Columbia County Sheriff's Deputy Carolyn Townsend was recently named in a lawsuit filed by former Columbia County Jail inmate Taylor Warren Self. Self alleges that after he was booked into CCJ a month after having surgery to repair a broken jay. He was given a medical isolation cell and eventually a cell mate until his jaw was broken again by his cellmate. According to media reports Townsend is accused of ignoring requests from Self to give him a different cell mate or just leave him alone like the doctor ordered. Self's cell mate was not moved and eventually punched him.
Medical staff believed that Self's jaw had been re-broken, but they did not have resources to treat him. Instead of taking him to a hospital the jail released him even though he was not supposed to get out for another week. Because the jail is in the middle of nowhere there is no emergency medical services within 30 miles and Self was homeless, so he was basically stranded with excruciating pain.