A former Hall County jailer was released on a bond “of his own recognizance,” stemming from charges of felony sexual assault.

According to the District Attorney’s office, that means Marcell Allen did not have to post money for his release.

Sheriff’s office spokesman Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks said information on why Allen was given that type of bond was not immediately available.

Allen is being investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for the alleged sexual contact with a female inmate when he was a jailer.

He was arrested and terminated by the sheriff’s office on Friday, Wilbanks said.

Allen was initially hired in August 2011, Wilbanks said.

GBI agents obtained warrants for Allen’s arrest Monday, and Allen surrendered.

Last week, the incident was brought to the command staff’s attention, Wilbanks said, and a follow-up internal investigation led to the office requesting GBI’s involvement.

He could not comment on details or circumstances surrounding the incident.

The Times on Wednesday made an open records request for a copy of the office’s internal investigation report on Allen.

Kim Williams, special agent in charge of the regional office in Cleveland, which covers Hall County, said the investigation was ongoing and declined to provide any more information.

Wilbanks said GBI’s involvement is standard.

“It is standard for cases within the office to be investigated independently by GBI, assuring the jurors that there are no conflicts of interest,” Wilbanks said.

Wilbanks said Allen was arrested under a part of Georgia law that specifically charges a “supervisory or disciplinary authority over another individual” who has engaged in sexual contact “with such other individual who the actor knew or should have known is being detained by or is in the custody of any law enforcement
agency.”

The law can apply to pyschotherapists, teachers and parole officers, among others.

Allen isn’t the only Hall County jail official to be arrested or dismissed in 2012.

In September, Dustin Charlton, a jailer for the office, was fired after allegedly using excessive force against an inmate.

In April, the GBI charged former Hall County jailer Erica Juarez with false report of a crime.

And in January, ex-Hall jailer Benjamin V. Thompson was terminated after charges of credit card fraud by the Lawrenceville Police Department.