How maintenance is handled at the Butler County Prison has become a debated topic.

Warden Rick Shaffer told the county prison board Tuesday it would be more efficient to have maintenance workers report to him rather than to John Campbell, director of county facilities and operations.

Shaffer said more preventive maintenance needs done in the South Washington Street building.

He said one of three workers would serve as a supervisor.

“Ultimately, that’s the goal,” Shaffer said.

Campbell said along with repairs, preventive maintenance is occurring in the prison now.

Of the six prison board members present at the meeting, only Commissioner Jim Eckstein agreed Shaffer should supervise his own maintenance staff.

“It would take a load off John,” Eckstein said about Campbell.

The rest of the prison board members disagreed, voting against Eckstein’s motion 5 to 1.

Commissioner Dale Pinkerton, prison board chairman, disagreed there was an issue keeping up with maintenance.

“Things seem to be running pretty good right now,” Pinkerton said.

Shaffer also wanted a third full-time maintenance worker added to the two employees already dedicated to the prison instead of having seven employees rotated into the building on different days.

“It’s a more effective way to manage it,” he said.

Shaffer pointed out an employee unaccustomed to working in the prison on a daily basis could accidentally leave a tool laying around within reach of inmates.

“If you’re not doing it every day, you’re going to slip up,” he said.

Campbell said the current setup allows him more flexibility in addressing maintenance issues in all county buildings.

County Controller Jack McMillin, who also sits on the prison board, agreed, saying government is often criticized for not being flexible.

Eckstein pointed to the hours already spent at the prison by the other seven workers, a total of 2,273 hours over nine months.

“If you add up the hours, there already is a person down there,” he said.

Eckstein stressed the prison will need more maintenance as it gets older.

Pinkerton said the board would consider having a third worker dedicated to the prison when devising the 2014 budget.

Eckstein insisted the county previously created a new position specifically for the prison, which opened in 2009, that ended up being assigned elsewhere.

Campbell said he’s unaware of any new maintenance posts created in the last few years.