Contractors with Chatham County jail contribute to Sheriff John Wilcher's election campaign

Chatham County Sheriff John Wilcher has raised more than $230,000 for his re-election campaign since 2016, including a portion from contractors operating in the Chatham County Detention Center (CCDC), according to a review of campaign filings obtained by the Savannah Morning News. That total far outpaces the money raised by the other two other sheriff candidates.

Kevin Burns, a former Chatham County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) Advanced Deputy, has raised about $934, mostly from ActBlue donations, according to campaign filings. ActBlue is a nonprofit fundraising organization that allows Democratic candidates to receive donations from supporters.

"Politics is what [Wilcher] does best, instead of what he's sworn to do," said Burns. "At the end of the day, it's not about how much money you raise. It's about the numbers at the ballot boxes."

Richard Coleman, a law enforcement officer who has served in multiple departments throughout Georgia, hasn’t filed campaign contributions because he filed to run for sheriff after the campaign contributions were due on Jan. 30. A second round of campaign contributions is due on April 30.

“He’s an incumbent chair, that’s to be expected,” said Coleman, who said everything he has paid so far for his election has been out-of-pocket but wasn’t able to provide how much he has spent by publication time. “This election is not about money at all; it’s about change.”

In a meeting in his office on Carl Griffin Drive and two subsequent phone calls, Wilcher said that he has raised $61,000 since the Jan. 30 filing date. That amount, combined with more than $169,000 carryover from previous campaigns in 2016 and 2020, raises his total haul to $230,000.

The review of Wilcher’s campaign contributions comes as other sheriff candidates called into question the transparency of the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) ahead of the November 2024 election.

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More: Q&A: Chatham County Sheriff John Wilcher explains why he is running for re-election

County contractors contribute to sheriff's election campaign

At a meeting in his office on March 12 of this year, Wilcher said that he doesn’t take money from “contract people."

"Now, if somebody or family or someone wants to give it outside of that, I do that," said Wilcher.

But a review of his individual contributions reveals that he has accepted money from contractors, including CorrectHealth, which provides health care services to the CCDC. From 2016 through 2023, $28,950, or 17%, of the $169,059 Wilcher raised came from contractors operating in the CCDC, bond companies or vendors and companies working directly with the jail.

In two subsequent phone calls after the initial meeting, Wilcher clarified that he does receive donations from contractors, and confirmed the donation totals tallied by the SMN.

While federal law dictates that federal contractors can't donate money to federal candidates, there is no such state law for Georgia.

As previously revealed in a 2019 Reuters investigative report, CorrectHealth, and its president’s wife, Teresa Musso, donated $5,000 to Wilcher’s election campaign in 2016 ― the same year Chatham County signed a multiyear contract with the Atlanta-based company, worth $7 million per year. In 2019, the year after the company signed another multi-million dollar contract with the county, CorrectHealth's owner Carlo Musso donated $2,500 to Wilcher’s election campaign.

Shawn Wood, CorrectHealth's Chatham health services administrator, did not respond to a call by publication time.

Archive: Chatham County officials approve last-minute contract for inmate health care

The contract with CorrectHealthwas solicited through a competitive sealed proposal process (RFP), according to Chatham County Public Information Director Catherine Glasby. Proposals were scored by an evaluation committee and recommendation made to the board to award to the highest scoring company, the Board approved, and a contract was issued, Glasby added.

Glasby also clarified that the sheriff’s office has representation on the evaluation committee for proposals pertaining to their office and approves all recommendations sent to the Board of Commissioners. "As far as renewals," she wrote, "the project manager, not the Sheriff, completes the annual vendor evaluation which is the catalyst for a contract renewal."

In October 2017, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners instructed staff to seek RFPs from any available health care provider. Of the three private healthcare companies to submit bids, CorrectHealth scored the lowest, which accounted for prior lawsuits and the cost proposal, according to a copy of the June 22, 2018, county agenda item.

On June 14, 2018, CorrectHealth staff met with Wilcher, and Wilcher wished "to remain with the current provider." The agenda item reads, "CorrectHealth was the choice of the Sheriff, and the County has attempted to maintain that relationship."

The Chatham County Board approved the contract with CorrectHealth worth $22 million. According to Assistant County Attorney Andre Pretorius, that contract concludes in July 2025, when it will go out for bid once again.

“You might be right about it,” Wilcher said, when asked about CorrectHealth’s donation to his campaign. “But that was what, eight years ago?”

“If Correct Health donated anything and I don’t know, I can’t tell you because it’d probably be two to three thousand dollars,” said Wilcher. “Other than that, the rest of the money comes from the people in the county here who supported me.

“And what’s the big deal if they did give me any money?”

