After three prisoner deaths in two months at Hays State Prison in northwest Georgia, state officials say they may have addressed one of the root causes of violence at the high-security facility: locks that don’t lock.
Yet, records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show several other high-security prisons — facilities rife with gangs, hardened criminals and constant threats of violence — continue to be plagued with doors that won’t lock, a problem one top lawmaker said needs to be explained.
Rep. Earl Ehrhart, R-Powder Springs, said he wants to “hear a real clear excuse” about why so many locks fail at state prisons. Ehrhart, who serves on both the committee that writes the state budget and the committee that oversees the Department of Corrections, said there should be a systemwide review of prison security.
“That’s what prisons are for,” he said. “That has to be a major expense.”
Ehrhart said if locks are failing, the state should investigate where the locks came from.
“That floors me,” he said. “I want to know who sold them to us, I want to know if they’re still in business in the state of Georgia.”
via Corrections works to keep prison doors locked | www.myajc.com.
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