Hall County officials are working to improve communications among city, county and state law enforcement agencies.
The recent efforts are in response to a February police report filed against the Hall County Jail after jail officials denied a prisoner.
But now, county supervisors are hoping to move past the incident and ensure something similar doesn't happen in the future.
Though no misconduct charges were filed in the February booking incident, a matter of differing policies was pinpointed as a problem.
"Policies of the jail conflicted with some of the policies that our officers were using," Grand Island Police Chief Steve Lamken says.
But members of the Hall County Corrections Steering Committee say that shouldn't be a problem any longer.
"We make policies for the jail," Steering Committee member David Ziola says. "We can't allow other agencies to make policies for the jail."
The committee sent a letter to Grand Island Police Chief Steve Lamken, Hall County Sheriff Jerry Watson and State Patrol Captain Chris Kolb, aiming to clear up that confusion.
"It was to clarify with the law enforcement agencies that we do deal with, be it the State Patrol, Sheriff or Grand Island Police Department, to let them know that there is more or less a chain of command at the jail," Ziola says.
A chain of command, Ziola says, starting with Director Fred Ruiz and his assistant, both appointed by the Hall County Board of Corrections.
"The Board of Corrections actually is in charge of the jail, we hire a Director and an Assistant Director, to see to the day to day operations of the jail," Ziola says.
Ziola says those daily operations include working with the various law enforcement agencies. Officials say those relationships have been much better lately.
"We're moving forward with operations," Lamken says. "I have met with Mr. Ruiz, the head of the Corrections Department, and we are communicating as needed."
But in case of any future issue, Steering Committee members have pointed out the best way to handle it.
"We would strongly suggest that they try to clarify those things with the Director and the Assistant Director," Ziola says. "If they're not satisfied with that, they can meet with the committee, the steering committee, or actually bring it to the Board of Corrections for us to deal with."
