Fulton County commissioner undeterred by Atlanta mayor's rejection to take more inmates

ATLANTA - Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chair Robb Pitts received a letter from Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens seemingly rejecting Pitts' proposal to increase the cap of how many inmates the Atlanta City Detention Center (ACDC) can house from the Fulton County Jail. Pitts told FOX 5 that's not what the letter really means.

According to their previous agreement, Fulton County could transfer up to 700 inmates from their jail to the ACDC, but only those inmates who meet certain criteria.

So far, Fulton County has transferred 454 inmates to ACDC and can transfer up to 248 more.

In an effort to relieve the overcrowded and embattled Fulton Jail, Pitts sent a letter to Mayor Dickens, asking that the City increase the cap from 700 to 1,300 inmates.

Pitts says it would be a much better and more cost-effective option than sending inmates to Mississippi and south Georgia, as Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat wants to do.

"It just makes no sense to me to transfer 1,000 inmates to Mississippi or to south Georgia when we have the beds, the capacity, right here in Atlanta, Georgia," Pitts told FOX 5 Saturday.

In his response letter obtained by Fox 5 Friday, Dickens said they won’t increase the cap.

But rather ACDC stands ready to receive the 248 inmates that they were already expecting.

"It was not a ‘no,’" Pitts said.

He says he spoke to Mayor Dickens on the phone shortly before he sent the letter.

"My interpretation of the letter, coupled with my conversation with him, was that he's not really comfortable going to the City Council and asking for them to increase the cap because we haven't used up all of the beds that they've given us in the original agreement. We have 250 to go. Once we reach the 700 cap then they will consider raising the cap to the 1,300," Pitts said.

He said he agrees with Mayor Dickens' logic.

"I think it's fair to say, 'well, you fill what we've already given to you, then we'll talk!' That makes sense," Pitts said.

He says it’s up to Sheriff Labat to get those nearly 250 inmates transferred over, so that they can start talking about increasing the cap.

"The ball's in the sheriff's court now. I mean, we have a path forward. So it's up to him to execute," Pitts said.

In his letter, Mayor Dickens points out that in order to make the successful transfer of all these inmates, the Fulton County Sheriff's Office has to provide the "appropriate staffing of detention officers, detainee security and supervision, detainee medical care, and detainee mental health care."

He goes on to say in the letter that staffing levels have presented "occasional challenges."

FOX 5 reached out to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office for comment Saturday night and received the following statement Sunday evening:

"As Sheriff Labat stated at the last Board of Commissioners meeting and has in the past, regardless of the contractual capacity, which is 700, the operational capacity at ACDC is 456, based on what we can staff. The current FCSO population at ACDC is 444. The only way the operational capacity can increase at ACDC is if we provide more staff, and that currently is not possible due to staffing needs at the Rice Street Jail, and our other facilities."

Pitts says he's going to push the County Commissioners to fund Sheriff Labat's plan to get jail staffing where it needs to be.

"Triple overtime, 20% pay increase for his command staff, whatever he means by that, working with retirees, and a more aggressive hiring campaign to get more live bodies in the jail," Pitts said.