When the citizens of Fulton County chose me in 2020 to serve as their District Attorney, they gave me the great responsibility of protecting our community by enforcing the law without fear or favor. When I took office on Jan. 1, 2021, courts statewide were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, grand juries had not operated and crime was rising to levels not seen since the 1990s. Relationships between law enforcement agencies and the Fulton County District Attorney’s office were dysfunctional.
I am proud to report that due to the hard work of my staff and police departments across Fulton County, we have made great progress. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that violent crime is down more than 20% in Atlanta this year, with homicides down 30%. We are not satisfied, but we are moving in the right direction.
As I promised during my campaign, we are targeting the most dangerous criminals while helping vulnerable youth and those who need a second chance. We train police officers to investigate and build cases against gang members – especially leaders – who are responsible for so much of the violence in our county. Police countywide have been great partners. In Atlanta, gang arrest warrants are up 850%. In 2023 alone, more than 110 gang members have been convicted. That joint effort is making everyone safer.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
We have brought the fight to human trafficking. Our nationally recognized human trafficking unit has worked with police to bring cases against traffickers, from South Fulton to Roswell.
To help those who need a second chance, I started Fulton’s first pre-indictment diversion program, which lets us help lower-level offenders make amends and learn skills without being marked by the scarlet letter of a felony indictment. In cooperation with Fulton County Schools, we are in classrooms, teaching and mentoring students to help them stay on the right track. We work with the Credible Messengers program for youth in trouble, using adults who have been down the wrong road to teach the costs of bad decisions.
When I took office at the beginning of 2021, the Fulton County District Attorney’s office faced a backlog of over 18,000 unindicted cases. In addition to that backlog, felony arrests were up 25% in 2021 and 2022 over the pre-COVID era. I created a new Case Intake Division staffed by experienced prosecutors and investigators that builds strong cases from the start. Of the cases we inherited or received since I took office, we have made charging decisions in more than 75%.
Let me also explain this – whether a defendant has been indicted has nothing to do with whether they receive bond. Every person in jail must be seen by a judge within 72 hours of arrest and the vast majority get bond at that time. We do not indict cases until we have the evidence to prove a defendant committed a crime -- but that process does not delay bond.
Fulton’s jail is in crisis, but our investigation and indictment of cases are not the reasons. As I have said repeatedly in public, Fulton needs a new jail desperately and has for years. It is deteriorating to the point that inmates are using the crumbling walls to make weapons. Despite this, some Fulton County commissioners -- notably Bob Ellis -- are doing everything they can to resist funding a facility that can house in a humane way those who should be off the streets.
Since the state legislative leadership has a newfound interest in my office, let’s talk about how they can work with us to make everyone safer.
First -- the legislature’s lack of funding of the GBI crime lab is a scandal. GBI leadership told me they cannot timely test guns used in violent crimes for ballistics evidence, and to use private labs. We can in the most critical cases, but I do not have the budget to do so in all cases. That backlog delays justice. Furthermore, if someone is arrested with multiple dangerous drugs, the lab only has the capacity to test one drug, meaning the defendant cannot be held fully accountable. Tragically, due to lack of funding, GBI cannot test all sexual assault kits. A federal grant recently allowed my office to test kits the GBI did not. Of approximately 1,500, we found DNA from 40 serial rapists.
Second -- our office receives far less state funding than other offices based on our case count. Even though we are a state agency, only 8% of our prosecutors, investigators and victim witness advocates are state funded. The state has given Fulton only 15 Superior Court judges to hear felony cases, significantly fewer than other counties given our case count. That disparity in state resources must be lessened.
Third -- I have gone to the legislature my first two years with a bipartisan bill with new tools for prosecutors, including provisions that would expedite the process of rulings on evidentiary matters and move cases faster. In both years, legislative leaders blocked it. They should pass it.
The politicians who filed a complaint are seeking political cover, claiming I should look the other way on certain cases because the defendants are their political allies and friends. That’s not how the rule of law works. As long as I am the District Attorney of Fulton County, Lady Justice will be blind -- people who break the law will be held accountable regardless of their political status and friends. Political attacks and violent threats will not deter me.
If legislators want to work together to make Georgia safer, I will join them. Otherwise, they can do political theater at the Capitol while my team and I work to make Fulton County safer.
Fani Willis is Fulton County District Attorney.
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