Inmate walked out of facility unnoticed
Rather than tunneling through the floor or smuggling himself out in a laundry hamper, Kenneth Miller, 46, escaped from the Silverdale Detention Center on Wednesday simply by walking out the front door.
Authorities announced on Thursday morning that the Hamilton County Sheriff ’s Office was leading efforts to recapture Miller, who escaped the night before. He was taken into custody that morning by the sheriff’s fugitive apprehension team and now faces an additional charge of escape.
While the runaway inmate was captured in less than 24 hours, court records show his vanishing act was an uncomplicated feat. Deputies responded to a report of an escaped inmate on Thursday and were told by the warden that Miller had escaped shortly after 6 p.m. by joining a group of other inmates leaving the jail.
“The warden stated Mr. Miller blended into a crowd of inmates being released and walked out of the gate at [6:16 p.m.] being escorted by a [CoreCivic] corrections officer,” court records state.
Further, his escape was overlooked during a population count less than two hours later and “went unnoticed until [11:30 p.m.] during a routine population check and was not verified to be Mr. Miller until [12:39 a.m.] of 2 November 2017.”
When asked for clarification about how Miller could have been missed during the first check after his escape, CoreCivic spokeswoman Amanda Gilchrist said the circumstances of the situation are being investigated.
“We are reviewing the incident with our government partner to determine where breakdowns occurred, and will take all appropriate corrective measures once that process is complete,” she wrote in an emailed statement.
She then declined to detail the frequency of population checks at Silverdale.
“The facility is required to conduct multiple security counts throughout the day at varying intervals. The specifics of those and other security measures at the facility are not publicly disclosed for safety and security reasons.”
Sheriff Jim Hammond said his office, as well as CoreCivic, routinely review and evaluate operational plans for any flaws. He said it would be premature to jump to any conclusions about Wednesday’s escape at this point in the investigation.
Silverdale will soon be coming under Hammond’s authority, since the Hamilton County Commission voted 8-0 in September to transfer its control to the sheriff’s office and enter into a new agreement with CoreCivic for continued service there. The move marked the first step in expanding inmate capacity at Silverdale to phase out the crumbling Hamilton County Jail in downtown Chattanooga.
“Now that the contractual responsibilities of Silverdale have been transferred to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, I have asked the deputy chief of corrections and his staff to begin a complete review of all policies and security measures implemented in the Silverdale facility,” Hammond said.
“I have confidence in my personnel and the CoreCivic team to identify and correct any security breach that may exist and will wait for the conclusion before making any comments on the details of the escape,” he said.
“My staff and I remain committed to providing a safe and secure environment for the citizens of Hamilton County, the employees who are tasked with the operation of our local correctional facilities and the inmates that are incarcerated at those locations.”
The initial Silverdale expansion, which calls for an additional 128 beds, is expected to cost between $20 million and $30 million and was a factor in a tax increase approved in that same commission meeting.
As part of the new agreement, the county approved a general fund transfer of $15.5 million to the sheriff’s department, which is now responsible for paying CoreCivic. In recent years, the CoreCivic costs to the county, based on the number of inmates held each day, ranged between $13 million and $14 million a year.