Report: Screven County sheriff illegally used inmate labor

<p>The Screven County sheriff illegally used inmate labor for private interests, including doing repairs at his own home and working for his re-election campaign, a newspaper reported.</p><p>Sheriff Mike Kile routinely sent inmates to work at local churches, private organizations and the homes of his deputies _ an abuse of the inmates' civil rights and a violation of state law, the Augusta Chronicle reported in its Sunday edition.</p><p>Under state law, inmates may work only on public grounds, such as roads, parks and government buildings, but not private property.</p><p>The newspaper interviewed former Screven deputies and 37 former inmates, 32 of whom said Kile ordered them to do work that would be considered an illegal use of inmate labor. In some cases, it had dangerous consequences.</p><p>In June, a Screven County inmate escaped from a work detail and attacked a man with a machete outside his mobile home. Richard Weaver, who had been responsible for inmate Harold Cannon's arrest on a probation violation, suffered three broken ribs and a punctured lung in the attack. Cannon was arrested again two days later and was transferred to Bullock County Jail.</p><p>Will Barrs, who served time for burglary and theft, said he and a fellow inmate decided to escape when they realized they were unsupervised while building a Sunday school wing for a church in May 2003. The two were later captured in Burke County, said Barrs, who is now being held at Rogers State Prison.</p><p>District Attorney Richard Mallard said he was not familiar with the escape case but said he would look into the sheriff's use of inmate labor.</p><p>Kile declined to comment on the newspaper's report.</p><p>"I think you're complete (sic) biased, and I don't think you did it right, and I don't have any comment on your story," Kile told the Chronicle.</p><p>Clifford Bragg, a carpenter who served one year in jail on a DUI charge, said he frequently did maintenance work at the sheriff's one-story brick house, including pouring cement for a patio and installing a new shower.</p><p>"He can make it rough for you when you're in jail," Bragg said. "I didn't have no choice. You either do it, or he mistreats you."</p><p>Johnny Roundtree, a professional sign artist who was in the jail in 2002 for DUI, recalled making dozens of plywood campaign signs while he was an inmate. Roundtree said he wasn't paid but was allowed leave the jail occasionally in exchange for his work.</p><p>The Rev. Scott Krug of Hurst Baptist Church said it was common knowledge that churches could use inmate labor and that he approved of the idea.</p><p>"For there to be a return for the members of a county, for the taxes we're pumping into it, I think it's a good thing," Krug said.</p><p>Some legal experts say Kile could be subject to charges of violation of oath of office, using inmates for private gain, theft by taking of inmates' skills and services and aiding an escape in cases where convicted felons were allowed out of the jail unsupervised.</p><p>Gerry Weber, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Georgia chapter, said the sheriff not only violated the inmates' civil rights but also the state constitution's establishment clause, which separates church and state, and its gratuities clause, which says the government can't give assets away without compensation.</p><p>In May, the Chronicle also uncovered alleged misuse of inmate labor by former Jenkins County Sheriff Bobby Womack, who later resigned amid investigations by state and federal agencies.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x2865560)</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/9/160516