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ALBANY, GA. -- Romney Smith's diary during her stay in the Dougherty County Jail.

2:30 p.m. Sheriff’s Deputies arrest me at FOX 31 News.

• Most WFXL employees know about the story, however I still have a small crowd watching me. The handcuffs are tight and I’m already uncomfortable in the backseat.

3:00 p.m. Arrival at the Dougherty County Jail.

• My purse, jacket, and shoes are immediately taken away and I’m frisked. I thought it would be a generic pat down like you see on TV, but the guards are…thorough. They start by going through my hair. Any and all hair accessories like clips, bobby pins, and even fake hair must be removed. Then they do a physical pat down of my whole body. Every curve, crease, and indentation is scanned over with the officer’s gloved hands. This is standard procedure, but I wasn’t expecting them to shake my bra or check between my toes to make sure that I’m not trying to bring anything in. Two female guards are present when I change into my jail jumpsuit. No privacy, but I know they’re just doing their jobs.
• I get electronically fingerprinted, my mug shot taken from the front and the side, and I answer questions about my phone number, address, occupation, gang affiliation, and more.

Video interview with Dougherty County Jail Director John Ostrander

3:30 p.m. Time for my health exam with a nurse from Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital.

• We sit down; I see multiple pieces of paper, a blood pressure cuff, and vials for blood. It seems like I answer hundreds of questions about my health history, medications, conditions, surgery, and more. The nurse seems very concerned about my mental well being. I guess they need to know whether or not to put me in suicide watch. I imagine she she’s seen a lot of emotionally and mentally disturbed people and coming to jail.

4:00-4:15 p.m. I’m escorted to my cell.

• Before I leave the “intake” area where they process in all new inmates I’m handed a roll with two flat sheets, two thin blankets, a hand towel, bath towel, and some toiletries in the middle.
• As I’m walking down the hall I notice it seems like every door is loud and beeps or buzz’s to open and slams shut. The sounds are amplified as I walk down the white hall ways. They are taking me to the “H-Block” which is a female area of the jail with cells for two inmates.
• When I enter the H-Block the ladies in the cells start making noise and they get louder once they realize there is an extra person in street clothes with a video camera filming me. “Oh snap ya’ll this is like Lock Up Raw…we got a murderer in here” “No she’s not wearing a red jump suit so she ain’t kill nobody” “then why would she have the camera’s with her?” “She’s an undercover cop! Don’t talk to her…you’ll get more time tacked on to your sentence” “hey put me on TV, I got some stories I need to tell.”

4:15-4:30 p.m. I’m taken to H218 and told to make my bed.

• My bed is CONCRETE with a 2 inch thick foam pad. Where’s the fitted sheet? What if I get cold and need a comforter? And most importantly where is my pillow? My cell mate Jennifer Kelley and the guard are laughing at me. Jennifer looks right at me and says. “This is not a hotel”. I try to make the top bunk as other inmates stop by my cell to look at me. I feel like I’m on display at the zoo. Everyone wants to see the “new girl”. I’m short….I’m 5 foot 1, and making my bunk was quite difficult since it was so high. My roommate teaches me how the beds are supposed to be made and teaches me how to make a pillow. The pillow is my towel rolled up with one of the blankets wrapped around it. Bed is made, the detention officer tells me lights out is at midnight and someone will come to check my wrist band later when they do headcount.

