Bibb County Sheriff David Davis said he will cooperate with the U.S. Department of Justice if Attorney General Pam Bondi pursues a federal investigation into the Bibb County Jail.
A Macon criminal prosecutor and the Georgia NAACP also expressed support for a federal investigation into the jail, after U.S. senators from Georgia reported the facility’s unsafe and unsanitary conditions to the DOJ on Thursday. The sheriff’s office oversees the jail.
“I am aware that Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate conditions at the Bibb County Jail,” Davis told The Telegraph in an email. “Members of the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and I look forward to working with the Department of Justice on this investigation if and when the Attorney General grants this request.”
U.S. Sens. Ossoff and Warnock, both Democrats, asked Bondi and the Department of Justice to investigate whether the civil rights of inmates and workers have been abused at the jail, according to a letter sent to Bondi on Thursday. The letter was shared with The Telegraph by Warnock’s office.
The DOJ received the letter but declined to comment further, Natalie Baldassarre, senior media affairs manager of the DOJ, said in an email.
Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney Anita Howard said she wants the jail to be held accountable for people’s safety.
“As a member of this community, I support ongoing jail reform efforts while ensuring that accountability and public safety remain our top priorities,” Howard told The Telegraph in a statement Thursday evening.
She’s part of the Macon Justice and Wellness Task Force, which is charged with tracking and recommending programs to improve the Bibb County Jail. She also leads Restoring Inspiration by Success in Education, which helps local youth affected by violence, trauma or crime.
Macon NAACP President Gwenette Westbrooks tours the facility once a month. In recent visits, detainees were living in “inhumane” conditions, with no electricity in some areas, liquids on the floor and inmates sleeping outside of cells because it was overpopulated, Westbrooks said.
Some toilets, sinks and showers did not work during Westbrooks’ recent tour on July 9, she said.
During her tours, she walks through cell blocks to inspect conditions. Some inmates have told her they “feel like (others) will retaliate” if they expose their living conditions, Westbooks said.
NAACP Georgia President Gerald Griggs said the lives of those inside are at stake due to an increase of violent incidents.
“It looks like something out of ‘(The) Shawshank Redemption,’” Griggs said. “… The Macon-Bibb County detention facility is the worst I’ve seen in the state.”
In the letter to the DOJ, Ossoff and Warnock mentioned recent attempts by the NAACP, protesters and local officials to advocate for those inside the detention facility, such as detainees who recently died or were injured there.
Griggs and Westbrooks hope the letter will encourage Macon-Bibb County Mayor Lester Miller to take immediate action to improve the jail.
Miller and Sheriff Davis have created initiatives to keep those in the facility safe, and have acknowledged they want upgrades to the jail, but Griggs said the efforts were not enough.
“The sheriff is trying his best with the resources he has, but. … we believe that things need to be done immediately,” Griggs said.
Since the senators’ letter was sent, the DOJ has the option to open a civil rights investigation into the jail.
The letter cited local news articles regarding violence, deaths and protests at the jail.
“Without (the news coverage), this would have been swept under the rug,” Griggs said.
Mayor Miller, Gov. Brian Kemp and Gwenette Westbrooks, president of the NAACP Macon Chapter, did not immediately respond to The Telegraph’s requests for comment.
This story may be updated as more information becomes available. This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Macon Telegraph.
