Martin Woman Employed at Lee Arrendale Prison Facing Charges

A Martin woman is facing charges she provided prohibited items to inmates while working at Lee Arrendale State Prison.

Officer Katlyn Rochell Harwell, 26, of Martin was arrested on five criminal warrants signed by Mountain Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge B. Chan Caudell.

The first warrant charges Harwell with violation of oath of office, alleging she entered the guard lines of the prison facility between Jan. 1 and March 12 of this year while in possession of a cell phone and “an undisclosed quantity of Newport cigarettes and directly provided them to an offender in custody in exchange for money”.

Two of the warrants charge Hartwell with possession of prohibited items by a state inmate, while two others charge her with trading with an inmate without the consent of the warden.

She was booked in at the Habersham County Detention Center in Clarkesville, where she posted a total bond of $16,600 and was released on Friday, March 15.