Wednesday, January 7, 2004
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Wednesday, January 7, 2004 |
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New judge appointed to jail suit By JOHN MUNFORD As expected, an out-of-county judge will rule over the lawsuit between the Fayette County Commission and Sheriff Randall Johnson over the housing of prisoners arrested by the county-commission-supervised marshal’s department. All four of Fayette’s Superior Court judges have recused themselves from the suit filed by the county, which alleges Johnson is improperly turning away prisoners arrested by the Fayette County Marshal’s Department, which is under supervision of the commissioners. Chief Judge Paschal A. English Jr. and Judges Johnnie L. Caldwell Jr., Christopher C. Edwards and Tommy R. Hankinson signed a joint recusal order dated Dec. 30. Senior Superior Court Judge William Isom has agreed to hear the case, with a hearing slated for Tuesday, Jan. 20. Isom is the former chief judge of the neighboring Clayton Judicial Circuit. The commission is petitioning the court for a temporary injunction and permanent order to force Johnson to accept prisoners arrested by marshals. The county is also seeking a mandamus, which orders a public agency or government body to perform an act required by law which it has previously neglected or refused to do. Johnson, who operates the jail as part of the sheriff’s department, contends the marshal’s office is not a legal law enforcement agency and accepting prisoners into the jail whom are arrested by marshals could expose himself and the county to a “tremendous liability.” County officials argue that the marshal’s office is a full-fledged law enforcement agency. The marshals, who are state-certified police officers, patrol county-owned property for security purposes but occasionally they make traffic stops if they witness a violation that could indicate a motorist is endangering others, officials have said. Johnson contends the marshal’s office cannot operate as a county police department because the county did not seek voter approval through a referendum required by Georgia law. County officials contend that the marshal’s department became a law enforcement agency before that law went into effect. In August, Sheriff Johnson warned the commission that he would no longer accept prisoners from the marshal’s office at the jail based on the liability concerns. Since then, the jail accepted two prisoners from the marshal’s office, but both of those were on charges from other law enforcement agencies. A marshal brought a prisoner to the jail Dec. 21 on DUI and other traffic charges, but that prisoner was refused by jail officials. According to the suit, the only reason a prisoner arrested on an indictable offense can be denied housing by a jailer is if the prisoner “has not received medical treatment for obvious physical injuries or conditions of an emergency nature.” Failure to accept a prisoner when warranted could lead to a misdemeanor charge with a fine of up to $1,000, the suit indicated.
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