Inside the Clayton County Jail: Sheriff Allen gives FOX 5 a tour of 'deteriorating' facility
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - Clayton County Sheriff Levon Allen opened the doors to his jail on Saturday, giving members of the community, and FOX 5 Atlanta, an inside look at the facility.
The tour comes less than two months after an inmate, who was sleeping on the floor of an at-capacity cell, allegedly killed a fellow inmate while in custody.
Sheriff Allen credits many of the jail's problems during his 14-month tenure to years of neglected upgrades.
Inside look at Clayton County Jail
"There's a leak in pretty much all the towers, and the water is leaking, and it's having mold and mildew," Allen told FOX 5. "My goal is to make sure that we get what we need to move forward, to get things fixed and not do the Band-Aid approach."
Allen showed onlookers the facilities' deteriorating conditions, including roof issues and lock problems. He didn't hold back on the issue of overcrowding either.
"Our jail holds 1535 inmates in the housing units comfortably with one inmate to a bed. We're currently at about 1900 inmates, so I've got 400 to 500 inmates that are sleeping on the floor."
The sheriff told FOX 5 he is working to expand the jail's capacity, and is looking to add specially designed trailers to offer more bed space. But, he said it comes at a cost.
Allen estimated the trailers and other upgrades he wants to make would cost about $20 million. So far, only $3 million of the work has been completed, and the inmates are feeling it.
Clayton County inmate attacked, killed in overcrowded jail cell
In January, FOX 5 reported on the brutal beating of 27-year-old Johnathan Pettigrew. His family told FOX 5 he was killed by an inmate that had been moved into the cell Pettigrew already shared with another inmate due to overcrowding. There were only two beds.
Sheriff Allen told FOX 5 his main priority is safety.
"Everything I ask for, I ask for it for the lives of the inmates, of the lives of the employees," said Sheriff Allen.
FOX 5 Atlanta reached out to the Clayton County Commission for comment about the jail upgrades and funding. So far, we have not heard back.