Todd Markle, executive counsel to Gov. Nathan Deal, state Rep. Jay Neal, R-Lafayette,  Fulton County Chairman John Eaves and Clayton County  Chairman Eldrin Bell all agree Georgia has to quit just locking up drug offenders and non-violent criminals.

It costs too much and released offenders can't find jobs. Deal has established a Criminal Justice Reform Council to tackle the issue.

They met at the Fernbank Science Center Wednesday to be part of a symposium put on by an organization that helps prisoners who finish sentences. Jobs, housing and drug counseling are three key factors in keeping ex-cons from becoming convicts again.

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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, is interviewed during a live-to-tape recording of the Politically Georgia podcast at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 6, 2025. (Nathan Posner for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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Tracy Woodard from InTown Cares (left) and Lauren Hopper from Mercy Care organization work with residents at the Copperton Street encampment in August 2024. 
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