Final records received in Pacific County’s jail director’s investigation
Published 1:30 am Monday, March 16, 2026
SOUTH BEND — James Byrd, Pacific County Jail Services director, was cleared of all but one allegation made against him by some employees who accused him of sexism, bullying, discrimination and retaliation.
The inquiry was performed by the Pacific County General Administration (PCGA), which released the balance of investigation files on March 13 after a delay to redact some employee names at their request. Marie Guernsey, county Risk Manager/Human Resources director, investigated complaints made between Oct. 27 and Dec. 17, 2025. According to the investigation, months went by between when the alleged incidents happened and when they were reported. The investigation found multiple corrections officers talked between themselves about filing complaints.
The allegations alleged Byrd told female corrections officers to smile more, asked female corrections officers if they were comfortable working without a male on their shift, acted condescending to a corrections officer who asked him a question about booking, and made a comment to a female corrections officer about having a hot flash.
Other allegations claimed Byrd made a comment to a female corrections officer about her attitude and to maybe ‘fix her tampon string,’ made a comment about eating so much he would be fat, said he fired a woman for talking back to him, raised an issue with a transport and being rude, and a multitude of allegations about stoking fear in corrections officers.
According to the investigation report, complainants and witnesses were interviewed between Nov. 24, 2025, and Dec. 16, 2025, and asked about the allegations.
Byrd was cleared of all wrongdoing in the investigation by Guernsey, except for some allegations about inappropriate comments to female corrections officers.
“It is more likely than not that Director Byrd made inappropriate comments to female COs when he said, ‘someone’s having a hot flash’ and ‘adjust their tampon string,’” Guernsey said in her report. “This violates the inappropriate conduct policy which states that, while not rising to the level of unlawful discrimination or harassment, communicates a hostile, derogatory or negative message about persons based on protected status specifically regarding respectful communication.”
Guernsey also noted that the claims about comments to female officers were substantiated.
All other claims against Byrd, including the allegations of bullying, discrimination and retaliation, were determined to be “unfounded.”
“Director Byrd stated that none of his employees have had a conversation with him regarding any of these allegations. As for documentation, he stated he may have documented some of these instances in his journal,” Guernsey said.
Guernsey also asked several of the corrections officers about waiting so long to make complaints.
“CO Zielesch stated that the reason for filing her complaint was because of the issues provided in her complaint; however, she did not provide an explanation for waiting until November to submit her complaint,” Guernsey said in her report. “She said she had talked with the other three complainants about her statement before filing the complaint, and they indicated they were going to be filing a complaint as well.”
Other corrections officers gave similar answers. It is unclear what came of the investigation, including if there was any formal reprimand against Byrd for the substantiated claims. Any reprimand would be within Byrd’s personnel file, which is exempt from public disclosure.
PCGA Chief Administrative Officer Paul Plakinger and Guernsey declined to comment.
