Kay County Detention Center Inmate Search

The current Kay County Detention Center was built because of overcrowding that led to riots in 2007. The riot caused a jailer to be injured and there was $5 thousand in damages. The new Center was designed and built for $22 million and was opened in 2010.

In 2016, a former Kay County Sheriff's Department administrative assistant was arrested for embezzlement. Melissa Sprueill had access to the inmate trust funds, the money given to inmates to spend at the jail while they are there. Over a five year period, she took over $363 thousand dollars to pay for her gambling habit. The investigation was led by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the state auditor. She had used funds from other sources to cover up the removal of funds, including state money that paid for inmates to be housed.

During November 1943, deputies were used to help find escaped prisoners of war from Camp Tonkawa. A riot ensued after several hardcore Nazis executed a fellow prisoner thinking he was a traitor to mother Germany. They had held a kangaroo court and beaten the man with clubs and broken milk jugs. A prison guard killed a few when a riot started. About eight escaped, but were recaptured a few miles from the POW camp. The men responsible for starting the riot and killing the fellow prisoners were taken to Leavenworth and hanged.

Sheriff Syl Ford died from injuries on March 9, 1908. He and two deputies were sneaking up on a man they had to serve a warrant on. While trying to stay hidden, Ford fell and was killed by a train.

On July 21, 1923, Kay County Sheriff's Deputies George Miller and John Middleton found a suspect in a local cafe. They entered and the man saw them. The man pulled a pistol and opened fire. Miller was killed at the cafe. Middleton died the next day from his wounds. The man turned himself in but was acquitted at trial by saying it was self-defense.

On May 6, 1999, Sheriff's Deputy Ian Ewing was responding to call for help from a fellow deputy. The deputy had made a traffic stop on three men suspected in a burglary. Even though his lights and siren were on, Ewing was struck by another vehicle. He died at the scene.

In 1955, the Great Plains saw 46 tornadoes across several states. An F5 tornado hit Blackwell in Kay County. The Sheriff's Department was part of the emergency response. Twenty people were killed in Blackwell, along with 60 buildings being damaged or destroyed.