Laurens County jail staff used inmate labor for 'personal purposes,' authorities say (2024)

LAURENS — Several Laurens County jail employees are under investigation after authorities say at least one officer used two inmates' labor for his own personal gain.

Two officers were fired and charged with misconduct in office Feb. 19, while three other employees have been placed on administrative leave pending a full investigation, Laurens County Sheriff Don Reynolds said in anews release.

Reynolds said the sheriff's office began monitoring all five guards after some "inconsistencies and questionable activities," which revealed they were inappropriately using inmate labor for "personal purposes."

The State Law Enforcement Division said in a news release that one of the former guards, Nicolas A. Walker, had at least one state inmate assigned to the county jail perform labor for Walker's own gain.

Walker's arrest warrant alleges that he used the inmate's labor between November 2023 and February 2024.

Authorities declined to elaborate on the nature of the labor, citing the active investigation.

The other guard who was arrested, Holly Walker, allegedly knew what Nicolas Walker was up to, arrest warrants show.

Low-security state inmates, called "trustees," are frequently sent to county jails across South Carolina to live and work there while serving their sentences.

County jails apply to the program with the state Department of Corrections, requesting a certain number of inmates for labor like groundskeeping or office work. The inmates can apply if they're interested in a job at one of the county jails.

Laurens County's jail, the Johnson Detention Center, has 19 trustees in its care, SCDC spokeswoman Chrysti Shain told The Post and Courier.

When the county receives trustees through the state's program, the county has full responsibility for the inmate's safety and care.

The two inmates involved in this case are being returned to state custody, while 17 others will remain at Johnson Detention Center until the investigation is complete, Shain said.

One of the inmates had been assigned to Laurens County since May 2021, and the other since July 2022, Shain said.

Both Nicolas and Holly Walker worked as jail officers for several years, state police records show.Nicolas Walker began in Laurens County in 2008 while Holly Walker worked at the York County Detention Center from 2012 to 2014 before moving to Laurens County in 2021.

"In my forty-plus years of law enforcement experience, oneof the most disappointing things I encounter is when an officer of the law breaks thelawhe or she takes an oath to uphold," Reynolds said.

The Johnson Detention Center has had a troubled past.

In February 2022, Arthur Brewington sued Sheriff Reynolds and the jail after he says two corrections officers "violently threw" him to the ground during an escort, causing the vertebrae in his spine to break, according to the lawsuit. The case is awaiting trial.

Later that year, the mother of Jarvis Evans also sued Reynolds for his alleged role in the death of her son, whowas found unresponsive in a holding cell at the jail after being restrained and Tasered.

The case was settled in December 2023 for $500,000, court records show.

Then, in 2023, the mother of Robert Holmes sued the sheriff and the jail after she says her son was denied urgent medical care, even though a nurse had noted Holmes needed to see an outside doctor "immediately," according to the suit. Holmes later died. The case is pending.