Report: Sheriff illegally used inmate labor
SYLVANIA, Georgia (AP) -- A sheriff in eastern Georgia illegally used inmate labor for private purposes, including making repairs at his home and working on his re-election campaign, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Sheriff Mike Kile of Screven County also routinely sent inmates to work at local churches, private organizations and the homes of his deputies -- an abuse of the inmates' civil rights and a violation of state law, the Augusta Chronicle reported.
Under state law, inmates may work only on public grounds, such as roads, parks and government buildings, not on private property.
The newspaper interviewed former Screven deputies and 37 former inmates, 32 of whom said Kile ordered them to do work that would be considered an illegal use of inmate labor.
District Attorney Richard Mallard said he would look into the report.
Kile told the Chronicle it was completely "biased" but would not comment further.
Clifford Bragg, a carpenter who served one year on a DUI charge, said he frequently did maintenance work at the sheriff's one-story brick house, including pouring cement for a patio and installing a new shower.
"He can make it rough for you when you're in jail," Bragg said. "I didn't have no choice. You either do it, or he mistreats you."
Johnny Roundtree, a professional artist jailed in 2002 for DUI, recalled making dozens of plywood campaign signs while he was an inmate. Roundtree said he wasn't paid but was allowed to leave the jail occasionally in exchange for his work.
The Rev. Scott Krug of Hurst Baptist Church said it was common knowledge that churches could use inmate labor. "For there to be a return for the members of a county, for the taxes we're pumping into it, I think it's a good thing," Krug said.
Gerry Weber, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Georgia chapter, said the sheriff violated the inmates' civil rights as well as the state constitution's separation of church and state.
In some cases, the work details had dangerous consequences, the newspaper said. In June, an inmate escaped from a work detail and attacked a man with a machete. Richard Weaver, who had been responsible for inmate Harold Cannon's arrest on a probation violation, suffered three broken ribs and a punctured lung. Cannon was re-arrested two days later.
Will Barrs, who served time for burglary and theft, said he and a fellow inmate decided to escape when they realized they were unsupervised while building a church's Sunday school in May 2003. The two were later recaptured, said Barrs, who is now being held at Rogers State Prison.
In May, the Chronicle also uncovered alleged misuse of inmate labor by former Jenkins County Sheriff Bobby Womack, who later resigned amid investigations by state and federal agencies.
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