Inmates break locks at Fulton jail because there's lack of supervision, officials say

The day after a contractor repaired 11 cell doors in the Fulton County jail, seven of them had been damaged again and inmates told the contractor they would keep breaking them, the county’s director of facilities told the county sheriff’s office two weeks ago.

Joseph N. Davis, director of the county’s Department of Real Estate and Asset Management, known as DREAM, also wrote in his email that only one sheriff’s office employee was “on the floor” in the section of the jail where the contractor fixed the 11 doors on May 20.

“The contractor advised that upon their arrival yesterday, all cell doors were open allowing residents free access to the locking mechanisms, hinges, etc.,” Davis wrote on May 22. “Contractor indicated that this is typical wherever they are assigned to work on doors.”