Duval County

Action News Jax Investigates: Elevator issues at Duval County jail

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An Action News Jax investigation uncovered that elevators at the Duval County Jail operated for months with expired permits and had even failed recent inspections.

Domonique McCoy and Kimberly Green told Action News Jax they were recently trapped on the elevators on two different occasions.

“I was stuck on the elevator for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, banging on the elevator door,” McCoy said.

McCoy said she pushed the call button for help but it didn’t work.

“I’m thinking how am I going to get out?” McCoy said. “I didn’t know how long I was going to be stuck on there.”

Cellphones aren’t allowed by family members or lawyers who visit the jail, so anyone trapped in an elevator can’t use their phone to call for help.

Green said she was trapped for five minutes but it felt like an eternity.

“I laid on the alarm button, and that still didn’t work,” Green said.

Green said she was banging on the door so hard, she hurt her hand.

“It’s a terrible experience to not know how long you’re going to be in there and to be at someone else’s mercy to ensure you get out. You have no way to push any buttons,” Green said.

Action News Jax did some digging and found eight elevators at the facility were operating with expired permits since Aug. 1, 2019.

One day after Action News Jax went to the state for answers, we learned six of the elevator certifications were renewed.

Action News Jax obtained recent elevator inspections at the facility that reference similar violations, including suspended cables that needed to be repaired, broken emergency lights, and call and cancel buttons that had to be fixed.

The building is owned by the city of Jacksonville.

Nikki Kimbleton, the director of public affairs, told Action News Jax the elevators are inspected once every month by a contractor who performs preventative maintenance on each unit.

In a statement Kimbleton said, “We care about the safety and security of all residents and we take consistent steps to make sure equipment is functioning as it should.”

The city said it is currently in the 90-day period to have the final violations addressed, which are the ropes for Inmate 2 and Inmate 3. The purchase order for the replacement ropes has been issued, and they are on order.

As for the other six elevators, the city said they’ve passed inspection and the new state certificates are on the way.