Citizen Report No. 1668111190 - 412796012

NO PUBLIC CLEET RECORD

On or about November 9, 2022, an Ardmore Defense Attorney, Jason D. May, disclosed to the public that he had received information that a recording device/camera was installed in the light fixture within the Attorney/Client conference room in the Carter County Jail.  The attorney discovered the information to be true upon personally investigating the allegation received from an unnamed Sheriff Office employee and then inspecting the room and discovering the device.  

Statements by Carter County Sheriff Chris Bryant to news media outlet: "I was unaware that it was there. The former sheriff in 2002 had authorized a recording device to be placed in the light fixture for a limited purpose that led to the arrest of an attorney, Twana Cherese Smith, for smuggling contraband into the room," Bryant said.

Chris Douthit is the jail administrator for the Carter County Sheriff's office.  He is responsible for the management, security, and safety of the County Jail, as well as overseeing daily operations, including maintenance of the facility. 

If Sheriff Bryant's press release is to be considered factual, then it would mean that the attorney client room had not received an adequate "shake down" in 20 years. 

It should also be noted, as indicated in Jason May's 2nd Facebook Post (see attached), that the life span of the lights bulbs would have provided jail maintenance an estimated 20-27 opportunities to discover, and report, the hidden camera.  This indicates that Chris Douthit either grossly neglected his duties as jail administrator, OR he was aware of the camera and failed to report it to proper authorities, and thereby cooperated in the misconduct and depravation of defendant's due process rights. 

Because Douthit's position would require him to work closely with Sheriff Bryant and Undersheriff Tommy "Gus" Handke, it is unlikely, he had no knowledge of of the device.