Inmate labor accusations still loom over Sheriff

A grand jury in Southeast Georgia's Camden County has nothing but praise toward the county's controversial Sheriff, but their report might not be the last.

Sheriff Bill Smith is under fire for using county inmates to perform work at his house and those of his friends and for paying inmates for their work with seized drug funds. A county grand jury looking into jail operations recently concluded its term without referring to those or other accusations, saying they were pleased with how the jail is run.

County Chairman Preston Rhodes, who disapproves of the sherriff's job performance says, it's no wonder the local grand jury didn't act. He says there was one-former and one-current Sheriff's employee on the grand jury. "I think that's a conflict of interest," Rhodes says. "Issues of concern were not addressed."

The Georgia Times-Union reported last month that another grand jury, this one federal and meeting in Savannah, also is investigating Smith. Those proceedings are secret.

Smith has refused to speak to the media and his spokesman didn't return calls.