2 Houston County sheriff’s deputies charged in connection to jail contraband. Here’s more.

Two Houston County sheriff’s deputies who worked in the jail have been arrested on charges related to bringing contraband into the facility.

Laura Sheriff, 33, and Michael A. Harris, 23, were each charged Tuesday afternoon with violation of oath by a public officer and violation of a state law on jail contraband, according to a sheriff’s office news release.

Both charges are felonies.

The arrests follow an internal investigation after an anonymous letter said that a Houston County jail inmate was receiving marijuana, personal hygiene products and other contraband.

“The investigation revealed that Laura Sheriff and Michael Harris both took steps to obtain contraband from an outside source,” the release said. “Items were then smuggled into the Houston County Detention Center where it was delivered to at least one inmate.”

The letter was first sent to the Houston County District Attorney’s Office, then forward to Houston County sheriff’s Maj. Alan Everidge, who is over the jail. Everidge requested an investigation by the sheriff’s office’s criminal investigation division that was authorized by Sheriff Cullen Talton.

As to whether the allegation that marijuana was given to a jail inmate by the deputies, Everidge said material found inside a bottle smuggled into the jail is being tested at a GBI crime lab.

The suspected marijuana was allegedly smuggled inside a personal hygiene container, said Houston County sheriff’s Capt. Jon Holland, head of investigations. He declined to elaborate.

At least two separate incidents of contraband being allegedly smuggled into the jail by the deputies occurred between September of last year and January of this year, Everidge said. The contraband was allegedly smuggled to the same inmate in both cases, he said.

No other jail employees were implicated, he said.

The investigation, launched Jan. 27, is on-going.

“We’re just making sure we do a thorough investigation — making sure we don’t have any other issues,” Holland said. “But right now, we feel like we have identified the problem and have dealt with it appropriately.”

Harris has been employed at the sheriff’s office since June 2017 and Sheriff since January 2019, Everidge said.

“These two employees gave a black eye to this facility and to the sheriff’s office and to law enforcement as a whole,” Everidge said. “We believe that we have a good staff, and unfortunately, we had some people who made poor choices and they are going to pay the consequences of those choices.

“We’re not going to tolerate these kind of actions here in Houston County,” he said.

The termination process at the sheriff’s office, which includes a right to appeal, has been initiated against both Harris and Sheriff, Everidge said.

The Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, which certifies law enforcement officers in the state, also will be notified, Everidge said.

A person cannot be convicted of a felony and serve as a law enforcement officer in Georgia, Everidge said.

Steps are in place at the jail to address contraband from training, including teaching jail employees how not be manipulated by jail inmates, to a self-report system for employees to report any suspected illegal activity, Everidge said.

Random searches are also done throughout the facility for illegal substances and other contraband, he said.

“We do everything we can,” Everidge said.

Anyone with related information is asked to contact Houston County sheriff’s Sgt. Pittard Chapman at 478-542-2080, or 478-542-2085.

This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 8:38 AM.