Sheriff suggests refusing non-violent offenders be booked into Fulton County Jail

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat told the Fulton County Board of Commissioners that several detainees charged with misdemeanors have been held in jail longer than they would've been had they been sentenced by a judge.

He wants the law department to determine whether the sheriff's office can stop accepting people who are arrested for non-violent offenses.

"I want to stop taking misdemeanors. If it's a non-violent situation, I don't want them. East Point got a jail. Atlanta got a jail. College Park uses East Point. The city of South Fulton uses East Point. If you got a misdemeanor, take them there. Take them there," Labat told commissioners during Wednesday's board meeting. 

What would that mean for the police departments in Fulton County's 15 cities who book non-violent offenders in the Rice Street facility?

The South Fulton Police Department serves one of Fulton County's largest cities and does not have its own jail.

"I can sympathize with his position because he is kind of in an untenable position right now, as it relates to the overcrowding at the jail," South Fulton Police Chief Keith Meadows told FOX 5's Deidra Dukes. "It's my opinion as the police chief of the city of South Fulton that this could adversely impact not only our city but other municipalities as well."

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Chief Meadows says about 81% of his department's arrests are for non-violent offenses.

"If we are not able to put those people in a decent facility and process them in a timely manner, and get them through in a timely manner, then it is going to cause a backlog and it will cause overcrowding in the jail," the chief said.

The Fulton County Sheriff's Office can't move inmates to some of the other metro facilities they contract with because Fulton County must provide staff to supervise those detainees. 

Sheriff Labat says he doesn't have enough deputies to cover those positions 

Butch Ayers serves as the executive director for the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police. He said most local municipal police departments may have a temporary holding facility, but typically do not operate jails.

Ayers says law enforcement agencies statewide are experiencing jail overcrowding and staffing shortages.

"We have fewer applicants wanting to do it, but the demands for those positions are still high, so we have low supply, high demand," said Ayers.

Fulton County Jail in crisis

The jail, which opened in 1989, held more than 3,200 people earlier this year — well above its capacity of roughly 2,700. 

Fulton County Commission Chair Robb Pitts has turned to the Atlanta City Council for help battling the overcrowding that officials say is to blame for inmates living in inhumane conditions.

This year alone, 10 inmates have died at the jail. In a five-week span, there have been a reported six deaths - the last being a 24-year-old inmate who was found unresponsive in his cell on Aug. 31.

After the last death, Pitts called the situation at the jail a "crisis and an emergency." 

The Fulton County Jail remains under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. The federal agency opened a civil rights investigation into conditions at the jail, with officials citing violence, filthy conditions and the death last year of Lashawn Thompson, whose body was found covered in insects. An independent autopsy done at his family’s request found he died from severe neglect. His family has since reached a settlement with the county.

Dayvion Blake, 23, was stabbed to death and four others were stabbed and injured during a fight at the jail on Aug. 31. Samuel Lawrence, 34, died Aug. 26 at Grady Memorial Hospital after he was found unresponsive in his cell at the jail. The other three people who died in the last month include 66-year-old Alexander Hawkins, 34-year-old Christopher Smith and 40-year-old Montay Stinson.

On Wednesday, Fulton County leaders debated over a plan to transfer hundreds of inmates to facilities in and outside of Georgia.

A Fulton County Jail inmate also spoke during the meeting, describing the deteriorating conditions at the jail.

"The walls are crumbling down and inmates are creating shanks out of the wall. So, you can go inside of the wall and get you a knife. You can go into your light and fix yourself up something to stab somebody next to you," the inmate explained.

Attorneys with the Fulton County Public Defender's Office have filed an emergency petition to prevent the transfers, saying that it would significant difficulties in providing them with legal representation.

Thursday, the family of Dino Walker, who was reportedly stabbed to death in the Fulton County Jail in 2022, announced plans to file a lawsuit.