City of Augusta struck by computer network disruption

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The city of Augusta is experiencing some type of network or computer outage.

The city announced the problems around 11 a.m. Wednesday, saying the disruption “may affect telephone and email access.” The city said its staff was “working diligently” to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

The disruption affects services that require internet access.

“Despite the outage, public safety calls and dispatch are operational and services to the public are ongoing,” city spokeswoman Leandra Collins said.

“This outage was not caused by a cyber attack,” she said.

News 12 hasn’t been able to access to the jail booking system – which lists current jail inmates and the charges against them – for about 24 hours. Starting around the same time as that disruption, the jail has been unable to provide booking photos to News 12.

A viewer told News 12 her family member has been sitting in bookings for 24 hours over a minor charge and no one is telling them why they can’t be booked and released.

We reached out to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office to ask whether the agency was experiencing any problems, despite services being “operational.” We mentioned the report of people waiting to be booked.

The agency replied: “That is an IT issue, please contact the City of Augusta for comment. Thank you.”

It’s unclear whether the jail booking system’s issues are the same as the ones affecting the rest of the city’s systems.

Collins said she expects services being fully restored by the close of business.

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