County’s inmates now housed in Greene County

Oglethorpe County’s inmates are no longer being housed at the Oconee County Jail.

Sheriff David Gabriel moved the county’s inmates to the Greene County Jail when the contract with Oconee County ended earlier this year. This allowed Oglethorpe County to keep the same cost per day of $35 for its inmates to be housed in Greene County. 

“We all get along great and work well together, would do anything for one another,” Oconee County Sheriff James Hale Jr. said. “Of course, at the end of the day, it comes down to, you know, saving money for each other's county.”

Gabriel said the daily expense also covers medical fees and food for the county’s inmates, which saves money. If inmates were housed at the Oglethorpe County Jail, the county would have to pay for “employees and benefits, medical stuff, food, water,” Gabriel said.

Greene County Sheriff Donnie Harrison said “the transitions have gone very smoothly.”

Oglethorpe County’s inmates were held at the jail on Buddy Faust Road through 2021, when Gabriel agreed to the deal with Oconee County. The facility remains open as the booking site for the sheriff’s department.

If Oglethorpe County were to return to housing its inmates, Gabriel said it would cost around $800,000 annually, compared to the $400,000 the county pays Greene County.

Some inmates are still housed in Oglethorpe County, but they are “short-term people” who are not in custody for more than 72 hours before they try to make bond, Gabriel said. If they can’t make bond, they’re transported to Greene County.