Atlanta to lease 700 jail beds to Fulton County

After years of dialogue about the way forward for Atlanta’s jail, metropolis officers have determined the very best use for the South Downtown lock-up proper now’s…to stay a jail.

Driving the information: Fulton County and town have come to a four-year settlement that may permit the county to lease as much as 700 beds on the Detention Middle from town to alleviate crowding at its northwest Atlanta jail.

• The proposed four-year settlement has to get ultimate approval from Metropolis Council and the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.

Based on town’s information launch, the settlement requires Fulton County to switch about 250 detainees from its annex in Union Metropolis and as much as 450 folks from different services to the Atlanta jail.

What they’re saying: Mayor Andre Dickens stated in a press release that he nonetheless needs to transition the detention heart for different makes use of, however “we’re confronted by an actual and speedy disaster of overcrowding on the Fulton County Jail.”

• “Many of those detainees are Atlanta residents, and our conscience calls us to behave,” he stated.

Catch up fast: Metropolis Council in 2019 handed a decision that known as on closing the Detention Middle and making a activity pressure to find out its future, based on the AJC.

• The 11-story, 1,300-bed detention heart solely makes use of just a few flooring to deal with fewer than 50 folks every night time, most of whom are there for nonviolent, minor offenses, the AJC reported.
• Doable new makes use of included remodeling it right into a neighborhood heart or razing the location to construct housing.
• In February, the Council moved forward with authorized groundwork to show the detention heart right into a 24-hour facility the place non-violent folks can entry psychological well being counseling, therapy or different assets as a substitute of going to jail.

Fulton Sheriff Patrick Labat and District Lawyer Fani Willis have known as for the ability to proceed working as a jail.

• The Fulton Sheriff’s Workplace, which runs the county jail, didn’t reply to requests for remark.

The opposite facet: Moki Macias, the manager director of the Atlanta Policing Options and Diversion Initiative, which redirects folks going through arrest to substance abuse and psychological well being companies, informed Axios that shifting forward with a diversion heart is the “first step to rework the complete facility” from its unique goal of incarceration.

• She additionally informed Axios that any income town makes from leasing jail beds to Fulton County can be “incompatible with [PAD’s] mission and our values.”
• The Southern Middle for Human Rights, which has been vital of the county for situations at its services, stated in a press release that the lease “will solely create a brand new location for ache and struggling within the metropolis, fairly than holding Fulton County accountable for its failure to responsibly handle its personal jails.”

Sure, however: The town of Atlanta says its plan to launch a Middle for Diversion and Providers on the repurposed jail remains to be on observe to start in 2023 and isn’t affected by the settlement.

• Atlanta will quickly start in search of proposals for alternate makes use of for the constructing that may start as soon as the lease ends with Fulton County.