The Fulton County Jail continues to be mismanaged and in violation of a court order to improve conditions that was agreed to 2 1/2 years ago, according to a report by a court-appointed monitor.

Calvin Lightfoot described in a lengthy quarterly report Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman's broken promises to comply with the negotiated settlement of a federal lawsuit.

The report, filed with the federal court Tuesday, said though Freeman has hired more than 150 new detention officers, cellblocks frequently are still understaffed.

Lightfoot wrote there are numerous instances when many more staff are assigned to work cellblocks but at other times, sometimes on the same day, there are not enough, and officers are paid overtime to fill in. In April alone, poor staff scheduling unnecessarily cost the jail almost $112,000.

U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Shoob was not in his office Wednesday, but his staff said the judge will decide soon what to do about his monitor's findings.

"The judge is not happy," said Lightfoot, who discussed his report with Shoob.

Freeman said through a spokeswoman that Lightfoot had brought his "concerns ... to my attention. This is a top priority, and we will work together expeditiously to handle the issues and attain full compliance."

Attorney Stephen Bright, who brought the lawsuit on behalf of inmates, said the report suggests "there has been some backsliding in some of the most critical areas" despite progress the jail had made earlier.

The 2004 suit complained the jail was crowded, dirty and dangerous. The resulting consent order, signed Feb. 1, 2006, detailed what the Sheriff's Office had to do.

Lightfoot, the second monitor in this case, said his most recent findings are identical to those in two previous reports. "It's the same thing all the time," he said.

But unlike the other reports, the latest one referred to an ongoing federal investigation into an inmate's death.

Lightfoot noted that jail officials still have not turned over to the FBI requested reports, statements, medical records and videotapes concerning 42-year-old Richard Glasco's death in March. One specific obstacle has been that the jail's cameras often don't work properly.

Freeman said his agency is "cooperating fully with the FBI."

The FBI declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Lightfoot reported, the jail continues to hold too many inmates, takes too long to release them, inadequately staffs cellblocks and assigns untrained, uncertified and unsupervised new officers to watch inmates.

Freeman insisted that the jail is not crowded and that other jails holding Fulton inmates contributed to release delays. As for staffing, the sheriff said he was continuing to hire new officers and train those already on the job. He did not address the criticism of the deployment of jail staff.

Lightfoot said Freeman seems to be "overwhelmed" by the demands of the jail. "But if you look at the court order and you follow the court order, you can operate the jail," the monitor said.