Fulton County's chief jailer fired
Fulton County is looking for someone to run its jail. Again.
Dennis Nelson, the county's fifth chief jailer in less than two years, was fired Thursday night, according to a spokeswoman for the sheriff.
Spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan declined Friday to give a specific reason for Nelson's firing. “It was an internal personnel issue. He’s no longer with the agency,” Flanagan said.
Lt. Col. Stanley Crawford will oversee the day-to-day operations at the jail until a replacement is found.
Attempts to reach Nelson Friday were not successful.
The jail has been under a federal court’s orders concerning conditions and operations at the facility for almost five years. A lawsuit filed in 2004 claimed the jail was dirty, dangerous, understaffed and crowded. Many of the problems have been corrected but a few remain, according to quarterly reports filed by an expert for the federal judge over the case.
In the course of the lawsuit, six different people have held the job since the lawsuit was filed; one of them twice.
Rowland Lane was chief jailer under then-Sheriff Jackie Barrett when the federal suit was filed. He stayed in the job into the next administration, Sheriff Myron Freeman’s.He was replaced by Charles Felton in June 2006 because of adverse reports on the progress the jail was making to meet the court order.
A month after Felton took over, Freeman brought in consultant John Gibson, giving him authority over Felton, and they fought. The animosity became so intense that Felton quit in December 2006.
Gibson was then hired to fill the job of chief jailer. Gibson, however, resigned “under duress” in June 2007 on the same day an angry U.S. District Judge Marvin Shoob called the sheriff to a hearing to answer reports that he was putting out misleading and false information so Shoob would think jail conditions were improving.
Edward McNeil was the next man in the job. He Jackson fired him effective the last day of Freeman’s term, Dec. 31, 2009.
The current sheriff, Ted Jackson, hired Riley Taylor to run the jail. Taylor was a veteran with the sheriff’s office but he had retired. Taylor resigned seven months later, in July 2009, because his re-employment with Fulton County was hurting his retirement benefits.
And Felton was brought back.
But Jackson fired him at the end of last year, saying only that the change was "necessary, and it will be a positive move to keep the Fulton County Jail moving in the right direction." Felton said he was fired because he and the court’s expert monitoring the jail constantly disagreed ,and Jackson chose to back the monitor, Calvin Lightfoot.
Nelson, formerly with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s office, came to the job on Feb. 8.
Jackson said in an announcement of Nelson's hiring that his “appointment comes after an extensive search for the right candidate to run the Fulton County Jail. He has received numerous accolades in the field of law enforcement during his career which spans 30 years. His experience is a valuable asset for our command staff as we continue to focus on achieving our goals and the important work that must be done at the Fulton County Jail.”
