Leaders questioning replacement Bedford guards

BEDFORD - As Bedford County officials seek a new administration at the county jail - which has sported three different executives in two months - guards and the former warden have expressed serious concerns about several men hired as temporary and permanent officers.

Nearly four months after an inmate escaped, prompting Warden David Kessling's resignation and an ensuing political scandal, a slate of newly hired and promoted officers has taken charge at the jail in a shift officials have called "a new day."

In a recent meeting with the county commissioners, however, guards' union representatives noted that two of the officers had been disciplined for security breaches under Kessling's administration, with at least one resigning as a result. Another was demoted after superiors said he couldn't handle his responsibilities, Kessling confirmed. While Sheriff Charwin Reichelderfer dismissed the guards' complaints as "dwelling on the past," their concerns - verified by jail documents and confirmed by Kessling - show that the county hasn't yet fully recovered from the September escape and its aftermath.

Breaches and demotion

Since inmate Jeremiah Moser allegedly scaled a jail basketball hoop and fled into the woods Sept. 30, relations between county officials and rank-and-file guards have hit a few bumps.

A guard was suspended for the security breach that allowed Moser to climb the wall, and others have publicly blamed 2012 staff cuts that left fewer guards at the facility than in prior years.

Moser was captured a day after the escape, but the political issues he opened remain today.

At a meeting Jan. 15, union officers discussed staffing concerns with the commissioners, said Barry Pearce, a staff representative for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 83, which includes the Bedford guards.

But they also mentioned another, as-yet unpublicized concern: that the recent hires could pose new problems at the jail, especially after some were implicated in security breaches as recently as last year.

"Basically, there were security violations. In the past, those same violations led to termination," Pearce said. "And now they bring these guys back. Is that a lesson learned?"

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Leaders questioning replacement Bedford guards