Full Notification

(Etowah County, Alabama) An Etowah County maintenance employee has been linked to the theft of county property and helping an inmate get illegal drugs, according to Sheriff Todd Entrekin.

“Steven Urail Howard, 57, of Boaz, is charged with one count of first degree theft of property and one count of second degree promoting prison contraband,” said Sgt. Jason Argo. Both charges are felonies.

Howard confessed he assisted a county inmate obtain illegal drugs, on two separate occasions, while under his supervision. The first incident occurred about one month ago, where Suboxone was purchased in the parking lot of a local convenience store.

Marijuana was bought in the parking lot of a local dollar store when the second event took place on October 15. That same day, a county inmate took a county maintenance truck and fled while under the maintenance department’s supervision. The inmate was captured later that evening.

Howard also admitted to investigators that he took and sold an old control panel worth approximately $3,500. The property has been recovered.

He is currently being held in the Etowah County Detention Center on $7,500.
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