Sgt. Jeremy Blake, the public information officer for the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office issued the following public information release about the power outage at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center:

On Sunday, July 24, in the early afternoon hours, the housing area known as the Towers began experiencing intermittent power disruptions. Facility maintenance personnel were called in to determine the problem. Shortly after, power was lost to some areas of the facility. 

Maintenance crews were able to locate a water leak that apparently had damaged a power line. The damage to the power line prevented our emergency generators from supplying power to some areas as they are designed to do in emergency situations.

Vendor contractors and facility maintenance personnel worked through the night and all-day Monday to locate necessary parts and make the needed repairs to safely restore power to the tower area.

“I would like to publicly recognize the efforts by our staff over the last 36 hours,” stated Sheriff Craig Owens. “Our staff came in early and stayed late to make sure every detainee was safe and taken care of. Even simple task like delivering three meals a day required a team effort to complete. Our staff had to carry everything up and down multiple flights of stairs to make sure everyone’s needs were met.”

The power outage affected approximately 600 detainees in our tower housing area. They were provided with continuous ice and water and deputies increased the frequency of safety and security checks. Extra medical staff were on standby in the towers in case of a medical emergency.

Construction began on the Towers in 2010 and upon completion, started housing detainees. After Sheriff Craig Owens took office in January of 2021, he began work on overhauling the Adult Detention Center facility buildings dating back to the opening of the facility in 1989. These projects included replacing the showers in all housing areas, adding cameras to previously unmonitored areas, new roofs, and a complete overhaul of the kitchens with a new food vendor.  Sheriff Owens continues to address the need to modernize the detention facilities to ensure the most effective and safe environment for detainees and Sheriff personnel.

Background

The initial announcement of the outage, distributed Sunday at just before 7 p.m. described the incident as follows:

Today, a section of the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office’s Adult Detention Center is experiencing a power outage due to a water leak. A vendor has been onsite working to return power and will continue until the issue is resolved.  

The Sheriff’s Office is providing additional personnel to ensure adequate care of the approximately 600 detainees impacted by the outage.  Additional ice and water is readily available in the cells. Deputies are also increasing the number of safety and security checks. Medical staff are also on standby.  Detainee and staff safety remains the top priority. 

This morning at 2:16 a.m. Sgt. Blake announced in a public information release via email that power had been restored.