Jail Agreement

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Atlanta, Fulton sign lease agreement for city detention center use

Atlanta City Detention Center

By Dyana Bagby

The City of Atlanta will lease hundreds of beds at its mostly empty Downtown detention center to Fulton County, whose jail continues to deal with severe overcrowding.

The two local governments approved the lease agreement in mid-August. Under the agreement, the city will lease Fulton County up to 700 beds at the Atlanta City Detention Center for four years. The county will pay the city $50 a day for each individual it transfers to ACDC. The city will also get 65% of the phone and commissary fees. That totals roughly $2.1 million a month to the city if all 700 beds are used. Mayor Andre Dickens has said the new revenue would be used for public safety, diversion services and homelessness services.

The city and county approvals of the lease agreement came despite strong opposition from activist groups that want the ACDC transformed into a health and wellness center. Such a center would provide emergency housing, mental health services, alcohol, and drug treatments programs.

Activists argued Fulton County keeps people in jail for long periods of time because they cannot afford bail. Providing more social services to non-violent offenders would help keep vulnerable populations out of jail and alleviate overcrowding, they said.

The lease was intended to go into effect immediately after both governments approved it. But the city council narrowly approved an amendment that requires officials first conduct an analysis within 90 days of those incarcerated at the Fulton jail. The analysis would include data such as what offenses people are booked under and average length of detention.

“The data piece is so critically important for a decision of this size,” Councilmember Jason Dozier said in making the amendment.

Alton Adams, the head of public safety for Fulton County, told commissioners at their Aug. 17 meeting that Dozier’s amendment came as a “bit of a surprise.”

The Fulton County Jail on Rice Street has more than 3,400 people behind bars, Adams said. The maximum capacity is for just over 3,000 people. Hundreds of men are forced to sleep on the floor.

“The fact is the current situation is inhumane and it’s increasingly dangerous for detainees, for the deputies who work in the jail and for the medical workers who work in the jail,” Adams said.