Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat announced some key resignations and an effort to change the jail’s medical provider amid an investigation into the death of an inmate found covered in bed bugs.
At an executive staff meeting over the weekend, Labat accepted the resignations of Chief Jailer John Jackson, the assistant chief jailer and the assistant chief jailer of the criminal investigative division.
“It’s clear to me that it’s time, past time, to clean house,” Labat said in a release.
The three administrators had more than 65 combined years of jail administration and law enforcement experience, longevity that could lead to “complacency, stagnation and settling for the status quo,” the release said.
The sheriff’s office is reviewing legal options to change the jail’s medical provider and partner with a provider that can “effectively, consistently and compassionately deliver the best standard of care,” it said.
Fulton County Commissioners approved a $27 million renewal contract in September with Birmingham, Alabama-based NaphCare, without much discussion, after Labat asked to renew it.
A 2022 review of NaphCare service gave a grade of “good” to the quality of services provided, while customer satisfaction was graded “poor.”
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Fulton’s contract with NaphCare was renewed in December 2021 for about $1 million less. NaphCare is also the medical provider for the Gwinnett County Jail and it’s being sued for medical malpractice by the family of a 26-year-old Dacula man who died from a bleeding intestinal ulcer.
Labat’s announcement comes days after the family of Lashawn Thompson, 35, who was found covered in bed bugs after he died in jail last year, called for an investigation and a closure of the facility.
Labat said investigators with the office of professional standards and Atlanta Police Department are reviewing the circumstances that led to Thompson’s death. Once the investigation is complete, it will be turned over to the GBI for review.
“The final investigative report will not ease the family’s grief or bring their loved one back, but it is my hope and expectation that it provides a full, accurate and transparent account of the facts surrounding Mr. Thompson’s death so that it provides all of the answers they are seeking and deserve,” Labat said.
Between 2009 and October 2022, 64 people held in the Fulton jail died, the highest total for any jail in Georgia during that time, according to records gathered by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A $500,000 expenditure was approved in September, “to address the infestation of bed bugs, lice and other vermin within the Fulton County Jail,” the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office clarified Monday that incarcerated people at the Fulton County Jail have continuously been transferred to other counties since Labat took office in 2021 and transfers are ongoing. A total of 673 detainees are being housed in other municipalities at an average cost of $47,000 a day and Labat is seeking additional transfers to mitigate overcrowding.
In 2021, the sheriff’s office moved 100 detainees out of the county jail to the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, as part of an intergovernmental agreement between Labat and Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens.
In November, the Southern Center for Human Rights stated in a report that Fulton’s jail was “dangerously understaffed and overcrowded” and that it had outbreaks of lice and scabies. An ACLU analysis of Fulton County’s inmate population found the jail overcrowding crisis is mainly due to delayed indictments, unaffordable bail and underused diversion programs.
About the Author
