Ridgeland correctional officer fired after allowing inmate into another’s cell, warrant says

An officer at the Ridgeland Correctional Institution was fired Thursday after being charged with misconduct in office, the S.C. Department of Corrections said. The officer is accused of allowing one inmate into another inmate’s cell in September, according to a press release from the department.

Cierra Garner, 29, of St. Helena Island, had been suspended from her job at the prison in early October at the start of the investigation into the incident, the release said.

Garner “feloniously allowed a SCDC inmate access to another SCDC inmate’s cell area for the purpose of threats or intimidation,” the arrest warrant says.

No other information on the incident was provided in the arrest warrant or news release.

Lana Ferguson

The Island Packet

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Lana Ferguson typically covers stories in northern Beaufort County, Jasper County and Hampton County. She joined The Island Packet & Beaufort Gazette in 2018 as a crime/breaking news reporter. Before coming to the Lowcountry, she worked for publications in her home state of Virginia and graduated from the University of Mississippi, where she was editor-in-chief of the daily student newspaper. Lana was also a fellow at the University of South Carolina’s Media Law School in 2019. Support my work with a digital subscription