WEST LIBERTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — About a month ago, LEX 18 sat down with the wife of a current inmate at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex (EKCC). She requested to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation.
On Wednesday, LEX 18 spoke with her once again. She said since August, she has been actively requesting her husband’s transfer from the facility, continuously sending emails and faxes of paperwork to get it done.
For nearly a year, she claims her husband has faced alleged abuse and racism inside the prison, and she has tried repeatedly to get him moved for safety reasons — but there has been no progress.
“I just feel like they don’t care,” she told LEX 18. “They don’t care that there’s a safety risk involved. It’s not their family. It’s not their friend. It’s just another person with a number there.”
The wife said miscommunication has been a recurring roadblock. At one point, she was told there was a “48-hour” process to move him. When she followed up after three days, she said officials told her there had been a misunderstanding, and such a process does not exist.
Later, she learned there was an “educational holder” preventing his transfer because he was enrolled in a prison class.
“He doesn’t care about the class. This is supposed to be a safety transfer to get him out of there,” she recalled. “Then they told me he had to put in the safety transfer himself.”
LEX18 was provided a letter dated April from Alan Long, the Justice Program Administrator at EKCC, stating the inmate was offered protective custody but refused. The wife said her husband turned it down because it would make him appear weak to other inmates and staff — and because the last time he spoke up, he was placed in solitary confinement for 15 days, though these claims have not been confirmed by EKCC.
“They need to get it together down there and listen to complaints and keep a better eye on people,” she said. “Some of those correctional officers know what’s going on inside those dorms and they literally do nothing.”
According to the wife, EKCC has confirmed to her that her husband is waiting for a bed and will be transferred the moment one opens. She hopes they can stick to their word.
