Are six deaths in two years evidence of something rotten at the Troup County Jail? Any deaths are obviously too many for their loved ones, but as most jailers will tell you, it’s difficult when you not only have to provide round-the-clock medical care, but you also have to protect incarcerated individuals from each other and sometimes themselves. In March, members of the Troup County NAACP and Atlanta Attorney Andrew Lampros of Hall & Lampros called for further investigation into recent deaths at the Troup County Jail. As it does with all deaths in the jail, suspicious or not, the Troup County Sheriff's Office turned the investigation over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Still, the NAACP said that is not enough. Lampros said they were looking into the deaths, but they were only able to receive limited information. Sheriff James Woodruff welcomed the investigation, but said HIPAA laws forbid the sharing of medical information of inmates. The most recent inmate who had passed away prior to the NAACP request died on March 11 due to a heart attack. Since then, another inmate passed away on April 11 due to a cardiac incident. In May, the Troup County Board of Commissioners approved $1,743,799.49 in total funding for a long list of repairs, improvements and other security measures for the Troup County Jail. Chief among them were additional security cameras for inmate day rooms and a body scanner for anyone entering the jail. The county has also made efforts to reduce the…
*This content (including text, artwork, graphics, photography, and video) was provided by the third party(ies) as referenced above. Any rights or other content questions or inquiries should be directed to such third-party provider(s).
