Three Richland County Jail corrections officers who were fired for mistreating an inmate have been reinstated.

Artibrators ruled following three separate hearings that Sergeant Kristin Gillis, Dwight Hicks, and Huey Smith should get their jobs back.

They were among six corrections officers fired over an incident in January of 2011 in which 17-year-old inmate

Kenneth Puckett was left in an open garage in extreme cold temperatures for two-and-a-half hours.

Gillis, Hicks, and Smith were fired the following August.

Smith was awarded his job back last July, with Hicks being reinstated three weeks ago, and Gillis returning to work last week.

Criminal charges against Gillis and three other corrections officers were eventually dismissed.

Puckett is serving an eleven-year prison sentence for felonious assault and aggravated burglary convictions stemming from a shooting.

He and his mother received a $325,000 dollar settlement from the county.