Last month, Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney, Herb Cranford publicly announced his endorsement to split the district that he manages due to lack of resources. Cranford has asked that Carroll County Commissioners pass a referendum in support of the split. On MondayÂ’s WLBB Community Voice program, District Three Carroll County Commissioner, Tommy Lee, said that a split could expedite pending criminal cases in the county and save money in the long run.
“We have cases that have been sitting for years that we can’t get into the courts because either the district attorney does not have the personnel to prepare or there are not enough public defenders,” said Lee. “When that happens, you have people sitting in jail with no bond. We are feeding them and taking care of them. A healthy prisoners costs us about $47 a day and if they are sitting in jail for a year or two, it is really costly.”
Lee said they will decide on supporting the split soon so it can go before the Georgia legislature in 2019.
“We have some planned meetings to talk and discuss this. We have to do this relatively quick because it has to get on the floor in January.”
That entire interview with lee can be found here.
