Incompetence or Worse at the DeKalb County Jail

My Wasted Sunday and Monday Morning Dealing with DeKalb County Georgia Jail:

Over the weekend, one of my clients was arrested for DUI and jailed in DeKalb County Georgia. DeKalb County is a major metropolitan county with almost 700,000 residents and a budget of more than a billion dollars. I happen to live in DeKalb County, and the situation at the jail is an embarrassment.

The client was held well over 30 hours, even though a bond had been set and paid. The excuse was "she was not a frequent flier," (yes the idiots at the jail used these exact words). As a result, she was held longer in custody than other people similarly situated because they had to make sure she had no other warrants. This was the excuse; however, no rational person should believe it.

There are only three possibilities as to why it takes a jail in 2015 more than 24 hours to process someone. 1: utter incompetence 2: they simply don't care. 3: both.

There are only three possibilities as to why it takes a jail in 2015 more than 24 hours to process someone. 1: utter incompetence 2: they simply don't care. 3: both.

My vote is for both. They are incompetent, stupid, and don't care. There simply is no reason that they cannot have someone run a person's criminal history in order to check for warrants. The process for running a criminal history takes about 90 seconds to complete.

It certainly appears that because the client's mother interceded and hired counsel the people at the jail put the client to the back of the line. The infants that run jail take great pleasure at tormenting visitors and those trying to help loved ones in custody. The take even more pleasure at tormenting those who have the nerve to ask questions.

The genesis of the problem is the utter lack of leadership that starts with the Sheriff himself. He must know that people are held in custody longer than necessary.   He does not care, and as a result neither does anyone who works for him.

As a citizen of DeKalb County, I have come to expect this out of the "public servants" at the jail. I am embarrassed at the total lack of caring and professionalism. Our Sheriff Jeffrey L. Mann has allowed this to go on for far too long.

Anyone can also be arrested Mr. Sheriff. People are presumed innocent in our system of justice. In your twisted world, a person who has never been in trouble before is punished more than your "frequent fliers." This is just stupid, plain and simple.

As a citizen and taxpayer in DeKalb County, I cannot even fathom how much money is being wasted at the jail. However, after dealing with your staff one thing is certain, a good portion of our tax dollars seems devoted to pure Schadenfreude.

Shame on you; shame on you sir.

Sour Grapes Indeed:  

On a side note, the client released me as her attorney, blaming the incompetence of others on me. I had no way to change things. I honestly don't blame her because from her perspective, she would naturually  think I could have done more. That being said, this blog post is sour grapes.

As a Georgia DUI Attorney, times like these are discouraging.