Community advocates oppose Fulton County's $1 billion jail proposal

A coalition of community advocates are calling on Fulton County leaders to consider alternative solutions that don't include spending billions on a new jail.

Why it matters: Thirteen inmates died at the Rice Street jail in 2023 , and three so far this year .

• The Department of Justice is investigating the jail for civil rights violations after detainee LaShawn Thompson 's body was found covered in bug bites in his cell in September 2022.
• Sheriff Pat Labat has told media outlets and elected officials that conditions are so rough at the northwest Atlanta lock-up that inmates are using pieces of the building to create shanks.

Driving the news: In a report released this month, Prison Policy Initiative found that the operating cost for the mental health wing of a proposed new jail would be more than what the county allocates annually for those services in the community.

• It based its findings off of a 2023 feasibility study, which it also said did not factor in Atlanta's decreasing crime rate , whether renovating the current jail is an option and "overuse" of pretrial detention in Fulton.

What they're saying: Michael Collins, senior director of government affairs at Color of Change, a member of the Community Over Cages coalition, told Axios jail conditions could be improved by pushing police officers to use diversion initiatives that allow people to access services they need instead of arresting them for minor offenses.

• He also said elected officials should invite stakeholders to the table to come up with solutions that don't involve spending $1.7 billion on a facility designed to hold people for shorter periods of time.
• One of those solutions also could include renovating the facility, Collins told Axios.
• "We've gone before the Board of Commissions and testified, but never once have all of the groups been truly invited for a serious conversation with the commissioners about a path forward, and I think the time for that is now," he said.

The other side: The sheriff's office said in a statement that the "decades-long challenges plaguing the jail are worsening day by day" and a new jail would allow the agency to care for more than 400 detainees with mental health issues.

• "A replacement facility would also allow for more positive programming aimed at reducing the recidivism rate," the agency said. "We simply cannot facilitate the level of programming needed to do this at the Rice Street jail."

Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts said in a statement that the county will be reviewing whether renovations are possible and making "better use" of other Fulton jail facilities around the county.

• "A real solution will be identified through bold thinking, collaboration and real leadership by all of our elected and appointed officials in every branch of government," he said. "The time to start that work is now."

The big picture: Consultants told County Commissioners that a new, larger jail would cost about $1.7 billion, according to the AJC .

• After being told by state lawmakers that they can't use a local sales tax to pay for a new building, commissioners are back at square one: issuing another request for proposals to weigh the feasibility of a new jail and how it could be funded, the AJC reports .

The bottom line: "I think we've wasted two years on a discussion that was never going anywhere," Collins said.

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