SBI: Incidents At Harnett County Jail Lead To Arrest Of Three Former Officers
HARNETT COUNTY, N.C. — Three former detention officers at the Harnett County Detention Center have been arrested and charged following an investigation into allegations of excessive force against an inmate late last year.
According to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), the probe began on January 2, 2026, at the request of the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office. The investigation centered on incidents that allegedly occurred on December 27 and December 30, 2025.
Sheriff Wayne Coats said he was notified of the incident on January 2 and immediately contacted District Attorney Suzanne Matthews, requested an independent SBI investigation, and launched an internal review through the county’s Office of Professional Standards. The detention staff involved were placed on administrative leave while the investigations were conducted.
The internal review determined that three officers allegedly violated detention center policies, including those governing the use of pepper spray and the appropriate level of physical force applied to an inmate.
Following the investigation, the SBI—working in coordination with the District Attorney’s Office—filed charges against the three former officers:
- Adam Russell Isbell, 39, charged with one count of assault and battery
- Lenora Guerrant Dawson, 60, charged with one count of injury to a prisoner by a jailer
- Joseph Austin Collins, 27, charged with one count of assault and battery
All three were terminated from their positions on March 30, 2026, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Detention officers are entrusted with significant responsibility, including the care, custody, and supervision of individuals in our detention facility,” Coats said in a statement. “They are held to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and respect.”
The SBI said the investigation remains ongoing, and no additional details have been released.
(Editor’s note: A mugshot for Joseph Collins was not immediately available.)
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Good..Just because people are inmates dont mean they dont have rights or feelings. Just beating on somebody because you think you can is not right.. Its been a whole lot of cases like this and even murders and theyve been getting away with it.. Good job SBI..
Murder? name your source and specifics!
Good enough for them.. Just because soneones locked up doesnt mean u can always abuse or mistreat people ..
I feel like we are not getting the full account of the incident in this article. I do not condone excessive violence in any situation, however, I do feel like our police and peace officers are at the receiving end of some horrific violence and I personally would use whatever force was needed to get me home @l1ve to my family at the end of my work day. They all do a job that most of us would never do. However….. if it is revealed that they beat on someone defenseless that was not threatening them…… they deserve to be prosecuted. Sad really. Don’t with the “you condone violence” comments! My opinion stands regardless of the replies that are certain to come. Water off a ducks back!
Stand by your comment by sharing your name.
These folks violated policy, so that is where they got themselves in trouble. It is VERY important to understand the policies you are following and if you don’t agree with them, find another job. Otherwise, you are required to follow them and will be held accountable when you don’t.
On a slightly different topic, I would not be a detention officer even if they paid me $100K per year. Having to fight with people (with kid gloves on), let them spit on you, and throw feces on you (amongst other things), is ridiculous. Oh yeah, and you better get those detainees their iPads, clean sheets, three square meals, phone calls, college classes, and have their soap operas on TV, on time, or else.
Detention officers are grossly underpaid, minimally trained, minimally manned, and working under a constant microscope with millions of armchair quarterbacks ready to criticize them, despite the fact that these critics have never set foot in a detention center and/or walked a detention officer’s walk.
I don’t agree with them violating policy…you reap what you sew. However, these folks are asked to work miracles and oftentimes, do the impossible. I could not imagine the stress they face day after day. Lord, help them…
Agree 💯, the “treat others how you want to be treated” is valid but BOTH ways! I do not believe that they used force on someone that was being compliant and “treating people how THEY want to be treated” and so that argument falls in on itself. You couldn’t pay me any amount of money anymore to do this job! The comments that all “CO’s” abuse their power also is absolutely ridiculous and untrue, inmates have better access to help than COs! Imagine if no one decided to do this job!! Everyday they go to work to keep us safe and they are daily physically, mentally and verbally abused, spat on and had other bodily fluids thrown and them and then you want them to sing the inmates a lullaby!!? Volunteer for a few weeks and then maybe you could have a legitimate opinion. Anyone that thinks that this job is easy and that all COs are abusive are frankly ignorant to the system!
People have no idea of the environment and violent offenders they deal with on a daily basis. Yes, there are over zealous officers and people that should not be in this field but most are up against a very difficult task and most do it well. Under paid, under staffed, that’s the way it was and still is.
Maybe if prisoners were not rude and disrespectful, followed the laws, and didnt end up in jail in the first place then nobody would need to worry about excessive force or abuse. Correctional officers and law enforcement would not be using any force if people just followed the laws. They put themselves in the position and then on top of it they act like they are invincible. They provoke people intentionally thinking it will get them a payday. Law enforcement and correctional officers are human beings too. They have a fuse just like everyone else. Prisoners should realize staff have a lot of responsibilities and failures in the responsibility gets people killed. You would assume people would understand that and not add to the stress. It does not mean when things like this happen that its ok, but the fact they deal with the disrespect daily and this doesnt happen very often shows the amount of restraint these officers do have. Be a good human being and you dont ever have ro worry about it.
The idea of prisons following the law and not ending up in jail to start with is definitely a fairytale although I get the concept. A person once told me when I was trying to decide what field of work to go into that there would always be 2 fields of work that would never stop needing help. That would be because there would always be sick people and mean people so you probably guessed it the health field or law enforcement. I think people forget that not everyone that’s detained are violent and act out just like not all COs are “abusive” or whatever word you want to use to describe mistreatment to the inmates. I know man is fallible in all areas/positions so I choose to look at both sides of the coin.
The thin blue line gets thinner
yes it does
Yes some of the inmates are disrepectful and so are some of the c .o’s . As i stated earlier because youre a co does not make u any better than the offender. A lot of those co’s over use their authority because they know that the people will believe them before they believe the inmate.. I dont care who u are you have to treat people the way you want to be treated..
Mr Peedin,
You only read this for people’s perception presumably? In this day and age…… no one is able to agree to disagree politely, you want to know my personal information for what reason? How does that help you? Agree or disagree and then leave it there. Share your name if YOU choose to. There are people in this world that are far too vindictive to share your personal information with. It’s sad really! Agree or don’t! Share your thoughts and let it go because ultimately… it makes zero difference sadly. I stand by my comment regardless! I’ve read the comments and do not agree with some of them but I don’t need to know their details or have hate because they feel different to me. I’d still stop and help them change a tire….. Y’all Have a great day.