Camden County inmate charged after not returning to custody

CAMDENTON, Mo. (KY3) - An inmate in the Camden County Jail is charged with escaping custody.

Investigators say Samuel Phillips was granted a work release, meaning he can leave for work during the day but report back to the jail at night and over the weekend.

Jail staff says Phillips left the jail for work on November 14 at 6:42 a.m. He was supposed to be back by 6 p.m. that night.

“Sam Phillips is an example of someone who is in our jail and goes and makes their case to the judge for why they should be eligible for work release. Once they’re released, they’re supposed to report back to the jail. Usually in the evenings,“ said Sgt. Scott Hines with the Camden County Sheriff’s Office.

It is not the first time.

“What makes this especially egregious is this is not the first time this has happened. Mr. Phillips has been released on work release several times on his own recognizance bond. Then he never shows up for court. So as a result, currently, he’s got 4active warrants, stemming from cases going back over the last three years,“ said Sgt. Hines.

Many judges across Missouri will grant a work release if the case is right. One of those judges is Larry Winfrey in Laclede County.

“When they find themselves in court and in jail, their life is not at a high point. It’s at a low point. There are a lot of things that are going on in their life. So if they have steady employment, that is one of the positives that they have,” said Judge Winfrey.

There are some disadvantages as well.

“It’s only going to be a situation where maybe they’ve had some failure to appear before,“ said Judge Winfrey.

Criminal Defense Attorney Fawzy Simon says it can be important for people who haven’t gone to trial yet.

“It gives people who, especially, who are accused of crimes who haven’t necessarily been found guilty or convicted yet, but it lets them maintain the sense of normality, it lets maintain their lives. So when they come out of the justice system, they have something to come back to,” said Simon.

The sheriff’s office says Phillips is known to frequent Camden and Benton Counties, especially in Climax Springs or Edwards.

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