The Utah Department of Corrections removed all 45 remaining state inmates from the Daggett County Jail Wednesday evening after two convicted killers managed to escape from the rural Utah facility.

The decision, announced today, led to the inmates' placement in the Draper and Gunnison state prisons and was the result of security and management concerns associated with the Daggett County Jail, said corrections' executive director Tom Patterson.

"Because security concerns related to this facility and its management remain presently unresolved, it is prudent

to withdraw all state inmates from the Daggett County Jail in the interest of public safety. It is our hope that concerns regarding security oversight, jail procedures and facility inadequacies will be fully addressed quickly. "

Some of the inmates were housed in a separate, stand-alone unit within the perimeter fence nicknamed "the greenhouse." Patterson said they could find no way to secure it, and Daggett County officials were agreeable to the change.

"We didn't feel like our security concerns could be addressed adequately," Patterson told the Deseret Morning News. "Our recommendations were to close that part of the jail to any inmates."

The move comes after Patterson met with Daggett County Sheriff Rick Ellsworth on Tuesday to go over concerns raised by a review of jailhouse security in the aftermath of the escape of convicted murderers Juan Diaz-Arevalo and Danny Gallegos. After seeing the results of the probe, Patterson categorized the problems at the jail as "systemic" and said the county has pledged to improve security at the jail. Some of the inmates who were moved will be housed in other county jails as space becomes available.

Corrections officials have said the problems included staff (the lone deputy on duty the night of the escape was sick), procedures and technology (an electronically controlled door was not working, allowing the inmates to escape). A

The jail remains on lockdown and the deputy on duty the day of the escape has since resigned. His name has not been released.

Diaz-Arevalo, 27, and Gallegos, 49, escaped from the jail on Sept. 23 by going through a broken door into a recreation area and eventually slipping out of the jail over a razor-wire fence. The pair then hid out in the mountains along the Utah-Wyoming border, living off of spring water and rations of food they had stuffed in their pockets.

On Saturday, the pair broke into a 79-year-old man's camper trailer about 14 miles from the jail, tied him up and stole his SUV. Retired Salt Lake police officer Bill Johnson managed to free himself and get help.

After being spotted in Green River, Wyo., the two escapees led police on a chase that ended in Rock Springs when the men jumped out of the Ford Explorer armed with guns. Gallegos was shot and remains in critical condition at University Hospital in Salt Lake City. Diaz-Arevalo was captured and waived extradition to Utah. He is now back at the Utah State Prison in Draper, authorities said.

Both men already have been charged in Manila's 8th District Court with second-degree felony escape charges. Daggett County Attorney Bryan Sidwell told the Deseret Morning News on Wednesday he likely would file more charges against Diaz-Arevalo and Gallegos but was consulting with federal prosecutors.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Utah said they were reviewing the case.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com