Benton County jail says 256 detainees have virus

BENTONVILLE — Hundreds of prisoners in the Benton County jail tested positive for covid-19 in the latest round of testing.

Lt. Shannon Jenkins, spokeswoman for the Benton County sheriff ’s office, said 256 prisoners received positive results after being tested for the virus last week. She said 611 detainees were tested.

Jenkins said 92 employees of the sheriff ’s office were tested, and results for four of them were positive.

All of the prisoners and employees are asymptomatic, and no one is hospitalized, Jenkins said.

The jail reported its first virus outbreak in June when 189 inmates and 14 employees tested positive. Sheriff Shawn Holloway said then that one prisoner had to be hospitalized, while the other prisoners and employees were asymptomatic.

The jail tested about 600 people in September, and 50 prisoners and five jail employees tested positive, Holloway said.

Holloway said last month that the jail had no active covid cases.

Jenkins said the positive-tested detainees are being kept in an area together. They may remain in the pod for a least two weeks.

The jail’s population was 629 Monday, according to

Jenkins.

Prisoners and employees are wearing masks to help prevent the spread of the virus, Jenkins said.

She said people booked into the jail have to go through a medical screening and are detained together in an intake pod. Their length of time in the pod depends on the jail population, Jenkins said.

Three employees and 31 prisoners at the Washington County jail tested positive for covid-19 last month.

Jay Cantrell, chief deputy of the Washington County jail, said 56 detainees have now tested positive for the virus.

He said the inmates are held in three quarantine cell blocks.

Cantrell said the sheriff’s office has 14 employees who are not working because they either tested positive or were in contact with someone who did.