Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat has escalated his battle with county leaders over how his office spends money, warning in a new lawsuit he can’t get critical resources because of unnecessary bureaucracy.
The sheriff filed a lawsuit against the county Tuesday, accusing its board of commissioners of thwarting his efforts to buy essential items including Narcan, the medication used to reverse an opioid overdose. He asked an Atlanta judge to void a 2024 purchasing ordinance he says is unconstitutional.
“People may die,” the sheriff’s lawyer, Christopher Balch, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday in relation to the county’s alleged interference in law enforcement. “Any time you interfere unnecessarily and unlawfully with the essential job functions of the constitutional office of sheriff, you interfere with public safety by definition.”
A county representative declined to comment while the matter is litigated.
It is not the first time Fulton officials have warned county commissioners about the dire consequences of under-resourced departments.
In December 2024, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis threatened to sue the commissioners if they did not approve extra funding for her office. She said “people will die” unless more money is allocated to addressing the county jail’s “deplorable conditions.”
Labat is one of four constitutional officers in Fulton — alongside the Superior Court clerk, probate judge and tax commissioner. They have more independence under Georgia law than county employees.
In July 2024, county commissioners amended the county’s purchasing code to apply to Labat and the other constitutional officers. The ordinance, attached to Labat’s lawsuit, says confusion was caused in the past when constitutional officers did not uniformly go through the county’s purchasing department and follow the code.
“The board of commissioners finds that it is in the best interest of the county that each constitutional officer utilize the purchasing department and the purchasing code for the acquisition of all goods and services,” the ordinance says.
Labat claims the change means his office is missing out on Narcan as well as upgrades to four pursuit vehicles, two new motorcycles for traffic and crowd control, and new pouches, totes and a hamper for maintaining and moving property as part of jail operations.
Balch said Labat’s best efforts to resolve the issue without court involvement have been unsuccessful.
“He’s appeared before (county commissioners) on numerous occasions about this issue,” Balch said. “They continue, we believe unlawfully, to interfere with how he spends the budget that they allocate to him for running his office.”
The county’s jail problems are not directly part of Labat’s lawsuit as they are addressed in an agreement between the county and the federal government, Balch said.
Labat is also taking aim at a county resolution from October 2024 which says any unbudgeted impact on county funds due to the failure to follow purchasing rules will be deducted from the budget of the noncomplying department or offset by reductions to subsequent budgets.
“The bottom line here is the sheriff wants to be able to do the job he was elected to do, and the board of commissioners needs to get out of the way,” Balch said.
Labat’s lawsuit cites an unrelated Georgia Supreme Court ruling from 2008, holding that a county’s interference with a sheriff’s choice of vendor for jail-based medical services was unlawful.
“The sheriff is a constitutional officer independent from the county and is thus entitled to the right to independently enter into contracts with third parties after the approval of his budget,” Labat said in the suit. “The limitations placed on the sheriff contravenes the constitutional authority and power of the sheriff to expend funds in his office as he deems appropriate and expedient.”
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
