JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Wednesday marked a critical day in federal court in the hearing for the Hinds County Detention Center consent decree and whether or not the federal government will take over.
The defense called former Hinds County Jail Administrator Major Kathryn Bryan to the stand to discuss her time at the jail.
Bryan said when she took the job in June 2021, she was fully aware the jail was under a consent decree. She came in under the late Sheriff Lee Vance and said she believed he was committed to making changes within detention center, but she believes when he passed the “gusto for making changes went with him.”
Bryan was the first administrator to work under three sheriffs. She said as the jail administrator, she actively worked to make changes within the consent decree but received major push back when looking to raise detention officer pay, getting maintenance work done within the jail, maintaining detention officers, and even tending to inmates’ needs.
A pivotal moment for Bryan was after inmate Michael Richardson was killed last October. She said in November 2021, she submitted a resignation letter to “wake up Hinds County Administration,” but later rescinded her letter.
She testified that Sheriff Tyree Jones called a meeting with her on January 31, 2022 ,letting her know she did not rescind her resignation properly. She said Jones told her he accepted her resignation letter, and she was to resign effective immediately. She told the court she did not accept the resignation but said Jones told her, “I am the sheriff, and I can do that.”
Bryan ended her testimony saying she doesn’t believe that Hinds County will follow things within the decree unless there is a court order.