U.S. District Court Judge Leigh Martin May on Feb. 21 appointed an attorney with 32 years of corrections experience as the lead monitor to oversee improvements at the Fulton County Jail.
Defendants Fulton County and Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat supported the joint motion with the plaintiff, United States of America, to appoint Kathleen Kenney as lead monitor, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia – Atlanta Division.
The sheriff and Fulton County Commission Chairman announced on Jan. 3 that they had reached a consent agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve the federal agency’s investigation into the Fulton County Jail. A 97-page report released by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia said poor conditions at the jail violated incarcerated persons’ constitutional and statutory rights and have led to injury and death.
“I am pleased to have a Monitor with such impressive credentials, who will bring integrity to the process and will ensure compliance by all parties,” Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts said in a statement released to Rough Draft Atlanta. “The appointment of the Monitor represents an important step forward in implementation of the consent decree.”
Pitts said the county remains committed to collaborating with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Justice to improve jail conditions as expeditiously as possible.
Labat said his office was pleased with Kenney’s selection. He said they are motivated as progress is made toward improving the Fulton County Jail.
“Our legal counsel and the county attorney’s office have dedicated significant effort to developing a comprehensive plan aimed at enhancing jail conditions, recruiting and retaining a qualified workforce, and fostering greater accountability through advanced training. We are confident that we are moving in the right direction,” Labat said in a statement released to Rough Draft Atlanta.
Kenney serves on a three-person expert panel which oversees the use of force in certain Los Angeles County jail facilities, the court documents said. She previously was a consultant with the Moss Group, a criminal justice law enforcement consulting firm. She helped state and local corrections departments improve operations and trained correctional staff.
The court documents said Kenney is a former interim commissioner for the Kentucky Department of Corrections. She was responsible for 13 correctional facilities with more than 12,000 incarcerated people and a workforce of 3,800 employees.
Her career includes 25 years with the federal Bureau of Prisons. She served 13 years as its assistant director/general counsel. She oversaw the bureau’s legal operations and managed approximately 300 staff. She earned the bureau’s Distinguished Service Medal in2017, the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executive in 2010 and was the Women in Federal Law Enforcement’s “Outstanding Federal Law Enforcement Employee” in 2004.
Kenney earned her law degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School and a bachelor’s degree from the Catholic University of America. She’s licensed to practice law in Massachusetts.
