Commissioner, Chief Deputy Clash Over Scope of New Jail

A disagreement over the scope of the construction of the new Douglas County jail dominated the discussion regarding an update on the project’s progress during the Board of Commissioners’ work session on Monday.

At today's meeting, the board is expected to approve four change orders—a transfer of funds and three credits.

Chief Deputy Stan Copeland with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that, because bids came in lower than anticipated, the department wants the board to approve a change order transferring money so contractors can put in two-person cells on two floors that were planned for four-person cells. The two-person cells were part of the scope of the project originally approved by the board, Copeland said.

Copeland referred to the four change orders as “add backs," with which Commissioner Kelly Robinson said he took “fundamental challenge," comparing it to him finding gifts on his son’s wish list on sale and using that opportunity to purchase more than originally planned.

“If we continue with this kind of practice, there won’t be any savings,” Robinson said. “That jail is sufficient.”

Robinson said that the sheriff’s office can’t keep adding to the scope.

“We have to be very careful,” he said. “We can’t make our practices consumed by what we want. It’s what the county needs. It’s about the county. It’s about the tax payers. We don’t need a Bentley jail, I’m sorry. It’s efficient with what it is. It’s functional.”

However, Copeland said that the scope hasn’t changed from what the board originally approved, which includes 1,500 two-person cells, high efficiency coolers and a firing range.

“We haven’t added anything,” Copeland said. “We just put back the original scope that we deleted that we thought was necessary in order to meet the budget approved by the BOC. There is no wish list or add back in what you’re approving. What you’re approving is part of the original scope that the board approved as part of the original $101 million budget.”

Robinson told Copeland “not to put words into what I said.”

“Our function here is monetary policy,” Robinson said. “I don’t care what you designed. We have a dollar. That’s all we’ve got. That’s the overriding factor here. Within that dollar, that’s our scope.”

Changing back to two-person cells isn’t putting in extras, Commission Chairman Tom Worthan said.

“I see that as security for our jailers who have to deal with these inmates on a day-to-day basis,” he said.

Another issue Robinson raised was the fact that no one sought him out to explain the change back to the original scope.

“You want my signoff. I don’t need yours,” Robinson said. “If you want my approval, you need to come see me. My office is right down that hall. I’m accessible. I voiced what my concerns are. Maybe I’m missing something here. You want my approval, but you haven’t taken the courtesy to come and sit down and talk with me about what my concerns are?”

But Worthan told Robinson that the commissioners were asked if they had any questions in previous meetings and, if he had any concerns, he should have gone to Copeland or Sheriff Phil Miller.

“Stan even stayed later after he finished to meet with anyone who had any questions,” Worthan said. “We’re getting more information as a board of commissioners than probably any commission in state of Georgia as far as the process we’re going through in building this detention center.”

The new jail will have 1,500 beds, up from its current capacity of roughly 450 inmates. While it’s not designed to be able to build up, there is the capability of putting in an additional housing tower. The project has a construction cost of $101 million.