Contract security officers leave jail in Atlanta after nonpayment of contract

An exterior photo of the Fulton County Jail. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
An exterior photo of the Fulton County Jail. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

Some security officers at a jail in Atlanta that is under federal investigation walked off the job after the Fulton County sheriff’s office failed to pay money owed to the third-party contractor that employs them.

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that it is facing “a significant budget crisis” and owed an outstanding balance of more than $1 million to Strategic Security Corp. The company notified its employees Thursday afternoon that the contract had ended, that they would be clocked out at 2:15 p.m. and that they should not report to work at the jail going forward.

The sheriff’s office said that “created an immediate safety issue” at the county’s main jail and employees from all divisions were sent to staff the jail.