Jail employee has 'right to opinion'

A Kent County jail employee, suspended without pay for what he said to commissioners at a recent budget meeting, will not face criminal charges.

Speaking during the public portion of the meeting about county employees losing their jobs, Steven Black said, "Columbine, Virginia Tech and Fort Hood. Think about those. Are we going to be next?"

"He's got a right to his opinion," Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth told 24 Hour News 8, after he reviewed the Kent County Sheriff's Department report on the remarks. Forsyth said bringing up Columbine, Virginia Tech and Fort Hood was not a wise decision on Black's part.

"I think it was ill-advised, but it was not illegal," Forsyth said of the remarks. The prosecutor told 24 Hour News 8 he does not think the Sheriff's Department overstepped their bounds by asking for the charges.

The sheriff's department called Black's comments threatening , and asked Forsyth to issue a warrant against Black for "hindering and intimidation of a public officer," with the entire Kent County Commission being the officers.

Black has been outspoken about the county's plan to use private companies to perform some of the jail's duties such as custodial work and cooking for inmates.

Although Black said earlier he realizes what he said may have been taken the wrong way, he didn't mean it to be threatening.