DRUG TESTS REQUIRED FOR SOME AFTER PRISON SWEEP FINDS NOTHING

PIKEVILLE, Tenn. - They may have flushed their drugs, but some inmates at a
state prison here will get some unwelcome scrutiny after a drug sweep
yesterday.

Seventeen drug-sniffing dogs found no drugs as they inspected 54 cell units
at Southeast Tennessee Regional Correctional Facility yesterday. However,
the dogs "alerted" their handlers that drugs had been present in some cells
at some point, Pikeville K-9 Officer Kenneth Pruitt said.

Before officers could enter the individual cells in the units, prisoners
flushed any evidence of drugs in their cell toilets, Pruitt said. Drug
screening will be conducted on each prisoner whose cell the dogs indicated
may have contained drugs.

The 17 dogs came from 10 police agencies working together on the prison
search. Before the prison, the group did a drug sweep of Bledsoe County
High School's building and vehicles parked there.

Pruitt said drugs were not found either in the building or on the grounds.

"The addition of a school resource officer at the high school has made a
large impact," Bledsoe County Sheriff Bob Swafford said. "The duty of the
school resource officer is not only to protect the students and staff of
the school, but also to provide counseling and support for the students and
information on many topics including drug education."

Southeast Tennessee Regional Correctional Facility is a medium-security
institution run by the state Department of Correction. It held 926 inmates
as of last month, according to the department's Web site. It opened in 1980
and is about 15 miles from Pikeville.

Joining the local departments in the drug searches were law enforcement
officers from Putnam, Cumberland, Hamilton and Rhea counties, along with
others from Cookeville, Chattanooga, Red Bank, and the Tennessee Emergency
Management Agency.