That's an interesting take

Blake's article on the jail is one of the best reports on it that I've seen in a long time ... primarily because it finally starts calling out Athens-Clarke County Sheriff Ira Edwards for not utilizing its neighbors in housing prisoners.

Give it a read.

And, regarding this point ...

Although Ocilla is a four-hour drive from Athens, local lawyers have not complained that their clients are missing court dates or being late because of the distance, (Athens-Clarke County District Two Commissioner Harry) Sims said.

Local attorney Bill Overend, a much-rumored candidate for Athens-Clarke County Comission District Seven (should current commissioner Kathy Hoard opt to step down at the end of her term), told me he had some disagreements with some parts of that assessment.

Overend said the primary complaint among many local attorneys is that the distance between Ocilla and Athens-Clarke County results in limited access to clients who may be housed in the Irwin County facility. A one-hour visit with a client who is housed in Irwin County automatically becomes an all-day investment, thus hindering the ability of attorneys to do work on other cases.

(At Overend's request, the original post has been amended to incorporate his fuller thoughts on the subject.)