Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat admitted in a Wednesday meeting of the Fulton County Commission that his office incorrectly spent money from Fulton County Jail’s Inmate Welfare Fund on items that have nothing to do with detainees, including on turkey giveaways, gift cards, party materials, and new vehicles.
Labat (pictured above) confirmed the report by WSB-TV that revealed his office spent more than $1 million earmarked for Fulton County Jail inmates on seemingly frivolous items, including bounce houses, disc jockeys, jugglers, florists, gift cards, and a $500 Thanksgiving giveaway. Labat said he fired two employees and launched an internal audit over the expenditures.
“There were some things that were paid out of the wrong account,” Labat admitted during the meeting, the outlet reported. Still, he claimed, “[t]here was no criminal intent as we have found” and asserted that all money spent from the Inmate Welfare Fund fund was “on the betterment of the sheriff’s office.”
Commissioner Bob Ellis told Atlanta News First “it looks like the sheriff’s been using this as his personal slush fund.” Some purchases Labat’s office made include payments for bounce houses, jugglers, and disc jockeys, while big-ticket items the outlet highlighted include “more than $1 million” on vehicles, $39,000 on gift cards to buy hams, and $500 for a “Thanksgiving giveaway.”
Ellis, who WSB-TV noted first flagged questionable purchases from the Inmate Welfare Fund fund, added that “taxpayers should have a low level of confidence in how the sheriff is using funds that have been entrusted to him.”
“This isn’t somebody else,” Ellis told the outlet of Labat. “The sheriff needs to take ownership and accountability for this.” He also noted that the Inmate Welfare Fund was used to purchase “luncheons” and “photo booths.”
Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman agreed with Ellis and sharply demanded Labat “put that money back” in the Inmate Welfare Fund.
Though the revelation sparked condemnation from Fulton County commissioners, some questioned what the county could do to reign in an elected sheriff.
Commissioner Marvin Arrington questioned “how much control we have over monies controlled by a state constitutional officer.” Ellis said, “Transparency needs to be provided, I don’t care if you’re a constitutional officer, the president, the Pope, or whoever you are.”
Ten inmates have died at the troubled Fulton County Jail so far this year. Originally designed for about 1,000 inmates, recent reporting indicates more than 3,000 individuals remain detained at the jail. On Tuesday, a Fulton County court ruled Labat cannot move inmates to a Mississippi facility to alleviate the overcrowding.
Republicans in the Georgia Senate recently announced a probe into the facility, and the probe met for its inaugural meeting on Thursday, just one day after Labat admitted to the misspent funds. Additionally, Fulton County Jail is the subject of a federal investigation by the Department of Justice and may be named in a lawsuit by the family of an inmate who died at the facility last year.
Allies of former President Donald Trump became increasingly critical of the jail’s conditions after the former president and his Georgia co-defendants were required to surrender at the facility in August.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News, and also reports for The Tennessee Star and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Pat Labat” by Pat Labat.
