JAIL INMATES WILL GET A LIFT

Sheriff Pat Hedges is taking steps to provide transportation for poor
inmates from jail into town after their release. He is in the final stages
of working out a voucher system for inmates who can't afford to pay the $15
cab fare.

This is a commendable move, spurred after Scott Bennett, a legally blind
inmate, was released from jail at night Nov. 12 and wound up being hit by a
car and killed on Highway 1.

Hedges said that even before the accident, he had been seeking a solution
to the transportation problem, but it wasn't until four days after the
event that he requested $1,500 from the county to fund the program.

The Tribune wass critical of the department's failure to provide a ride for
Bennett because, being blind, he was a special case that needed to be
treated in a special way.

Our essential point was that Bennett, because of his special sight
condition, should have been and could have been given a ride to his
destination by somebody in the jail. To send him on his way on foot was a
bad error in judgement.

Said the sheriff:

"I think it would be safe to say that what happened to Scott Bennett moved
this particular issue up on our priority list. I mean, we're not going to
turn our back on it."

Past mistakes or oversights at the jail should now be set aside and the
sheriff should receive full support for his efforts to remedy the situation.

But the tragedy should not be forgotten. It should serve as a constant
reminder that special circumstances require special handling for jail
inmates who have been released and are on their way home.

We are convinced that Sheriff Hedges is determined to prevent such an
incident from happening again.