Six employees at the Hall County Jail have resigned and two others have been suspended after an investigation found numerous policy violations on the jail’s night shift, Sheriff Gerald Couch announced in a news release Tuesday.
The investigation found sexual misconduct between employees, conduct unbecoming officers, unsatisfactory performance of duty and failure to supervise. No details were provided about specific incidents, but Couch said the conduct was not criminal and it did not involve inmates at the jail.
“The vast majority of the deputies, jailers and civilian professionals who serve in our jail work extremely hard to maintain a safe and professional environment,” Couch said. “While those employees are clearly devoted to professionalism and duty, unfortunately this small group of employees was not.”
Deputy Randall Norton, jailer Dani Colella and jailer Christopher Smith all resigned during a pre-termination hearing, the news released said. Sgt. Andrew Ondo and jailer Alexis Mitchell resigned while under investigation. Lt. Ken Nix retired.
Additionally, Deputy Daniel Harris was suspended for five days and jailer Kingston Morris was suspended for two days.
“I cannot and will not tolerate this type of behavior by our personnel,” Couch said. “I demand exemplary conduct from my employees, to include adherence to the law and our department policy. I don’t want the actions of a very few to reflect poorly on the dedicated employees who continually do an excellent job and put themselves in harm’s way on a daily basis.”
