ATLANTA — A contracted security company that works at the Fulton County Jail has terminated its security services at the Fulton County Jail over non-payment.

According to a news release from Strategic Security Corp., “despite multiple efforts to resolve the situation, including numerous emails, phone calls, meetings, and notices to various offices including the Sheriff’s Office, the Mayor of Atlanta’s Office, the County Commissioners Office, and even the Governor’s Office, no viable solution has been proposed by the responsible parties. Regrettably, no timeline for payment or good faith attempt to address the outstanding balance has been made.”

Because of the non-payment, contracted security guards were told to leave the Fulton County Jail.

“This action is taken with a heavy heart, as it creates a potential officer safety issue and crisis at the facility,” the company said in its news release. “The continued non-payment has left us with no choice but to take this difficult step to protect the interests of our company and our employees.”

During a news conference Thursday night, Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat said across the board, the security guards were owed nearly $1 million. Labat said all the guards impacted have been offered positions within the jail as county employees and they will receive a 10% increase in pay.

Just before midnight, Fulton County confirmed the exact amount owed is $1,076,464.67 to Strategic Security Corp.

The county stated in a press release that the contractors received a message, instructing them to “abandon their posts.”

“SSC sent a communication to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners and FCSO on the morning of August 29, 2024, that they would no longer be providing security services to the jail as of Friday, August 30, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. Today, during negotiations today between SSC and FSCO to determine an amicable resolution, SSC contract employees received a text message directing them to abandon their posts. In these text messages, SSC advised their employees that, effective immediately, the contract had ended, and they would be clocked out by SSC at 2:15 p.m. SSC further advised their employees to not report to work in the future. These actions created an immediate safety issue within the Fulton County Jail. Additional personnel from all FCSO divisions were deployed to staff the areas of the jail that were left abandoned,” the statement said.