Lincoln County Tells Requester to Ask Its Private Jail Contractor for Records on In-Custody Death, Then Calls Request “Closed”

CARRIZOZO — More than two months after a person died in custody at the Lincoln County Detention Center, the public still has no staffing records, no surveillance video, no jail contract, and no medical-staff communications from the county that is legally responsible for the facility.

What Lincoln County has offered instead, in an Oct. 6 letter from the Sheriff’s Office, is a single redacted incident report and 115 photographs, available on paper for $74.50. For nearly everything else, the letter gives the same answer five times: go ask the private company that runs the jail yourself. The County did not forward the request to the contractor or retrieve the records from it. It then declares the request “closed.”

Alamogordo Town News, which filed the request, has formally objected. In a letter sent Oct. 6, ATN told the County that the response violates the Inspection of Public Records Act in several respects and gave it until Oct. 16 to fix them before ATN seeks enforcement in district court.

The stakes have since risen. On Sept. 28, a second inmate died in the jail’s custody, and ATN has a second records request pending.

Disclosure: The author of this article is the requester and a party to this dispute as a part of our efforts at journalism to keep the public in the loop via records requests and transparency. 

What ATN asked for

The death occurred on the night of July 29 or the early morning of July 30. ATN has reported it as a suicide, based on sources inside the jail and the judiciary; no official finding has been released. 

On July 31, ATN asked Lincoln County for five categories of records: the investigation file; three years of jail staffing, overtime, and turnover data; surveillance video from the hours around the death; the county’s jail operating contract and renewal file; and communications from jail healthcare staff raising safety concerns in the preceding 90 days.

The request was aimed at questions the incident report alone cannot answer: how many officers were on duty that night, how long they had been working, whether anyone had warned administrators about staffing or suicide-prevention gaps, and what the county’s contract requires of its operator.

The response

The County acknowledged the request the day it arrived. On Aug. 17, the last day allowed, it invoked the law’s “excessively burdensome or broad” provision and gave itself until Sept. 18. ATN answered the next day, clarifying dates and asking that simple items, such as the contract itself, be released without waiting.

In September, the County answered through its attorney. It said it was withholding the incident reports, the medical examiner’s report, the video, and the healthcare communications because of an ongoing investigation. It said staffing rosters, safety inspections, and cell-visibility records were held by the jail’s private operator. And it said its next update would come in mid-December. ATN sent a written demand on Sept. 29 seeking faster release.

The Oct. 6 letter, signed by Sheriff’s Office Records Coordinator Sam E. Chavez, states that the office “received” the request on Sept. 28, which is 59 days after the County did, and demonstrates another violation of IPRA by the county. It addresses only the first category. For staffing, video, contract, and healthcare records, it tells ATN to request them from Correctional Solutions Group, LLC, the private operator of the detention center.

The letter also withholds 45 photographs, stating only that they cannot be released “due to graphic nature of photo.” It describes the incident report as “redacted” without saying what was removed or why. And it asserts that all Sheriff’s Office records exist in paper format, billing 149 pages at 50 cents each. IPRA does not distinguish and exception for graphic photos. 

Two answers from one county

The Sheriff’s letter does not match what the County’s attorney told ATN days earlier. The County said incident reports were being withheld because of an ongoing investigation; the Sheriff’s Office is now offering its incident report for sale. The County said its next update would come in mid-December; the Sheriff’s Office says the request is closed. Neither letter explains the other.

A second death

On Monday, Sept. 28 — the same day the Sheriff’s Office says it received the July request — a 24-year-old inmate died at the detention center. The inmate, who has not been identified, was reportedly being held on behalf of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Accounts of the death conflict. ATN and KALH Radio first reported it as an apparent suicide, based on sources within the jail and the judiciary. A jail staff member has since told ATN that the inmate was diabetic, was going through alcohol withdrawal, and died in a cell equipped with a camera.

A family member of the deceased has now confirmed that he was released from the hospital to the jail. The family is unsure if any medical staff was available at the jail as they are getting a run around from jail officials they have stated and not getting answers. An attorney is going be hired by the family they said. His name is being withheld out of respect for the family as they settle his affairs.

 That staff member, who is employed through the jail and spoke on condition of anonymity citing fear of retaliation, also said the jail currently has no medical provider issuing orders, did not that day when the death occured — the kind of orders that would govern blood glucose checks and insulin for a diabetic inmate.

None of that has been officially confirmed by the IPRA request. The Office of the Medical Investigator has not released a cause of death. The warden declined to discuss the death in an interview with KALH Radio, saying such cases go to the Sheriff’s Office, and said healthcare at the jail is provided through WSI, a Colorado company. WSI describes itself as a staffing firm. ATN has asked the County, the warden, Correctional Solutions Group, WSI, and the Sheriff’s Office who currently issues medical orders at the jail. WSI has placed a gag order on its staff per sources within the jail.

ATN filed a second IPRA request on seeking records on the September death. It is pending.

