The Butler County Prison will get an additional nurse to serve during the midnight shift.

County commissioners Wednesday voted to add a nurse to the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift. The cost would be about $43,000 for the rest of the year, and would cost $76,000 next year. The position will come under the county’s contract with Wexford Health Services.

Commissioner Jim Eckstein voted against the motion. Without a nurse on duty, inmates are taken to Butler Memorial Hospital. He felt the motion should have been tabled to see if hiring an extra nurse really is more cost effective.

“I think we ought to table this and look at the economic ramifications,” Eckstein said.

Commissioner Bill McCarrier said, during serious medical incidents when there is not a nurse on duty, inmates are taken by ambulance and are accompanied by two guards. Two sheriff’s deputies relieve the guards at the hospital. He said not having a nurse on duty could increase liability to the county.

Warden Rick Shaffer also noted guards are not really qualified to be able to determine if an inmate’s medical issues are serious enough to require transport to the hospital.

The prison has three nurses, all on duty during day shifts.