In the wake of three suicides in the Champaign County Jail within six months last year, the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office has reformed several policies. But community activists and a National Institute of Corrections (NIC) report released Tuesday suggest more action is needed.

According to the NIC report, the suicides occurred between July and December of 2004. After the suicide of 25-year-old Terrell Layfield on Dec. 4, many people in the Champaign-Urbana community became concerned, including Sandra Ahten, a member of Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice (CUCPJ).

“The thing that concerned me the most was there was no outside investigation of the suicides,” Ahten said. “We need an investigation by a body that does not use that jail. Were they indeed suicides? We’re not saying they weren’t; we just want an outside body to say they were.”

The names of the two other inmates who committed suicide could not be found because Sheriff Dan Walsh and other members of the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office would not comment for this story.

Walsh has admitted that the suicide prevention procedures were not followed the day of Layfield’s death. Corrections officers are required to check individual cells of inmates suspected of being suicidal – on Dec. 4, the officer only looked in the cellblock.

Ahten and the other members of CUCPJ, though, said that other factors in the jail led Layfield and the two others to become suicidal in the first place. Ahten recommended changes in the jail’s visitation and phone call policies, outside investigations of the suicides and a study of the policies that might have led to the suicides.

While calls made initially after the arrest were free, inmates subsequently had to dial collect to place an outside call. Rates reached more than $6 for a 15-minute call. Jail rules also limited the number of visitors an inmate could have.

Because of these rules, inmates were sometimes unable to contact family members, making the inmate’s family unable to detect suicide warning signs, Ahten said.

Some of CUCPJ’s goals have been met. Walsh has tentatively lifted the visitation ban, phone call policies have been changed to give inmates’ families more access and the NIC’s report has been released. But Ahten said these accomplishments were not enough – the jail still needs an apparatus for outside investigations.

“It’s about the public trust in a transparent institution,” she said. “It’s not about just admitting that (Walsh) did wrong; there needs to be an outside investigation to assure the public.”

The NIC report, which was based on interviews with Walsh and the jail’s staff, documents produced by the jail and tours of the jail, also underlined the need for further reform.

Among many other things, the report recommended was increased and expanded training for booking officers and officers who administer medication so they would be able to recognize potential suicides more quickly. It also recommended that all inmates be screened by mental health professionals within 14 days of incarceration, and any inmate put on a suicide watch should be screened as soon as possible but within 24 hours. It further recommended that inmates considered high-risk for suicides be monitored more closely depending on their level of risk and a special log be created to record this monitoring.

A press release that was distributed with the report stated that Walsh and the Champaign County Board Chair Barbara Wysocki had received the report and had preliminary discussions. But the press release also stated that no action will be taken until all of the appropriate people have had a chance to review the report.

Any policy changes as a result of the report might not be the end of the fallout from the suicides, however. Aaron Ammons, the co-founder of CUCPJ, said the families of inmates who commit suicide often take their own legal action.

“They’re dealing with a legal aspect in as far as the Sheriff’s Office has some responsibility,” he said. “They are, of course, distraught. The families will want something done. Whether it’s a lawsuit or a reprimand, I don’t know. From talking to Mr. Layfield’s wife, I’d say they’re planning some kind of litigation, but I don’t want to comment and complicate that.”

None of Layfield’s family members could be reached for comment.