Fulton Commission approves plan to lower jail population after intense debate
The Fulton County Commission approved a set of five initiatives to reduce jail overcrowding after heated discussion on Wednesday, and in the wake of a recent federal monitor report saying a court-ordered cap on the county’s jail population may be needed if a staffing crisis is not fixed.
The measure, sponsored by Commission Chairman Robb Pitts and Vice Chair Khadijah Abdur-Rahman, was approved on a 4-3 vote. Marvin S. Arrington Jr., Dana Barrett and Mo Ivory opposed it, arguing the plan wasn’t fully formed or adequately shared with the public.
The “five-point plan” calls for establishing a “last chance diversion” hub outside the Rice Street jail; releasing more people who are jailed on low bond amounts into pretrial supervision; increasing usage of ankle monitors; using text messages to remind people of their court dates so fewer people are jailed on “failure to appear” warrants; and expediting the transfer of inmates who face no Fulton County charges to the jurisdictions where they are wanted.
Although all the details haven’t been worked out, officials said the last chance diversion hub would be housed in a trailer where staff could remind officers and diversion-eligible detainees of the opportunity to go to the Center for Diversion & Services before being booked into the jail.
Abdur-Rahman asked her colleagues to support the measure, saying collaboration was needed instead of more finger-pointing about the jail’s many problems.
“Let’s work together, put the egos on the shelf and do what we need to do to get these people out,” she said. “We have too many inmates that their only crime is being poor. We don’t want to say it, but the reality is, unless we implement this now, we’re going to see an even bigger rise in the jail population with the coming of the World Cup.”
It was a contentious discussion.
Commissioner Arrington emphasized that key members of the county’s justice system, including Sheriff Patrick Labat and Solicitor General Keith Gammage, both said they had not been told about the plan.
Arrington also objected to the plan being placed on the meeting agenda as a discussion item, only to be voted on despite the fact some of the commissioners did not receive a document laying out the plan until after the meeting started.
“There’s no agenda item, there’s no document, there’s no plan, there’s no nothing,” said Arrington, who is running against Pitts and Ivory for Commission chairman. “This is ridiculous. It’s a political stunt.”
Commissioner Barrett said it was irresponsible to approve a plan the public has neither seen nor been able to comment on.
Pitts said the county manager’s office will work out the details of how to implement the initiatives to lower the population at the troubled Fulton County Jail and improve its conditions, which a U.S. Department of Justice investigation found to be “abhorrent” and unconstitutional.
The county is in a legal agreement, known as a consent decree, to bring the jail into compliance with federal law. The monitor files periodic progress reports in federal court.
Asked why the initiatives were not already in place given the jail crisis, Pitts said the tools available “weren’t being utilized fully.”
“It can be adjusted as we go along, but just talking about it is not helping,” Pitts said. “That’s why I was insistent on it being done today.”
The Rice Street jail has a stated “full operational capacity” of 2,644 inmates, but a current operational capacity of 1,900 inmates because several hundred beds are offline for renovations and other reasons. In January, 1,965 inmates were housed there, according to county officials.
Making conditions worse is the lack of jailers, which the monitor’s report said made the jail dangerous for inmates and guards alike.
Some commissioners have been saying the county could ease overcrowding by putting more people on electronic monitoring. As of last month, Fulton County reported 543 people on electronic monitoring, significantly fewer than the county’s capacity of 1,450 people.
In an email last week, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis urged her attorneys to evaluate their caseloads and “see if there are defendants in custody that are appropriate for an ankle monitor.”
“To my first appearance and preliminary hearing lawyers — you all will be the greatest driver of placing people on ankle monitors,” she wrote in the email, obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Please do so where it is appropriate.”
She added that putting more people on ankle monitors must be done while keeping the community safe and keeping victims’ interests at the forefront.
“Please note nothing in this email should be interpreted as the DA saying place dangerous felons, or repeat offenders with violent new offenses, on an ankle monitor,” she wrote.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who co-chairs a justice board that seeks alternatives to incarceration in metro Atlanta, told commissioners Wednesday that more than 800 people currently in the jail would never be candidates for ankle monitors because they are accused of serious crimes like rape, murder or child molestation.
McBurney previously told the AJC any cap on the inmate population would likely be tied to available staffing at the jail.
“Judges and prosecutors aren’t going to be thinking, ‘This is a good ankle monitor case,’” McBurney said. “You may have an advocate on the defense side, but I want to manage our expectations about the universe of folks who would reasonably be eligible.”
About the Author
Reed Williams is an enterprise reporter on the Local team at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
