UPDATE: Detention center to cooperate with federal investigation

ASHLAND, Ky. (AP) – The Boyd County Detention Center says it’s confident an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice will prove that the jail is complying with federal law.

The Daily Independent (http://bit.ly/2fl4rBv ) reports that the Department of Justice is investigating the jail over whether inmates are adequately protected from the use of excessive force.

Boyd County Jailer Joe Burchett says deputy jailers must occasionally use force to contain inmates in aggressive situations, but says staff members have not overstepped their authority.

The detention center says in a news release that it intends to cooperate with the department.

In June, a former jail employee accused Burchett of assaulting an inmate. Local and federal authorities investigated the complaint, but found no signs of wrong doing.

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Information from: The Independent, http://www.dailyindependent.com

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.

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11/1/16 6:09 p.m.

Federal officials say the Justice Department has opened an investigation into conditions at the Boyd County Detention Center in Catlettsburg.

In a news release Tuesday, the Justice Department says the investigation will focus on whether prisoners are adequately protected from the use of excessive force, whether prisoners are subject to an invasion of their “bodily privacy” and whether the jail indiscriminately uses restrictive housing without due process.

Officials say the investigation will be conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act.

Under the act, the Justice Department has authority to investigate violations of prisoners’ constitutional rights that result from a “pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of such rights.”

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.