A grand jury saw Macon’s jail issues firsthand. Here are the fixes they suggest
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Grand jury inspection cited overcrowding, sanitation, and safety failures at Macon jail.
- Jurors recommended annex construction, staff hiring, and infirmary expansion.
- Mayor plans jail reforms, including releases and architectural expansion.
Grand jurors for the Bibb County Superior Court inspected the Bibb County Jail last month and released suggested fixes to a myriad of problems Wednesday.
The grand jury said in court records released Wednesday that some of the conditions inside the facility were “disgusting and inhumane.” The local NAACP has raised similar concerns. Bibb County Sheriff David Davis has acknowledged the issues and says more money and resources — or a new jail — would be needed to fix the ongoing problems. Concerns about conditions have worsened as major safety incidents have occurred in the facility, including overdoses, assaults and a fatal altercation.
The grand jurors chosen to look at the jail completed their annual inspection on May 27. They found issues in multiple places and suggested changes that should be expedited and prioritized as much as possible, “for the purpose of providing a more humane and safe environment,” according to court documents.
Bad lighting, pools of liquids, overpopulation
The grand jury observed issues in block B200, block C200, the west control room, all of the J and K blocks, and the infirmary. The jail has blocks in a lettered series that run A through K, with multiple blocks in each letter.
The jurors noticed “drainage issues and a need for drain covers on the floor once the issues are fixed” in B200, according to court documents. They also noticed pools of “unknown liquid substances” on the ground. There were cleaning supplies left in the open and unattended, the controls of the doors were outdated and there was inadequate lighting throughout the cell block, according to the jurors. They claimed B200 to be in poor condition and overpopulated.
As for block C200, they called the conditions inside “disgusting and inhumane,” according to court documents.
“The locks on the cell doors need to be repaired,” jurors said in court records. “The block was overpopulated. A number of inmates do not have mats and blankets.”
In the west control room, the jurors found that the windows were broken and the lighting of the cell block was inadequate, “making it difficult to see the inmates from the control room,” according to court records. The issues in the control room cause safety concerns, according to the jurors.
The J and K blocks were also overcrowded. Jurors noticed numerous mats and cots in the common area. The stairway to the J and K blocks was loose, making it unsafe to use, according to the grand jury.
When it came to the infirmary, the grand jury said additional space was needed to treat the inmates adequately and efficiently. A safety glass on the door of an inmate’s cell within the infirmary was shattered as well, according to the jurors.
“Overall, clearly there is a sanitation issue in the infirmary, as evidenced by the lingering smell of urine,” the jurors said in the court document.
How jurors think the Bibb County Jail can be fixed
The jurors recommended:
- A new annex to replace the older portion of the jail
- More recruitment for additional staffing
- Additional space for medical treatment in the infirmary
- Additional money and equipment needed for maintenance
- Additional exposure to daylight for all inmates to promote their mental health
“The Grand Jury posed the question of, ‘can part of the women’s annex be used to accommodate the overflow from the men’s annex?’” The jurors asked in the court document.
The grand jury thanked many of the officials within the court system for their assistance to the jurors, which included the sheriff and Col. Chris Patterson “for their transparency during the Grand Jury’s inspection of the jail,” according to court documents.
Mayor shares initiatives to address issues at jail
Macon-Bibb County Mayor Lester Miller announced Tuesday that efforts to resolve the overcrowding, maintenance and unsafe issues at the jail would begin soon. Miller said up to 150 people incarcerated at the jail will be released with an ankle monitor, as long as they fit certain criteria, to reduce overcrowding.
These 150 people will need to be jailed on a low bond, face a nonviolent offense and work or treat mental health issues they may have, among other things, Miller said.
Davis and Miller also said they began searching for architectural design proposals to expand the current jail.
