State investigators to look into Butler County Jail video incident

BUTLER COUNTY, Mo. (KFVS) - The Butler County sheriff formally requested a state investigation into an incident that happened inside the jail.

The move comes after someone posted a partial video of the event to social media the week before.

Sheriff Mark Dobbs said he and County Prosecutor Kacey Proctor sent a formal request to the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control.

That request calls for state investigators to review the entire incident, which involved an inmate in the jail’s seclusion cell back in January.

Sheriff Dobbs said he will cooperate with any potential charges that may arise if there is a state investigation.

Two men who work for the Butler County Sheriff’s Office are on administrative leave after a video clip recorded inside the jail became public on social media.

Sheriff Dobbs said he takes the situation very seriously and is assessing the actions of a corrections officer and an investigator shown in that clip.

Dobbs described the video as showing the end of an incident lasting several minutes involving an inmate in the jail’s seclusion cell.

He said that incident happened in late January.

A description of the clip on YouTube suggests a corrections officer recorded it.

Dobbs said they believe the edited recording came from a former corrections officer currently facing a misdemeanor charge for bringing a prohibited item into the jail.

The sheriff said he is evaluating the circumstances that led up to the actions seen in the clip.

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