FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO):  Four local candidates, including two sheriff hopefuls, participated in a panel discussion Sunday about the Allen County Jail.

According to The Journal Gazette, the group “Justice, Accountability and Victims Advocacy” better known as JAVA invited the seven-member Allen County Council, the three-member Allen County Board of Commissioners, the sheriff and candidates for those offices to participate. The event was a follow-up to a March forum in which people described their or their loved ones’ mistreatment at the jail. Panelists included three Democrats running unopposed in the May 3 primary: Curtis Nash, County Council District 2; Jorge Fernandez, County Commissioner District 3; and Kevin Hunter, sheriff. The fourth participant was Mitch McKinney, who is seeking the Republican nomination for sheriff against Troy Hershberger. In a letter declining JAVA’s invitation, Allen County commissioners Richard Beck, Therese Brown and Nelson Peters said treatment of jail inmates is outside their authority.