Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Curry County Undersheriff Wesley Waller said Thursday that the criminal investigation into last week's assault at the jail ended with felony charges filed against inmate Louis Guerra.
Waller said any other issues at the jail are considered administrative and will be up to county officials to resolve.
County officials have declined to answer multiple questions about the assault, including:
County Manager Lance Pyle said jail Administrator Gerry Billy told him on Thursday that the jail was conducting an "administrative investigation."
"Once that is complete," said Pyle, "if there's disciplinary action that is warranted, he (Billy) and I will sit down and review the matter and proceed from there."
Billy is in his storm-struck former hometown in Ohio, helping his family clean up. He has maintained since the June 27 assault that he would reserve comment until all investigations are completed by the sheriff. He said Thursday he is still awaiting word from the sheriff's department.
"When I get back (to Clovis), we'll talk about it on Monday," said Billy.
Perez, in jail on an assault charge not related to the 2011 shooting that claimed the life of his brother, Daniel Perez, was bloodied and bruised from the fight with Guerra. He was treated and released from the Clovis hospital that night and is now housed in the Farwell jail, his attorney said.
County commissioners, who early this year appointed themselves the jail administrator's supervisors after a series of ongoing problems at the jail, declined comment or said they knew little about the administrative investigation.
Commission Chairman Wendell Bostwick said he will not comment to CNJ because of a Sunday editorial — "Incompetency root of jail's ongoing mess" — that stated, "jail leaders and staff and the county commissioners are not qualified to run this jail."
Commissioner Robert Sandoval said he wasn't aware of any internal investigation, but he believes there should be one. Sandoval said he isn't sure how the commission should proceed.
"In the past, I believe that the commission would have given the county manager direction as to how to handle this," Sandoval said in a written statement, "but since the (jail) administrator is now being supervised by five commissioners ... we are treading into new waters and thus I am going to rely very heavily on our attorney.
"As commissioners, we are responsible to the public to share any information that we can, while taking into consideration the privacy of any employee concerned," Sandoval said.
Commissioner Dan Stoddard said any internal investigation should be initiated by Pyle since it would be a personnel issue and Pyle oversees the county's human relations or personnel department.
"If it's a personnel issue," said Stoddard, "it has to go through HR."
Commissioner Frank Blackburn said he didn't know if there was an internal investigation and he hadn't talked to Billy about the matter. Blackburn said he believed it would be up to Bostwick to call for any internal investigation since he chairs the county's jail committee.
Commissioner Caleb Chandler wrote in an email: "Mr. Billy reports directly to the County Commission chairman and he briefs the other commissioners. I have been told we will be briefed when all investigations have been completed. As of this time I have not been briefed and have not been told that any investigations have been completed."
