Sheriff's Office that Adrianna Torres-Flores, 38, of Springdale, Ark., had been left in a detention room for four days, reported television station KHBS-KHOG in Fort Smith, Ark.

Torres-Flores was left in the detention room --- intended for short-term detention only --- with "no water, no restroom facilities. You know, it was a very unfortunate situation," County Judge Jerry Hunton said.

"I don't know how dehydrated she was, but she surely had to be dehydrated," Hunton said.

Torres-Flores was transported Monday to Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville by emergency medical personnel. However, hospital representatives said she was never admitted to the hospital.

Torres-Flores was in court for a plea agreement on Thursday, March 6, and was remanded to custody by Judge William Storey for violation of a condition of her bail. Torres-Flores was accused of being involved in a bootleg CD and DVD ring in Springdale in December.

Torres-Flores was then placed in a secure holding area by the court bailiff, Jarrod Hankins, officials said.

Normal procedure for an out-of-custody defendant who is remanded to Washington County Sheriff's Office custody requires the court bailiff make notification to transport personnel.

"For some reason, the bailiff didn't go and immediately make the call for transport, and I guess he, at a later time, just forgot to [make the call]," Hunton said.

Hankins has only been a bailiff for about two weeks and has been placed on paid leave pending an investigation, Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder said.

Helder said unless he finds out the bailiff locked the woman inside the cell and left her there on purpose, he expects the bailiff to be back on the job and to learn from his mistake.

Helder, in conjunction with Judge William Story and County Judge Jerry Hunton, has ordered a thorough investigation into this matter, officials said.

Hunton said Monday that immediate measures have been taken to ensure this does not happen again, including putting a camera in the cell and a light outside the cell that will be on when someone is inside.

"The best thing that we can do is to make sure it doesn't happen to anybody else," Hunton said.
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