Both men had histories of mental illness. Parks may have overdosed on medication he stashed away in his cell, according to preliminary reports. Rafferty died from injuries he sustained when he leaped from a table and slammed into a prison cell wall.

On top of those deaths, a prisoner named Vincent Burton was found dead in his cell on Sunday morning; his cause of death remains undetermined. Last month, an unidentified inmate nearly killed himself by hanging from his bunk; fortunately, he was found in time to be revived. And last March, a convicted serial rapist named Clyde Taylor died after a fistfight with another inmate.

Some might argue that these prisoners only got what was coming to them. But that would be wrong; whatever their crimes, or alleged crimes, none of these men was sentenced to death.

They were, however, in the care and custody of Delaware County and its agents. But trying to get any answers from county officials this week was almost impossible.

Prison Superintendent George W. Hill, for whom the jail is named, was unavailable, as was prison board Chairman Charles Sexton. Members of county council and other prison board members had little to say. The GEO Group, contracted by the county to run the 1,800-inmate lockup, declined comment on any of the prison’s policies. Only prison board lawyer Robert DiOrio had anything substantive to say, and that wasn’t much.

"The prison board has nothing to determine at this time as to whether or not any of these deaths was preventable," he said. "Sometimes procedures are followed that are good procedures and valid and recognized procedures throughout the industry and nevertheless people still find a way to take their lives, unfortunately, without anyone being culpable except themselves."

Here’s a translation: The board members appointed by the county to oversee the operations of the prison don’t have any idea what’s going on out there, or whether standard rules and regulations are in place.

That’s simply not good enough -- particularly in the cases of Rafferty and Parks, who were more vulnerable than other inmates because of their mental illnesses. Why was Parks moved out of the prison’s medical unit, even after his sentencing judge ordered that he be carefully monitored? How does a prisoner "hoard" medication in his cell? What kind of medications were being given to Rafferty and was anyone watching him a day after he had to be restrained while suffering demonic delusions?

Without any better explanations from county officials, it seems that oversight is, minimally, lacking at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility. Taxpayers need to know that those being remanded to county custody are being monitored and accounted for. There’s no reason for Delaware County’s prison to become a branch office of Delaware County’s morgue.