FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — At a Wednesday county commissioners meeting, the Fulton County Board voted to deny Sheriff Pat Labat’s request to take funds out of the now-former Inmate Welfare Fund to use for payment of professional service consultants.
In one vote, Labat requested approval to increase overtime wages for Fulton County Sheriff’s Office personnel from time-and-a-half to double-time compensation.
Labat requested overtime increases due to a “difficulty in hiring and retaining employees for the Jail Unit,” writing in the request that the sheriff wanted to increase overtime to address some of those difficulties.
The vote was held, or tabled, until a future meeting.
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In another vote, Labat requested use of funds to pay various professional contracts the sheriff’s office had entered to manage certain aspects of the county jail.
The funding would have gone to specifically provide support services for individuals housed at county jail facilities, which were previously paid by money in the Inmate Welfare Fund.
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Services that were previously paid for with the funding include payment to the following companies:
- The Dharma Project, Inc. - Inmate Yoga & Mindful Class
- Full Sircle Salon 360 - Inmate Cosmetology Training
- Harvey Glenn - Inmate Management Consulting Services
- Kenneth Cunningham - Inmate Management Consulting Services
- Kevin Glass - Inmate Management Consulting Services
- Gregory L. Pollard- Head Chaplain Coordinator
- Beginning Today, Inc. - Re-entry Counseling Services
- Matthew New - Chaplain Services
- Nasif Habeeb-ullah - Inmate Mgmt Consulting Services
- Sidney Watson - Re-Entry Consultant Services
- Terre Davenport - Inmate Advocacy Consultant
- Dr. Kenneth A. Ray - Compliance Consultant
Labat had requested to redirect up to $642,580 in funds, which are now under the control of the board, to pay for contractual agreements in the previous fiscal year.
The vote was a split decision by the commissioners, with Chair Robb Pitts and commissioners Bridget Thorne, Bob Ellis, and vice chairman Khadijah Abdur-Rahman voting to deny the funding redirect.
Commissioners Marvin S. Arrington, Jr., Natalie Hall and Dana Barrett voted to allow the redirect. Having been outvoted, the request was denied.
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