MACON, Ga. — Editor's Note: The video in this story is from last week's coverage on the previous jail inspection report.
A week after Macon District Attorney Anita Reynolds-Howard stated there were no written records of a Bibb County jail inspection report since 2017, the 2021 report is out.
Howard says a grand jury completed an inspection of the jail on Friday, Feb 5. The report, along with the recommendations, were filed on Feb. 10.
Here's what it says:
The grand jury asked why the Bibb County Sheriff's Office is understaffed and they recommended two solutions: to increase pay and to offer incentives.
The grand jury observed the following things while conducting their inspection:
- Exposed wires
- Floors that needed to be repaired and replaced
- Ceiling tiles that need to be replaced and possible roof repairs
- Broken windows
- Rust (they recommended changing vent covers)
- Elevators that need to be repaired and repainted
- Ceiling tiles and light covers in the kitchen that need to be replaced
- A ‘black mold-like substance’ on ceiling tiles and floor drains
The inspection came after photos began circulating on social media of inmates lying on the floor, not social distancing, and not wearing masks in the Bibb County Jail.
Sheriff David Davis later confirmed the photos were taken in one of two pods for inmates to quarantine before being able to access the rest of the Bibb County jail.
State law requires that a grand jury inspect the jail every year.
In response to Howard’s statement about there being no known written report of an inspection since 2017, former DA David Cooke, who left office last year, says those inspections were done every January he was in office, but they did not make a report if they didn't find any problems.
"The grand juries under my administration didn't see any problems so they didn't file any reports," Cooke previously told 13WMAZ.
Howard said she learned of a 2017 report only because of a previous WMAZ article describing the recommendations from the grand jury.
In the 2017 report, the jurors recommended that Bibb County demolish the current jail and build a new one.
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