A federal judge is furious with Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman, whose incompetence continues to drag down efforts to improve the county jail. In a harshly worded order last week, U.S. District Judge Marvin Shoob ordered Freeman to appear in court to explain his many failings and practically called the sheriff a liar.

In response to an editorial on these pages endorsing one of Freeman's rivals in Tuesday's Democratic primary, the sheriff wrote a letter, published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week, claiming his handling of the jail has improved significantly. He also disagreed with the editorial's contention that accused murderer Brian Nichols was moved to the DeKalb County jail because Freeman couldn't keep him under control.

"[Nichols] was moved to another facility ... to accommodate construction crews during the major $55 million renovation project in progress at the jail," Freeman wrote.

Shoob was having none of it. "This is not true, and the sheriff knows it. In fact, the court was personally asked by the Fulton County district attorney to remove Nichols from the Fulton County jail because it had been discovered that Nichols had managed to obtain a cellphone and was plotting an escape," the judge wrote.

Let's face it: The county jail will not improve significantly until Freeman is removed from office. He is simply incapable of making the changes needed. The latest monitor appointed by Shoob, Calvin Lightfoot, wrote in a recent report that Freeman seems to be "overwhelmed" by the jail's problems.

Fulton County voters have an easy-to-use tool at their disposal to begin to turn things around: Fire Freeman and put someone else in his place. Two of his challengers have superior law enforcement credentials, including former East Point Police Chief Frank Brown. But retired FBI agent Ted Jackson, who once ran the Atlanta FBI office, has a slight edge: He served as interim sheriff for five months, when former Fulton Sheriff Jackie Barrett stepped aside in a financial controversy.

Fulton voters should vote for Jackson and send Freeman packing.

—- Cynthia Tucker, for the editorial board (cynthia@ajc.com)