DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Hundreds of DeKalb County inmates will be transferred to different jails after officials discovered part of the jail is contaminated with mold.
Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Nicole Carr learned there has never been an inmate transfer of this magnitude.
“The longer you wait to get started, the worst it can be,” DeKalb County Sheriff Jeff Mann said.
Each transfer will last around 30 days and, for security reasons, inmates and their loved ones will not be notified ahead of time.
In early March, test results revealed shower water leaks and a serious mold problem in both towers of the county jail.
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“If affects almost every floor,” Mann said.
Mann is set to ask the DeKalb County CEO and Board of Commissioners to approve $1.5 million for the unbudgeted expense.
“Taking out the shower tiles, replacing the shower walls, replacing the areas in the shower that water has crept behind and onto the floor below,” Mann said.
Then there will be mold removal.
While far more inmates will rotate within the facility, the deep cleansing also means 300 inmates will be transferred to four metro Atlanta jails: the jails in Rockdale, Fulton and Clayton counties and the Atlanta City Jail.
“Great. So everybody’s people have to drive that much farther to visit them. That’s fantastic,” visitor Melissa Picardi said.
The remaining inmates will be rotated within the facility, depending on where the cleaning takes place.
“I’d rather you go to a safer jail than to sit here and have to intake the mold,” visitor Brandi Jackson said.
Mann said he hasn’t gotten to the point of identifying which inmates will go or which facility they’ll transfer to. The transfers begin next week.
Officials estimate the work will be done by July 4.