Scheduled to work different shifts

Two of the three corrections officers who were defendants in a federal civil rights violation trial in September are back to work at the Lawrence County Jail.

Ronald Hatfield, Jeremy Hanshaw and Jason Mays were found not guilty in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio in Cincinnati, following an almost two-week trial. The three men faced federal charges over an incident involving the alleged abuse of an inmate at the jail in August 2014.

Hanshaw started back on Saturday and Hatfield on Monday.

Following an investigation Hanshaw and Hatfield were suspended without pay for violation of policy and procedures. Hanshaw and Hatfield then were charged

with felonious assault; Mays was charged with tampering with evidence.

“Due to the fact they were found not guilty required me to return them to their duties,” Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless said.

After the trial the two were put back on paid administrative leave where they were on the payroll but not on active duty with the sheriff’s office. They make $15.30 an hour. Mays, because he had not been with the sheriff’s office long enough to be in the union, was fired at the time of the incident.

The two, who had worked together at the time of the incident, will work separate shifts, Lawless said.

“I am always vigilant and will make sure the laws are uphold,” the sheriff said.