Video of my cell mate Jennifer Kelley

Video of the pregnant inmate

4:30-6:15 p.m. Free Time

• I walk to the general area where inmates are watching TV and talking. I take an empty seat at the table, take a deep breath and the ladies immediately start hammering me with questions. Click here for the questions and my answers.
• I told the ladies that I was a teacher and was caught writing bad checks which is why I was in jail. They believed it and “Samantha*” whispers to me “You can’t mess with white peoples’ money. That’s why they had that camera in here because they are gonna make an example out of you” says Samantha.
• One of the ladies, “Marissa Calhoun*” helped me out…she told the ring leader of the girls, “LaShonda Johnson*” to leave me alone. “Can’t you see she’s traumatized? She ain’t like us….stop askin’ her so many questions and let’s make her laugh and take her mind off of being in jail.” Says Calhoun. Then Marissa looks right at me and says “Don’t worry boo, you gon’ be okay. Just stay in your cell and read your bible and you gon’ be okay. Do you know how to post bail?” Marissa is very chatty and I decide to tell her I’m a reporter and interview her later.
• LaShonda on the other hand keeps messing with me. She’s loud, funny, and the ringleader of the ladies. She’s also made it very clear to me that she’s a lesbian and would like to spend some alone time with me. “You’re so pretty, I just want to touch you and see what it’s like….never been with a real classy lady before.” I look her dead in the eye and firmly state that I’m not a lesbian and have no interest whatsoever in spending alone time with her and that she needs to leave me alone. She chuckles, and clearly sees this as a fun challenge. The inmate next to me whispers to me in all seriousness “Don’t worry, it’s okay…she turned me out my first night”.
• The guards say homosexuality is rampant in the Dougherty County Jail. According to the jail handbook it’s an infraction if an inmate is caught doing anything remotely sexual or inappropriate with another inmate of their same gender. Later the guards admit that while it’s a problem with the men and women, they can’t prevent 100% of homosexual activities from happening. What’s more interesting is that some of the inmates discuss how they are heterosexual when out of jail, and homosexual while in jail.
• During the conversation during free time the news came on. I noticed when a story about a crime came on they watch the news differently than I do. I watch to see what happened and where. They watch to see if they have a personal connection to the person in the mug shot and if they do they talk about how they know the person. The jail went completely silent with President Barack Obama and/or Michelle Obama were on TV. Every eye was glued to the television watching in awe. When it was over they resumed conversations without missing a beat.
• One inmate with mental health issues is a comedian. She does a “welcome dance” for me that includes a lot of shaking, pelvic thrusts, and booty poppin’ while singing Ginuine’s song “Pony”. I laugh and say thank you. She seems pretty amused she could make me laugh. I asked where she learned how to dance like that and she simply says “the streets”.
• All of the ladies then talk about dancing which leads to a conversation about prostitution. All six inmates at my table had prostituted themselves at one point in time. All six were sexually abused when they were little girls, and all six have been raped MULTIPLE TIMES. At this point I’m silent and just listen to them talk about the abuse they’ve suffered on the street. Read more on the abuse here.
• Dinner is served. A brown bagged lunch with an apple, and two sandwiches: bologna and cheese and peanut butter. There is a packet of mayonnaise and a packet of mustard and we get a six ounce cup for sweet tea. Some ladies take extra cups for water. I eat half of my apple and 1/3 of my sandwich. The bread is soggy and it doesn’t taste good, but it’s edible.
• I whisper to Marissa Calhoun* that I’m a reporter for FOX 31 and ask if I can talk to her in my cell for a few minutes. She smiles and says yes. Marissa’s account nearly brings me to tears. I’ll probably never forget her story. Read about her story here.

6:15 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Night time at the jail

• I’m in my cell talking to my cell mate Jennifer Kelley. She shares more with me about her history, her experience in jail, and her plan to stay on the right path.
• I share with her my background and how I came to be a reporter in Southwest Georgia.
• I write notes on my paper with a marker so I don’t forget anything.
• I have no clue what time it is…I hear the television on BRAVO and know the Real Housewives of Atlanta is on which means it must be 10 or 11 p.m. I hate not having a watch or knowing what time it is. I wonder why jails don’t have clocks accessible to inmates?
• It’s very loud in jail. Some people are yelling at the guards, others are talking through the vents and I can hear their entire conversation clearly. They must be standing on the toilet to talk to each other through the vents. It’s also very cold in jail. I’ve been shivering for hours. I doze off for about 30 minutes and then lay awake in bed until the guard comes to get me.

Video of Detention Officer Josh Williams' experience working in the jail

5:30 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. Released from jail

• The guard gets me out of bed and says it’s time to go and asks how my stay was. I give my cell mate a hug and promise to write her a letter.
• I’m brought back to the intake area and put in a holding cell for a while. Then I change clothes, get my belongings back, and sign papers acknowledging I have my belongings. Captain Angie Hayslip asks me how it was and for some reason it all comes out….I start crying and explain to her how emotionally draining it was to hear the stories of abuse, prostitution, and rape. I realize some women have no support growing up, but I’ve never had the opportunity to sit down and talk with them to truly have my eyes opened to the reality of their world. I feel slightly emotionally traumatized. I can’t imagine being in that small 8’x12’ cell day in and day out for weeks, months, or years on end.
• FOX 31’s Megan Naughton picks me up and catches my crying on camera. I look a mess, I want to shower, I want to sleep, and I want to make sure I do a good job on Behind Bars because if it can prevent just one person from going to jail I’ll feel very successful.

*All names have been changed for security purposes.