Other contractor and vendor donations

In 2016 and 2019, Saseen Bonding and its owners donated $9,400 to Wilcher’s election campaign. Other bail companies, including Payless Bail Bonding, also called MaCauley Bail Bonds, donated a total of $800 to his campaign.

Both bonding companies are Savannah-based, and inmates frequently pay the two bonding companies to secure their release from jail before trial. From March 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, Saseen Bonding has earned $9,186,504 from 2,272 bonds from CCDC inmates, according to figures sent by CCSO Public Information Officer Parla Parker. During the same time period, Payless Bail Bonds earned $7,245,182 from 1,490 bonds from CCDC inmates.

Wilcher was not in office when these companies initially received approval, and since assuming office, he has not sanctioned any new bail bond agencies, according to Parker.

SMN left a phone message for Saseen Bonding, but they did not respond by publication time.

"You wanna keep good people in a good place, that's the only purpose," Kenny Gibbons, a bail bondsman for Payless Bail Bonding, said in a phone call. "Ain't no favoritism or nothing. I knew [Wilcher] before he was the sheriff. We've been in business for like 40 years. We ain't no newcomers."

In 2019, Oasis Management Systems donated $2,500 to Wilcher's campaign. Oasis Management has been the commissary vendor for Chatham County for at least the past 33 years, confirmed Wilcher. Their contract concludes at the end of 2024, said Parker. The commissary is part of the inmate welfare fund and not funded by tax dollars, added Parker.

Oasis Management Systems did not return a phone call for comment.

Per state law, the Sheriff's Office handles the bond and commissary contracts. A sheriff has the authority to cut contracts for bond companies off at any point, as dictated by O.C.G.A 17-6-56.

In 2016 and 2019, A1 Uniform, Embroidery and Alteration and its owners donated $7,000 to Wilcher’s campaign. A1 Uniform has furnished uniforms to the jail for the past eight years, Wilcher confirmed.

A-1 Uniforms was solicited through a competitive sealed bidding process (ITB), according to Glasby.

A1 Uniforms did not return a phone call for comment by publication time.

Another uniform company called Patrick's Uniforms sent Wilcher a check of $400 or $500 before his 2016 campaign, Wilcher recalled. After the campaign, an employee with Patrick's Uniforms called Wilcher and said he would like to furnish the uniforms. Wilcher said he told him he would have to submit an RFP through the county.

"I sent him his check back, because I really didn't like his attitude," Wilcher said. "He was trying to say that I should give him the contract because I gave him money, and that's not the way it works."

"I already knew that was why you were calling," said a representative with Patrick's Uniforms, who declined to provide their name due to fear of retaliation. "I don't want to make a comment."

In 2019, the Committee to Elect Lester Jackson donated $250 to Wilcher's campaign. Jackson served in the Georgia State House of Representatives from 1998 to 2008. In 2009, Jackson was elected to serve as a Georgia State Senator representing District 2, before leaving office in 2023. In 2017 or 2018, Wilcher said, CorrectHealth hired Jackson to run the jail’s dental clinic, the Jackson Dental Clinic. Jackson has since retired, and Wilcher said that another dental company has been working in the jail for the past six or eight months. Wilcher said he has been friends with Jackson for the past 40 years.

Jackson did not return a phone call and email for comment.

In 2016, Georgia Rep. Ron Stephens donated $1,000 to Wilcher’s campaign, as previously reported by Reuters. That same year, Stephens said in a phone call, he sold QuickRX to his daughter. Stephens said that QuickRX was awarded the contract by CCDC's health contractor, then called Prison Health Services, in the 1980s.

In 1997, Stephens was elected to represent the Georgia House of Representatives District 164. "Well before I was elected as a state representative, they came to me and asked me to be the local contractor, and that was with Prison Health Services, way back when," recalled Stephens.

In 2019, Stephens donated another $500 to Wilcher's campaign, according to campaign filings. Stephens said he has donated to all the local sheriffs, including former CCSO Sheriff Al St. Lawrence and the Bryan County Sheriff.

"I don't see the connection," said Stephens. "I gave to my friends, and John has been a great sheriff."

Since 2018, dental and pharmaceutical services are a part of the CorrectHealth contact and vendors are selected by CorrectHealth.

Asked whether any contractors would be donating to him in the next cycle, Wilcher responded, "I don't know. I don't control any of the people contributed to me. Many people contributed to me because I sent out letters asking for donations."

Wilcher added that he isn't aware of any new donations from CorrectHealth, bonding companies and QuickRX. He said that A-1 Uniforms has donated him another $3,300.

"I don't see any issues with it," said Wilcher. "Because I'm aboveboard. I have a secretary and treasurer that files everything with the state. I follow every rule with the state and county gives me to follow. I don't see any controversy about it."

Drew Favakeh is the public safety and courts reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@Gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Chatham County Sheriff John Wilcher has raised $230,000 for his re-election