The second death sharpens the questions behind the first request. Healthcare staff communications raising safety concerns and jail staffing levels are among the records the County has withheld or told ATN to get from the contractor. Both bear directly on whether an inmate with a chronic condition could be monitored and treated.

Correctional Solutions Group, of Tyler, Texas, is paid about $5.45 million a year to run the jail. Its contract expires Jan. 27, 2027, and county commissioners will soon decide whether to renew it.

Why ATN says that is not lawful

IPRA defines public records as those held “by or on behalf of” a public body. New Mexico appellate courts have applied that language to private contractors performing government functions, including a private medical provider in the state’s jails and prisons. 

ATN’s position is that a county can hire a company to run its jail but cannot hire away its duty to produce the records. A private company has no records custodian under IPRA and no statutory deadline.

The instruction is hardest to explain for the contract. Lincoln County is a party to its own jail agreement and holds a copy. When a request lands with the wrong office, the law requires the custodian to forward it to the right one and tell the requester, not to send the requester to a vendor.

ATN’s letter also objects that “graphic nature” is not an exception found in IPRA, that a denial must cite its legal basis and name the officials responsible, that redactions require explanation, and that records requested electronically must be provided that way when they exist electronically. An incident report with a system-generated case number and 115 photographs were, in all likelihood, not created on paper.

What the County may have right

Not every withholding is a violation. State law does contain an exception for certain law enforcement images. The County has not cited that provision or said which photographs it covers. Likewise, 50 cents a page is within the $1 cap the law sets for paper copies. ATN’s objection is to being charged for printouts of digital files it asked to receive by email, and to release being conditioned on payment when inspection in person is free.

The inmate’s own medical and mental health records are also likely to be confidential under other law. ATN’s complaint is that the County has not tied any withholding to a specific exception. Its attorney cited an “ongoing investigation,” but the New Mexico Supreme Court held in 2020 that an ongoing investigation does not by itself justify withholding an entire file.

The video clock

Jail surveillance systems typically record over old footage on a fixed schedule. ATN asked the County on Sept. 29, and again on Oct. 6, to confirm in writing that it has instructed Correctional Solutions Group to preserve video and related records. The Sheriff’s Oct. 6 letter does not address preservation. The same question now applies to the camera-equipped cell where the second inmate died. 

A regional pattern

Lincoln County is not the first southern New Mexico government ATN has had to press on records. ATN is currently in district court against the Alamogordo City Commission over open-meetings and records claims, and has a separate enforcement dispute with the Timberon Water and Sanitation District which will likely end in litigation. 

The details differ. The pattern is familiar: long delay, partial answers, and a requester left to decide whether to sue.

IPRA anticipates that. A public body that fails to respond properly to a written request can face damages of up to $100 a day, and a requester who prevails in court is entitled to costs. Those bills are paid by taxpayers.

ATN will provide an updates as soon as records are produced or litigation for such records is filed. Stay tuned...

Sources and citations

1. Alamogordo Town News, Request to Inspect Public Records to Lincoln County, July 31, 2026, and clarification letter, Aug. 18, 2026.

2. Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, “Production of Records Letter w/Invoice,” signed by Sam E. Chavez, Records Coordinator, Oct. 6, 2026.

3. Alamogordo Town News, objection letter and notice of IPRA violations to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Oct. 6, 2026.

4. Lincoln County attorney’s response to ATN’s request, late September 2026 [DATE], and ATN’s written demand of Sept. 29, 2026.

5. Inspection of Public Records Act, NMSA 1978, Sections 14-2-1 through 14-2-12, including Section 14-2-1.2 (law enforcement records), Section 14-2-6 (definition of “public records”), Section 14-2-8 (procedure for requesting records; forwarding to the proper custodian), Section 14-2-9 (electronic copies; fees), Section 14-2-10 (excessively burdensome or broad requests), Section 14-2-11 (denials; damages of up to $100 per day), and Section 14-2-12 (enforcement).

6. State ex rel. Toomey v. City of Truth or Consequences, 2012-NMCA-104 (records held by a private entity on behalf of a public body).

7. New Mexico Foundation for Open Government v. Corizon Health, 2020-NMCA-014 (records of a private correctional medical contractor).

8. Jones v. City of Albuquerque Police Department, 2020-NMSC-013 (ongoing investigation does not by itself exempt records). [VERIFY citation.]

9. Chris Edwards, “Conflicting Accounts Emerge in Death of 24-Year-Old Lincoln County Inmate; Jail Medical Oversight Questioned,” Alamogordo Town News, Sept. 30, 2026. https://2ndlifemediaalamogordo.town.news/g/alamogordo-nm/n/391890/confl…

10. Chris Edwards, “Second Inmate Dies at Lincoln County Detention Center; 24-Year-Old Was Held for BIA,” New Mexico Conservative News, Sept. 29, 2026. https://newmexicoconservativenews.com/2026/09/29/second-inmate-dies-by-…

11. Interview with the Lincoln County Detention Center warden by Anthony Lucero, KALH Radio / Alamogordo Town News streaming edition, September 2026.

12. WSI Healthcare Personnel Inc., company website (description of staffing services).

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