Christopher Jerry Mitchell couldn’t wait until Dec. 3 to get out of jail, according to the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.

Instead, the minimum security inmate decided to flee as he was being returned to the jail following a work detail Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

Mitchell, 33, of Carrollton was caught minutes later after failing to get through the perimeter set up by various local agencies, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

He was in jail on misdemeanor offenses of criminal trespass and violation of probation with a tentative early release date of Dec. 3, authorities said. He had been sentenced to 120 days, but was given credit for time served and his work detail efforts.

Mitchell now will face an escape charge and has been placed in maximum security, the sheriff’s office said.

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Passengers wait at a Delta check-in counter at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport domestic terminal on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, the first day of the Federal Aviation Administration cutting flight capacity at airports during the government shutdown. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com