The Kentucky Department of Corrections said it has postponed its order to close the Bell County Detention Center after it was given 'assurance' that the jail would repair its smoke evacuation system in the next 30 days.
The Bell County Detention Center had originally been ordered to close by 5 p.m. on Feb. 5 by the Kentucky Department of Corrections over fire safety violations.
"Upon assurance that Bell County officials are diligently making repairs to the smoke evacuation system and that repairs will be completed in 30 days, we have deferred enforcement of our closure order," the department said.
According to the detention center's website, they currently house more than 100 inmates.
Officials said the closure would have been due to "the continued failure of the jail to remedy its inoperable smoke evacuation system, a critical life safety component of detention facilities."
"Without a properly functioning smoke evacuation system, inmate living areas are unprotected in the event of a fire," the Kentucky Department of Corrections said.
The Department of Corrections originally issued a closure order on Oct. 2, 2019, directing the jail to be closed by Dec. 1, 2019. The jail was given its first extension after it made "minimal progress correcting the violations."
“The Department of Corrections gave Bell County officials ample opportunity to correct this situation and repair or replace the smoke evacuation system,” said Corrections Commissioner Kathleen Kenney. “Our safety concerns were not addressed, which led us to close the jail.”