Many people have expressed concern about the fact that two inmates at Northpoint Training Center were fishing at Herrington Lake Friday and witnessed the death of Isabel Lynn Hall.
Mendalyn Cochran, an administrative specialist at Northpoint, said the two inmates were part of Northpoint's "outside detail unit."
Approximately 40 of Northpoint's more than 1,230 inmates are part of the outside detail unit. Inmates can only be assigned to outside detail if they are classified as minimum custody and have fewer than four years until they go before a parole board or finish their sentence. Inmates also must have their disciplinary, criminal and work histories thoroughly reviewed before they can be assigned to outside detail, according to information from Cochran.
Outside detail inmates work during the day on the prison's farm, mowing and landscaping. The inmates are then allowed to fish on weekends and some weekday evenings while under a correctional officer's supervision, according to information from Cochran.
