Former Barren County deputy jailer arrested

GLASGOW, Ky.- A deputy jailer in Barren County is under arrest after authorities say he was promoting contraband inside the jail.

According to a news release from Barren County Jailer Aaron Bennett, the now former employee, Avery Ward, 25, was arrested Friday.

Bennett said it was brought to his attention last Tuesday that one of his staff members may have been promoting contraband within the detention center.

After a short investigation into the complaint, the case was turned over to the Barren County Sheriff’s Office, which made the arrest Friday.

“I expect professionalism, from all my deputy jailers,” Bennett said in a news release. “I expect them to do their job in the highest standards as does our community. We police our own and expect the highest levels of performance. I hold all my deputies accountable for their actions, for everything they do or fail to do.”

According to Ward’s Facebook page, he started working at the detention center last February.

He is accused of providing lighters and tobacco to inmates, according to a release from the Barren County Sheriff’s Office. One of those lighters was used to start a fire inside the jail.