Lawsuit claims jail denies attorneys access to inmates

BOWLING GREEN — A lawsuit filed Friday in Warren Circuit Court claims that Warren County Regional Jail staff denied attorney Alan Simpson access to one of his clients.

Simpson filed the suit against the jail and Warren County Jailer Stephen Harmon on behalf of Michael White, who has been incarcerated on pending criminal charges since July 15.

The four-page complaint alleges that attorneys who wish to meet with jailed clients must schedule an appointment at a specific date and time, with those meetings limited to one hour.

The lawsuit frames the alleged practice as a vestige of restrictions instituted soon after the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas before the pandemic, attorneys were allowed to meet with jailed clients and potential clients at all times after identifying themselves to jail staff as attorneys and showing their credentials.

“I’ve been practicing for almost 36 years and this jail, since COVID, is literally the only jail that I’ve been denied immediate access to clients,” Simpson told the Daily News. “I understood during COVID that things were different; that is long past and it is high time that lawyers have access to their clients at the lawyers’ convenience, not when it’s convenient for the jail.”

In the lawsuit, Simpson said the “prohibition against immediate entry” prevents attorney-client visits that may be necessary to preserve the names of witnesses or other critical evidence, and there is nothing in the U.S. or Kentucky constitutions or the Kentucky Rules of Criminal Procedure that “even remotely suggests that the jailer can deny access to counsel to meet with an inmate.”

Under the current arrangement, face-to-face appointments between lawyers and inmates have to be scheduled at least one to three days in advance, and since jail staff schedule the meetings, there is no way for lawyers to “spontaneously go to the jail on the weekend, or after hours,” according to the suit.

The complaint relates an attempt by Simpson on Thursday to schedule a visit with White after White had requested a meeting over the phone.

When Simpson arrived at the jail, he was advised by an employee that he could not enter the facility and meet with White without an appointment, and the employee offered alternate dates and times to visit, the lawsuit said.

Simpson said this incident was the latest in a number of attempts to meet with an inmate spontaneously that were unsuccessful, and he is aware of other attorneys who have experienced similar frustration, which has the effect of slowing down efforts to resolve cases.

“This is not a real estate showing, these are criminal constitutional rights that are being infringed upon and I believe it is solely because of the jailer,” Simpson said. “(Harmon) has wonderful staff who work for him who I greatly respect, but you can’t deny people their constitutional right to an attorney.”

Harmon released a statement Friday afternoon indicating that he was aware of the lawsuit.

“While it is not our practice to comment on pending claims, we deny these claims, and we will vigorously defend our position regarding these claims,” Harmon said in the release, which went on to refer questions to attorney Barry Stilz.

Simpson requests a declaratory judgment from Warren Circuit Court establishing that attorneys are “allowed unfettered access to inmates” as well as unspecified monetary damages.