"They only give you toilet paper if you're caught up on your rent": Knox County Jail Inmates Mistreated During Pandemic Need Help! Phone & Email Zap

Over the past week, IDOC Watch has received a series of disturbing messages about conditions in the Knox County Jail in Vincennes, Indiana. Please help us get the inmates there some relief!

Inmates in the work release center are not being given toilet paper unless they are caught up rent ($133.00/week), inmates aren’t given enough soap to wash their hands consistently, there are only 4 toilets and a few showers per 40 inmates. There is lots of black mold in the showers and some are only held together with ripped up pieces of plastic bags, and some of the sinks are broken.

Inmates aren’t being given their indigent supplies, so can’t write to their attorneys. There is no process for hearing and appealing conduct reports, so inmates receive conduct write-ups and then are sanctioned by the very same person who wrote them up!

People in the facility are sick and not being released or appropriately quarantined, or given the medical care they need. The other inmates aren’t being given masks, aren’t allowed to wash their sheets and blankets, and are forced to sleep two feet apart, making it impossible to practice social distancing according to CDC guidelines.

The Indiana state government has given counties permission to release inmates according to their own discretion. Please call and email Knox County IN Sheriff Doug Vantlin and demand that inmates in the Knox County Jail and Work Release be released to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and that those who remain incarcerated receive appropriate hygiene, cleaning supplies, medical care, and due process!

Phone: 812-882-7660

Email: dougvantlin@gmail.com

Sample Script:

“Hello, I’m [calling/emailing] to demand that enough inmates in the Knox County Jails and work release center be released to allow for appropriate social distancing, per CDC guidelines for preventing the spread of coronavirus. Any inmate showing symptoms of COVID-19 must be tested immediately. Further, all inmates must be issued masks, the sinks and showers must be fixed, and all inmates should receive soap, toilet paper, and access to laundry services according to their needs. Last, indigent inmates must receive the appropriate supplies, and a hearing and appeal process must be established in accordance with IDOC Policies & Procedures. The conditions you are keeping inmates in are illegal and violate their human and Constitutional rights!”