Ch. 2 Uncovers Big Money Spent On Inmate GED Classes

A Whistleblower 2 Investigation has found that the Fulton County Sheriff's Office spent nearly $90,000 on a jail education program run by the wife of a well-known state legislator.

The deal did not require competitive bidding. At the time, the chief jailer said he was told, “It was political.”

Channel 2 Action News investigative reporter Richard Belcher said the jail already had a similar program that cost virtually nothing. The program was aimed at getting jail inmates to pass a high school equivalency exam, the GED test, in a system where the average inmate has an eighth-grade education, records show.

Recently, 17 inmates received their GEDs at a cost of $87,920. The money was taken from a fund generated by inmate phone calls and snack sales. That’s $5,172 for every graduate.

“It shows that I'm still productive, no matter my circumstances,” said one inmate. “When I came to jail, I had no idea that something like this even existed.”

But fewer than two dozen passed the GED test -- despite the presence of that expensive outside firm whose price was so high that the Sheriff's Office eventually decided to look elsewhere. The question is -- who thought this was a good idea in the first place?

Charles Felton, the man who once ran the jail, said it was a politically inspired waste of money.

Belcher: Do you see any justification for this increased expenditure?

Felton: No.

Felton was chief jailer last fall when he said he noticed a proposal to spend $340,000 from the Inmate Welfare Fund to hire a group called the Dunbar Foundation to provide GED services. He questioned one of his major officers.

“I wanted to know what was going on, and I was quite livid about it, and he said, matter-of-factly, ‘This is political.’ And then I got the message,” said Felton.

The Dunbar Foundation is run by Mary Dunbar Brooks, the wife of state representative Tyrone Brooks. On the phone, Dunbar told Belcher that she wouldn't want to say anything until she talked to Major Stanley Crawford -- the same official who was pushing the idea with then chief jailer Felton.

Dennis Nelson took over as chief jailer in February -- three months after the no-bid pilot program had been given to Dunbar's group. Belcher questioned Nelson about the political connection.

Belcher: Did you know that?

Nelson: I had no idea...the sheriff, the chief deputy … nobody had any idea of this.

Belcher: So if a former chief jailer, Mr. Felton, says he was told it was politics, that didn't reach the highest levels out here?

Nelson: Not according to what I'm told.

The current chief told Belcher that the Dunbar Foundation did good work.

A spokeswoman for the sheriff told Belcher that the foundation performed extremely helpful educational screenings to determine the aptitude of hundreds of inmates.

Nonetheless, the jail ended the deal with Dunbar.

Belcher: Why wasn't it renewed?

Nelson: Because we wanted to look at opening this up to different organizations, to see if we can get a more competitive price.

Belcher: Do you think the price that Dunbar charged was too high?

Nelson: I think it was a little excessive.

Felton said the jail already had a GED program run at no extra cost before the contract with the Dunbar Foundation was implemented.

“There was not a need for this program,” said Felton.

After a one-time phone conversation, Belcher was unable to reach Dunbar Brooks, and she never responded to Channel 2’s request for an interview.

Nelson didn't criticize Dunbar's work. He told Belcher that he's looking for savings anywhere he can find them.

And Felton doesn't dispute the need for literacy and GED programs for inmates. But this one, he says, was a waste of money.