Sheriff's Response to Athens Banner Herald article on 2/06/08

ABH QUESTIONS TO THE SHERIFF

SHERIFF'S RESPONSE TO ABH QUESTIONS IN REGARD TO THE ARTICLE THAT HAS BEEN PUBLISHED ON LINE AND WILL BE PUBLISHED IN TOMORROW’S PAPER

Hello Joe,

Thank you for your inquiry as I attempt to respond to your questions. It appears that you have already written your story before hearing my side of the story. But for the record here is my response to your questions.

Response to question 1: Chief Rape was correct in that his office was contacted on last night to inquire further about the charges that they had on Mr. Thomas which is proper protocol in an efforts to see what is the next step. For example, is there a bond or is there not a bond? In many cases if there is a bond they are usually able to bond out of jail which we welcome in an effort to keep our jail population down saving the tax payers money.

Response to question 2: It was agreed upon by the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office and the Houston County Sheriff's Office that Mr. Thomas was to report to their office the next day to turn himself in saving them a trip to Clarke County and saving our tax payers money as we continue to address the overcrowded jail issue.

Response to question 3. I can assure you that we are committed in trying to expedite all inmates that come through our jail. We are grateful that Houston County Sheriff's Office was kind enough to see the importance of keeping our jail population down and chose to release the hold and have Mr. Thomas to report to their office the next morning in which he did as it was confirmed by our Office. As you know our overcrowded jail is an issue and I am committed in finding proactive ways to keep our jail count down to a safe and manageable level.

Response to question 4: Secondly it is not uncommon for Sheriff's Offices to agree to have an individual to report to their office instead of having them arrested saving them time and money. For example, we send letters on some of our current warrants asking individuals to report to the Clarke County Jail as a courtesy before we are forced to have to pick them up. So to answer your question it is not uncommon. This is a common courtesy practice among the most Georgia Sheriffs. As in this case, there was an agreement to release Mr. Thomas and have him to report to the Houston County Sheriff's Office saving both tax payers of both county some money.

In this particular case, the Houston County Sheriff's Office agreed to release the hold before Mr. Thomas was release. Once approved, I was notified by a sheriff's personnel that the hold had been removed and that Houston County Sheriff's Office would be sending confirmation to release Mr. Thomas and allow him to report the next morning to their jail. Upon the Houston County Sheriff's agreement, I was notified by my jail personnel that Houston County had removed the hold and wanted Mr. Thomas to report to their jail the next morning. I agreed and Mr. Thomas was released, which resulted in one less individual being incarcerated our over crowded jail.

I hope that this clears up any misconception of my actions.

Sheriff

To read " Clarke sheriff allegedly orders brother-in-law released from jail with no bond" By Joe Johnson (Athens Banner Herald Article) click this link.

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