Computer glitch has DeKalb byting its nails 
                      By Ben Smith III, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

                      Hundreds of criminal cases involving DeKalb
                      County jail inmates are in limbo because of a
                      computer glitch in the new, Y2K-upgraded jail
                      and case management systems. 

                      The defect is not centered in the calendar
                      change to 2000. The two systems, which were
                      upgraded this year at a cost of more than $5
                      million to correct any potential Y2K problems,
                      are not interfacing with each other. 

                      That means court officials have been forced to
                      file and update hundreds of inmate cases by
                      hand, seriously slowing down a normally
                      computer-driven process. Some officials are
                      worried delays could result in the automatic
                      release on bond of suspects. 

                      "It's literally like the old days when you had stacks and
stacks of paper
                      and you're going through each one," said DeKalb County
District Attorney
                      J. Tom Morgan. "Someone comes to us for a bond, and we
don't even
                      know if that person's in jail or what the charges are. 

                      "Our biggest concern is that somebody will get out of
jail that isn't
                      supposed to," Morgan added. 

                      Other county officials urged people to keep the proper
perspective. 

                      "It's not that when the clock strikes midnight, the jail
doors swing open
                      and everyone there has a field day," said DeKalb County
Executive
                      Assistant Russ Crider. "Any issues we have now are
related to
                      administration or operations and not to the detriment of
public safety." 

                      Crider added that the delay resulted, in large part, from
obstacles faced by
                      the Sheriff's Department in getting its new jail
management system
                      running sooner. In August, at the urging of DeKalb County
Sheriff Sidney
                      Dorsey, the County Commission fired Epic Solutions Inc.
of San Diego,
                      which had been hired to make the jail's computer systems
Y2K-compliant.

                      Dorsey has since sued the company, and the department
hired Syscon
                      Justice Systems Inc. to complete the job by Dec. 13.
Repeated attempts
                      to contact Dorsey late Wednesday for comment were
unsuccessful. 

                      Crider said it may take until mid- or late January to
correct the interface
                      problem. 

                      Meanwhile, the district attorney's office, which depends
on the jail
                      management system for notice of arrests, is poring over a
printout of
                      hundreds of inmate names delivered late Tuesday, and
giving priority to
                      those suspected of committing more serious crimes. 

                      If Morgan's office doesn't indict within 90 days, the
inmate is automatically
                      released on bond. 

                      "It has the potential to be a really serious problem. We
haven't had any
                      real problems yet, but we don't know how it will work out
over the next few
                      weeks," said Carol Ellis, the district attorney's chief
investigator.