Atlanta to provide Fulton County access to 500 more jail beds
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - The Sheriff of Fulton County is about the sign a deal that he believes will make Atlanta and Fulton County safer.
Patrick Labat says Mayor Andre Dickens will give him access to 500 unused beds at the Downtown jail.
The Sheriff said final details and arrangements are being made to "make sure we can safely do this".
When there is not enough space inside the county jail, a weekly report is given to the court clerk who then makes those numbers available to the county judges.
"On a weekly basis, a magistrate has to make tough decisions," said Ash Joshi, a former prosecutor. "They have to decide who to let out and who to keep."
The Sheriff tried for all of last year to broker a deal for unused beds with former Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. It did not happen.
"I have had two good conversations with the mayor (Dickens)," Labat told members of the Buckhead Public Safety Task Force.
He said the deal could be closed in a matter of weeks.
To ease overcrowding, which includes some inmates sleeping on floors in doggy beds, Labat persuaded Cobb County to lease him 200 unused beds at the Cobb County facility.
And Fulton County owns a small jail north of Atlanta. Labat is about to reopen that facility to further ease the burden.