Chris Grillon, a former captain at the Henderson County Detention Center, says she was fired from the jail because she did not support current Jailer Anthony Willett during his spring campaign and that’s why she has decided to run as a write-in candidate in the November general election.
“That was the reason,” she said.
Willett, however, maintains that in the month-plus after he was appointed to be the jailer on July 1 (after winning the Republican primary in the spring), a “totality of circumstances” led to Grillon’s firing and said none of it had to do with politics.
“That is not true at all,” he said of Grillon’s assessment.
When Willett won the Republican primary in May, no Democratic candidates had filed to run in the November general election, which for all intents and purposes would mean Willett would be jailer once the new term began. Former Jailer Bruce Todd retired on June 30, and Willett was appointed to fill the last six months of his term on July 1 before assuming his own term in January. On Aug. 6, Grillon was fired and she filed to run as a write-in soon after.
At the time Willett took over, Grillon said he brought in six people from outside the jail—some with no correctional experience and some who had worked in corrections a long time ago—and gave them leadership positions. Additionally, three people were promoted up from inside the jail, she said. The reason all these people got moved up or moved in—Grillon said it’s because they all supported Willett during his campaign last spring.
Willett acknowledged that some of his leadership team came from the outside, but he said that he needed people he could trust so that the jail ran correctly.
“I did bring in people I could trust,” he said, adding all but one had previously worked at the jail or were working there when he came in. “You put people in places that you can trust and you don’t have to micromanage.”
Willett added that a main reason he fired Grillon was that she “refused to take accountability for her actions.”
Those actions involved Grillon’s work on programs at the jail regarding the federal program Prison Rape Elimination Act and oversight of Moral Reconation Therapy classes provided at the jail. In the MRT program, she said she served in a volunteer capacity, and in PREA, was told to no longer participate after another employee took over. She said neither was a part of her official job duties, and her mistakes amounted to clerical errors.
Willett said Grillon’s recording of hours of an inmate participating in the therapy classes was erroneous, causing the inmate’s time in the class to not be accepted and forcing him to stay longer in jail. (Inmates can get time reduction for taking some classes, he said.)
Willett said Grillon had been asked to handle correcting the non-compliance issues regarding PREA, but she never made any corrections to the issues. Once Willett handed the work off to someone else, he said that 10 corrections were made in two weeks.
Grillon said Willett at some point told her not to do any work on PREA. Then later she was fired with one of the reasons being her work on PREA, which she was told not to do.
Willett said Grillon’s work on PREA was insufficient and could have cost the jail the ability to house federal inmates, which is a revenue stream for HCDC. He said federal auditors were scheduled to arrive soon and he was “terrified” that the jail would lose federal inmates if the PREA non-compliance issues weren’t corrected.
Willett maintains that he had no intention of firing anyone when he stepped in because that would mean losing veterans who know the jail and having to hire new people and train them up. He said, in fact, that he wanted to keep Grillon and move her to the major of administrations position.
Finally, Grillon, a 20-year veteran at the jail, said she was a merit employee in the public sector, not an at-will employee, and so being put on a probationary period when a new jailer comes into office, as Willett did, was not legal.
Grillon said she’s been in touch with an attorney about filing suit. But she said even if she were to win a civil suit, Willett would remain in office “and that is why I made the decision” (to run.)
“He destroyed my career and took my retirement,” she said.
Beyond the impetus for her seeking the seat, Grillon also believes Willett in his few months in the position is not doing it correctly. She said he is taking a “top down leadership” approach and not having leaders get involved with inmates.
“All the people at 350 Borax Dr. deserve the same level of advocacy and support,” she said.
She said that showing kindness and offering support to inmates while still being respected by them is attainable. “I know it’s possible to have that balance,” she said.
Willett said that’s what he’s been doing since he took over on July 1. He told the Hendersonian about numerous programs he’s implemented in his first three-plus months.
Those include the GAIN program, which teaches life skills needed to be successful, and the Community Center for Fatherhood program, which helps inmates return to their families and be dads again. Willett said he’s also working on getting programs set up with Henderson Community College and RiverValley Behavioral Health.
Willett also said he is attempting to get some sort of program for local and federal inmates to help them with substance abuse. The current Substance Abuse Program, or SAP, is only for state inmates, he said.
He said he wants to make the jail a place that helps inmates more with recovery and “at the same time hold them accountable.”
Willett said he’s also been looking for ways to help inmates get jobs, both while they are still incarcerated and once they are released.
“What I’m doing is not for political gain,” he said. “It’s for the inmates.”
One of the interesting pieces of Grillon’s campaign is that she knows how it is on the inside a jail cell and on the outside. “Before I was an officer, I was an inmate,” she said.
On Facebook, one of her detractors posted a series of mugshots from Grillon’s past when she was booked into jail. When asked about it, she didn’t flinch. “I was an alcoholic,” she said. She added that all her charges stemmed from her alcoholism. She said she’s in recovery and has been for 20-plus years, she said.
“I’ve spent decades rebuilding my life, and I have,” she said. “I’m not embarrassed by my past, not ashamed by where I’ve been.”
Her charges include two driving under the influence charges, disorderly conduct and other charges, but no felonies, she said.
“I could have had those charges expunged years ago, but it’s part of my story,” she said. “I’ve never shied away from telling my story.”
Grillon admits winning as a write-in “is difficult. It is not impossible.”
She said a voter can get assistance filling out a ballot by asking election workers, and then by law, one Democrat election worker and one Republican election worker will accompany the voter and offer assistance.
