ATLANTA — Yet another delay has occurred in resolving the ongoing issues with millions of dollars in unpaid invoices owed by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.
This comes after security guards employed by a third-party contractor at the Fulton County Jail walked off the job in late August after a funding deficit left a roughly $1 million deficit.
After a Fulton County Commission meeting that lasted nearly a full business day, it ended with the Commissioner deciding to hold off on discussing the money that the Sheriff's Office owes to several vendors.
At a Sept. 4 meeting, the Sheriff's Office Chief of Staff asked the Fulton County Commission for $5.9 million to pay nearly $2 million in unpaid invoices to several vendors as well as other projected financial obligations. However, the Commission said "no" to that request.
Today, toward the end of the Commission’s second monthly meeting, the body decided not to discuss the unpaid bills because Sheriff Patrick Labat is currently out of the country. Labat sent an email claiming he would be back in time for the next meeting.
"If that’s accurate, I want to hold 0614 and 0615 until the October 2nd meeting," said Chairman Robb Pitts.
Pitts had put two discussion items on Wednesday's agenda, both centering around the unpaid invoices and two contracts involving commissary accounts and phone monitoring.
Some of the commissioners expressed frustration that the Sheriff wasn’t in attendance, saying he’s had plenty of chances to appear before them.
“To give him an opportunity, the outstanding invoices, I need some type of priority information," said Vice Chair Khadijah Abdur-Rahman.
The sheriff's office previously told 11Alive that it has had and continues to have additional monitoring capabilities. It also said there are plans to bring the balance up to date.
The next meeting is slated to take place on Oct. 2 at 10 a.m.