Second Career

Most people are fortunate if they make a career out of doing something they love. This is doubly true for Madison County Certified Court Security Officer (CCSO) Steve Lasslo.

In 2015, he wrapped up a 37-year career at the Sherwin Williams plant in Richmond, where he rose to a packaging manager position. For the past five years, he has been working on his second career as a CCSO.

In his early life, Lasslo pondered a career in law enforcement and even earning a degree in criminal justice at Eastern Kentucky University. However, as he put it, “things happened.”

“I had a family, and the Lord blessed me in other ways,” he said.

The desire to work in a law enforcement capacity lingered, and once retired, Lasslo finally had an opportunity to fulfill his early-life desire.

Lasslo was hired on with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office as a part-time CCSO deputy. Eventually, he went full-time and worked his way up to supervisor.

The Human Factor

The key in both professions is knowing how to work with people, Lasslo said.

“My experience in dealing with managing employees has helped me here,” he explained. “You have to know how to deal with people on an individual basis.”

The same is true when dealing with inmates, Lasslo continued.

“You have to know how to handle inmates,” he said. “Yes, they are incarcerated, but they’re also human. You have to respect them as individuals. Yes, they’ve done something bad, but you don’t have to mistreat them. If you give them respect, they’ll give you respect back. There’s always that one bad apple who will give you a hard time, and you have to step up and deal with the situation, but it doesn’t happen often.”

Escorting Inmates

One of the primary duties of a CCSO is escorting inmates to and from detention centers. Madison County, CCSOs are rotated between District, Circuit, Family courts, and also the court in the city of Berea where Berea Police Department cases are heard, Lasslo said.

When escorting inmates from the detention center to different courts, Lasslo said nothing is taken for granted.

“We double-check the cuffs, even after the detention guys have put them on,” he said. “We do this before they ever enter the courtroom.”

Often, escorting inmates to the courtroom requires CCSOs to travel across Kentucky to retrieve them from detention centers in other counties.

In 2019, Madison County Certified Court Security Officers averaged 120 trips a month to transport inmates to Madison County courts.

(Photos by Michael A. Moore)

“Last year, we drove more than 150,000 miles in prisoner transports,” Lasslo said. “It’s typical because this person is out on parole, and their hometown is in Fulton County, so they go there. They don’t report to their parole officer, and they get picked up in Fulton County. Therefore, we have to go out there because they belong to us.

“Sometimes that person is sent to Fulton County from our jail because our jail is not set up on the state system,” he continued. “So, when an inmate is charged and sentenced to state time, the state says that you have to move them because you’re not on the state program. Casey County will hold a lot of our female inmates there, and when it comes court time, we have to go get them, and after court, we have to take them back.”

High-profile Cases

The safety and security of inmates is essential at all times, especially with high-profile cases, Lasslo said, citing an example from five years ago.

In Fall 2015, Daniel Ellis, a Richmond Police officer, was shot and killed in the line of duty. Almost immediately, the suspect, Raleigh Sizemore Jr., was arrested and charged with Ellis’ murder.

“When we found out the case was going to be handled in Circuit Court, we had a meeting about how we were going to handle it,” Lasslo said.

The challenge was unique because Lasslo was a family friend of Ellis. His take was if he allowed this to affect his ability to do the job, he shouldn’t be in the position. So from the get-go, Lasslo decided he would be the CCSO in charge of Sizemore.

There are many factors to consider when making a security plan for high-profile cases, he explained.

During the planning phase, it was decided the Madison County Sheriff’s Office would invest in a rack belt. It is a Velcro device an inmate wears around his or her waist with two metal prongs sticking to the small of the back, and the CCSO would use a remote control device, if necessary, to gain pain compliance.

“It is used when a person goes to trial because you can’t bring them into the courtroom shackled or cuffed or in jail garb because it plants a seed of guilt in the jury,” Lasslo said. “The inmates have to sign a release acknowledging they know what the device does. We show them what it does. To be trained on it, I had to wear it. When the CCSO hits the button, you hear an audible tone, and then you get the shock. It’s like a hot poker on your back, and it will bring you to your knees.”

In addition to the rack belt, CCSOs plan the route from the detention center to the courtroom and strategically place CCSOs between the inmate and the victim’s family members to deter and prevent anything from getting out of control.

“We have to have a line of sight with the inmate at all times,” he said. “That is pretty much how we deal with high-profile cases. We had our bases covered.”

When it comes to courtroom security, everyone must be on the same page, and that includes the judges.

“If we have a high-profile case and develop our plan, we will get with the judge and ask them when they want to hear the case,” Lasslo said. “Many times, they want them in and out so the inmate can get back to jail and (the judges) work with us on high-profile cases.”

Looking back, becoming a CCSO has been an enjoyable experience, filled with challenges and just as many rewards.

“When I was hired on, it was part-time, just three days a week, and I got to pick my days,” he said. “I enjoy the job. I like it. So when they offered me a full-time position, I took it.”

Lasslo said when he went full-time, it was with the understanding that he’d only work another year, maybe two. That was in 2017, and he’s still going strong.

Now he is making a second career of sorts doing something that he enjoys.

“It’s been great,” he said. “I love it.”