MACON, Ga. — Another $1 million is going to the Bibb County jail for updated security measures.
Macon-Bibb Commissioners approved a measure Tuesday unanimously. It's a lot of money, but Sheriff David Davis says none of it is coming from taxpayers. Instead, it's coming from the jail's commissary fund.
"Somebody wants to buy a chocolate bar, or a honey bun or something like that, then the profit that goes off of that goes into the commissary fund," Davis said.
The sheriff says that means inmates are paying for jail improvements themselves. In the last two years, they spent more than $2 million from the fund. This year, Davis thinks they'll go over budget.
"We found some more things we need to work on. The maintenance, some of the cell doors, plumbing, those kinds of things," the sheriff explained.
Davis presented the need for the money to county commissioners on Tuesday.
"We anticipate that this will be enough to carry us on through the rest of this budget year," Davis told the commission.
Some, like Commissioner Virgil Watkins, had questions about the jail's upkeep, and about previous money the county gave for those same improvements. In 2021, commissioners agreed to spend $3 million.
"The project, the, all the money has been spent. Is all of the work complete?" Watkins asked.
Davis says all the money was spent, and went toward fixing more than 300 cell locks. He says inmates found a new way to break the locks, and the additional money will go toward those fixes.
"We're having to weld those, actually weld those plates in place so that they can't be tampered with. So, that takes some time, but the cost to do that is certainly not as much," Davis said.
The sheriff's goal for the end of the year is for every cell door to lock. There are more than 700 cells in the jail.
Davis says he's still looking into what else they can put the money toward. He told commissioners he's considering extra cameras and sensors for the outer fence.