GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) – A jail official in central Nebraska won’t be prosecuted for refusing to take custody of a prisoner.
Hall County assistant corrections director Jimmy Vann’s case was referred to a special prosecutor. The special prosecutor, John Marsh, said in a report also released to the newspaper that refusing to process the prisoner was improper, but “criminal prosecution is not the appropriate response.”
Vann had refused on Feb. 1 to process 32-year-old Jeremie Mitchell into the jail after he was arrested by a Grand Island officer on a bench warrant for missing his trial on a charge of criminal mischief.
Marsh’s report says Vann’s refusal followed a dispute between the officer and jail workers about Mitchell’s handcuffs.
Mitchell eventually was booked into the jail.