Overcrowded Clarke County jail needs cash

Overcrowding problems at the Clarke County jail have forced officials to look for more money to handle the inmate load. Sheriff Ira Edwards is asking the Athens-Clarke Commission for 1.4 million dollars to keep inmates in south Georgia’s Irwin County through July. Officials would have to take a bite out of the 8-million dollar contingency fund for the cash. Already, most of the sheriff's budget for the year has already been used to house-out inmates that can’t fit into Clarke County’s facility. Commissioners are considering many options, including whether it might be better to expand the current facility or build a new one.

Special prosecutor vs. former Jefferson police chief

A special prosecutor plans to ask a Jackson County grand jury for an indictment against the former police chief of Jefferson. In September, the grand jury indicted Darren Glenn on charges that he used police department computers and equipment in 2005 to run background checks for his wife’s private investigation firm. However, a week and a half ago, a Superior Court judge dismissed the 30-count indictment, because Glenn was not allowed to testify. When the grand jury reconvenes later this year, the special prosecutor plans to recall the same witnesses. Glenn this time will be allowed to make a statement to grand jurors afterward.

Grand jury indictment for Barrow County man

A Barrow County man has been indicted by a grand jury in northeast Georgia in the deaths of four family members last year in Hoschton. 34-year-old Henry Lee Stringer is facing 15 felony charges. Stringer's two children, their mother, and grandmother were found dead last year inside a burning house. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.