Graves County deputy jailer arrested on contraban d and official misconduct charges

A Graves County deputy jailer was arrested Friday on charges of contraband and official misconduct.

The Graves County Sherrif's Office said 51-year-old BIlly Williams is accused of providing some  jail inmates contraband.  

Graves County Jailer Kelli Elliott reported that she along with other jail supervision had uncovered information and provided the information to the Graves County Sheriff's Office for criminal investigation.

The initial investigation by sheriff's detectives included obtaining a search warrant for the deputy jailers' residence for evidence connected to the investigation. That was served Friday afternoon around 3PM. Evidence was seized and taken and secured.

During the investigation, Williams confessed to providing illegal contraband to jail inmates, and receiving payment from inmate(s) family members. He was arrested and transported to the Graves County Sheriff's Office, and later to an out of county detention center.

Williams was charged with Official Misconduct 1st Degree and Promoting Contraband 1st Degree.

Graves County Jailer Kelli Eliott stated, "It is a huge disappointment to my team and myself if there is ever a discovery that one of our own has violated the law or policy. As soon as something was suspected, my internal investigations team initiated an inquiry. Once that was substantiated, we immediately reported our findings to the Graves County Sheriff's Office requesting an investigation. Within a matter of 10 hours, the allegations were substantiated by an outside law enforcement agency, and the deputy jailer was arrested. I will hold all staff to the highest standard of professional conduct."