Perry County correctional officer fired after contraband arrest at Branchville

A Perry County correctional officer was fired after her arrest in a case that cut straight to jail security at Branchville Correctional Facility, where investigators say Savannah Linne tried to bring contraband into the prison.

Officials with Branchville Correctional Facility terminated Linne’s position on April 23, the same day booking records show she was arrested. Court records cited by local reporting show she is charged with two counts of official misconduct and one count of trafficking with an inmate. Booking records list her bond at $3,605.

The case matters well beyond one employee because Branchville is a major state prison in Perry County. The Indiana Department of Correction describes the facility as a medium-security men’s prison that opened in 1982 and holds more than 1,400 incarcerated people. In a place that size, security depends on careful screening of staff, tight control of movement and disciplined supervision inside the chain of command. An allegation that a correctional officer attempted to smuggle prohibited items into the jail raises immediate questions about how well those safeguards are working.

Branchville also carries a community role beyond confinement. The Department of Correction says the prison has a community advisory board meant to connect the facility with local stakeholders, improve communication and support workforce recruitment and community awareness. That local interface gives Perry County residents a direct stake in how the prison is run, especially when a staff arrest becomes a public trust issue.

Indiana law specifically criminalizes trafficking with an inmate and carrying contraband into a correctional facility, underscoring how seriously the state treats alleged breaches of prison security. Linne’s charges place her case within that legal framework and make the arrest more than an internal employment matter. It is now part of the broader public record on how Branchville polices its own staff.

The episode also echoes an earlier Branchville scandal. In December 2019, another custody officer, Marrisa Swimm, was arrested after an investigation that began months earlier, and she faced official misconduct and trafficking-with-an-inmate accusations. The repeated appearance of contraband allegations inside the same facility will likely sharpen scrutiny of supervision, screening and internal oversight at Branchville as county officials and state prison administrators work to prevent another breach.