CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — The Clayton County sheriff has eliminated 20 members of his jail command staff after learning of unauthorized overtime to the tune of $1 million.
The sheriff put out a notice on Friday night that he had put several of his officers on leave without pay ahead of their termination the next week. Others had opted to resign or retire.
The monumental shift among command staff at the jail comes after an internal affairs investigation into what the sheriff described as "unauthorized use of excessive over-time."
"Investigators found that the unauthorized abuse of over-time added up to nearly a million dollars in a 3 month period of the fiscal year that started in July," the sheriff's statement said.
Hill said the investigation found that supervisors in charge of managing and approving overtime were approving it for themselves without authorization from a superior. This was done by having a supervisor of an equal or lesser rank put the overtime into the system on their behalf since it prevents them from approving their own. This, the sheriff said, is against the department's policy.
Despite having several people terminated or leave the sheriff's office due to the investigation's findings, Sheriff Hill said he had already replaced more than half of the commanders that he had ordered terminated.
Meanwhile, the findings of the investigation have been turned over to the Clayton County District Attorney's Office.
