Created: 11/30/2005 12:58:42 PM 
JONESBORO, GA (AP) -- Inmates at the Clayton County Jail have complained that when Sheriff Victor Hill walks through the jail they have to stop what they're doing, turn away from him and stand at attention.
Hill says the requirement is an example of the boot-camp discipline he's trying to instill at the jail. But 42 inmates call his policies cruel and inhumane, and they want an investigation. The inmates sent a handwritten letter November ninth to several county and state officials and to civil rights organizations.
The inmates contend detention officers do not wear name tags, making it impossible for inmates to identify them if they want to file a grievance. They say inmates are allowed to address only unranked officers, that the food is bad, and that new inmates are not screened for illnesses or disease.
Hill said yesterday he has not seen the letter, but he says the complaints are unfounded. Clayton County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell received a copy of the letter and says he is concerned. District Attorney Jewel Scott says a new grand jury will tour the jail -- as do all grand juries -- and likely will take a harder look at conditions and treatment of inmates because of the letter.
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