Articles

Fulton to Relocate Inmates To Ease Crisis At Jail

Michael Pearson, AJC Staff
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
March 7, 2004

Fulton County Sheriff Jackie Barrett will try to ease a "state of emergency" at the county jail by, among other things, temporarily shipping some inmates to other counties.

Barrett has scheduled a news conference Tuesday to discuss her response to problems at the jail, including an escape Friday and the unintentional release of two suspects earlier in the week.

Barrett is expected to announce that sheriffs in other counties will offer cells to temporarily house Fulton County inmates, said Barrett spokesman Lt. Clarence Huber.

Huber said Clayton and DeKalb counties have agreed to help, but Clayton officials could not confirm arrangements. Mikki Jones, a spokeswoman for DeKalb Sheriff Thomas Brown, said no official talks had been held.

Huber said Barrett believes crowding is one of the reasons for the jail's problems in the last year, during which at least eight inmates have been mistakenly released.

The jail has 2,900 inmates, 700 more than its official capacity.

Huber said one of the reasons for the rising workload was the city of Atlanta's decision to shift cases involving violations of state law to the county court system, which has meant more work for the jail since January 2003. The number of prisoners booked at the jail has increased 24 percent in that time, Huber said.

And although Barrett fired three employees and announced a "zero tolerance" policy for staff mistakes, she said in a statement Saturday that budget cuts play a large role in the jail's shortcomings.

More than 180 jobs have been cut at the jail to trim the budget in the last two years, according to the Sheriff's Department. About 665 deputies and civilian employees work at the jail.

Fulton County Commission Chairwoman Karen Handel called Barrett's funding claims a "deft political maneuver" by the elected sheriff to deflect attention from another escape.

"Every time an elected official gets in trouble for not doing their job well, they claim they don't have enough money," Handel said.

But Handel, a Republican, said the budget for Barrett, a Democrat, has grown from $74 million in 2001 to $81 million this year. "I am absolutely convinced this is not a money issue," she said.

Handel said it is up to Barrett to decide how to properly use her department's budget, including hiring new employees if necessary.

"That's what she was elected to do. If she can't do it, maybe we need to elect a new sheriff."

Barrett said the increased amount that Handel referred to went toward inmate medical care and employee health insurance, not operational costs.

Meanwhile the jail's workload increased by at least 30 percent, Barrett said.

"I hope in the future that Karen will deal with facts rather than political rhetoric," Barrett said. "Elected officials should never play politics with public safety."

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said Sunday she would be skeptical of any effort to ask the city for more money to support the county jail. City property owners already support the jail through county taxes, she said. She also noted the city lost $11 million a year in sales tax money shared among the county and its 10 cities in part because Fulton officials wanted to keep a larger share to pay for the jail and other services.

"Their argument for keeping it was that they provide countywide services," Franklin said. "You can't look at one piece of this without looking at the other pieces."

Barrett declared a "state of emergency" after Friday's escape by Ulycees Johnson, but it was unclear Sunday if that triggered any specific changes in policy at the jail. Huber said he did not know, and said Barrett would not comment until today.

Johnson, 27, became at least the fourth inmate to successfully escape in the last year after slipping away from jailers somewhere between the jail and the courthouse where he was being taken. Johnson and all of the earlier escapees were recaptured.

Among the prisoners mistakenly released was one accused of committing rape while on the loose. The two released last week were recaptured within days.

[AJC staff] Saeed Ahmed contributed to this report. Reprinted with permission from The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution. Further reproduction, retransmission or distribution of these materials without the prior written consent of The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, and any copyright holder identified in the material's copyright notice, is prohibited.