Inmates to test locks in Fulton County Jail

ATLANTA - Jailers in metro Atlanta have a challenge for inmates: Get past the new locks being tested on cells doors and win free food.

Officials have been trying to figure out what to do about hundreds of locks which can be jammed at the Fulton County Jail, allowing inmates to get at each other.

Free food will be offered for any inmate who can defeat the new locks being tested in one cell block, Fulton County's chief jailer, Col. Mark Adger, told WSB-TV.

Jailers are choosing experienced lock beaters from the inmate population, Adger said. Those prisoners will then try to beat the new locks, he said.

County officials and three different sheriffs' administrations have been warned repeatedly about the faulty locks, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last month.

Inmates can jam the locks with soap, toilet paper, cloth or trash and leave their cells, according to documents obtained by the newspaper.

County Commissioner Tom Lowe has said the lock issue has been blown out of proportion, but others say it puts inmates at risk of being attacked by other prisoners.

Upcoming Events