Oconee County Sheriff’s Office finds dozens of pencils, tweezers inside an inmate

OCONEE COUNTY — Pencils, tweezers and hair pins were discovered inside a female inmate this week, according to the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office.

The writing utensils were captured in a snap the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office put on Facebook Thursday.

“This morning a female inmate came to us from Emmanuel County State Pen,” the sheriff’s office said. “Per policy we searched her and pulled this out of her, uhhhh birth canal.”

Seven pairs of tweezers and bobby pins were also discovered, the office added. In the comments section, the sheriff’s office explained how the objects may be used.

“Bobbie [sic] pins and tweezers can be improvised into tools to open handcuffs,” it explained.

The sheriff’s office also took time to respond to a slew of comments on the post after it gained a fair share of attention over the internet.

One person said, “I’ve worked around jails and prisons. I’ve never heard of a black market for pencils.” The sheriff’s office chimed in and responded that often the lead in pencils are used for tattoos by mixing the lead with water or spit.

“They are used for tattoos as well,” the sheriff’s office said. “Mix the lead with spit or water, and you can knock out a prison tat.”

Another Facebook user called the post “about as inappropriate a post by a public servant as I’ve seen.”

“Can’t please everyone,” the sheriff’s office said.

A different user asked about pencils being forbidden. The person said, “Are pencils contraband?”

“Yes, the jail issue pens only…they aren’t good for stabbing [sic],” the sheriff’s office answered.

A separate commenter asked about the cavity search that was performed. “Is that usually a place you search?” the person asked.

“Every time!” the sheriff’s office responded.

The post so far has been shared more than 3,000 times with more than 2,800 reactions.