Sheriff faces questions over inmate labor

State investigators could be called into Camden County, where a retired doctor says, he paid Sheriff deputies cash to have inmates from the county jail perform work on his home.

Retired doctor Ben Jenkins testified under oath Thursday that he paid two deputies for inmate labor at his private home on secluded Cumberland Island. The testimony came in an unsucessful trespass case against a Georgia Times-Union reporter, photographer and attorney who went to the island to document the work.

The inmate labor, lack of building permits, use of government property and other questions are all mounting against the parties involved, not the least of whom is County Sheriff Bill Smith. His spokesman, Lieutenant William Terrell, says Smith has not asked anyone in his department to take leave while an investigation is ongoing.

""He's considering calling in the GBI," Terrell says. "He's considering calling in the Governor to open the books and look at what's here."

An Assistant District Attorney in Camden County says, her office is waiting for transcripts from yesterday's proceeding to determine if a criminal investigation is warranted.