2 officers disciplined for strip searches

RICHFIELD — Disciplinary action has been taken against a pair of corrections officers accused of inappropriately strip searching a pair of female inmates.

Utah Department of Corrections director Tom Patterson would say only that action has been taken against the officers but declined to be more specific. He said the issues with the officers were being dealt with through "training and notification."

"We felt like there was things that were done incorrectly," he said Monday.

In October, two male officers were transporting two female inmates from the Sevier County Jail in Richfield to a parole hearing in St. George when the inmates complained that they had been improperly searched. Corrections policy does allow for opposite-sex searches under certain circumstances.