Results of investigation into prison conditions at Fulton County Jail released

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. – A press conference Friday morning will detail the results of a Georgia Senate subcommittee's long-running investigation into conditions at the Fulton County Jail.

The press conference will begin at 8 a.m. State Senators John Albers (R-Roswell), chairman of the Senate Public Safety Committee, and Senate Majority Whip Randy Robertson (R-Cataula) will address reporters.

The subcommittee first met in November 2023 and held several hearings over the past year on the deteriorating conditions at the prison.

The prison has struggled with problems such as overcrowding, crumbling infrastructure and the deaths of more than two dozen inmates either in the prison itself or after a medical emergency over the past two years. Last year, a U.S. Department of Justice investigation was also launched into the facility, the results of which have not yet been announced.

Fulton Sheriff Pat Labat is pushing to completely replace the county jail. He said the facility was already “in crisis” in April after an inmate was stabbed to death, while the Fulton County Commission has now voted to make renovations to the facility — and balks at the proposed $2 billion cost of an entirely new jail.

There have been disagreements between the sheriff and some members of the Board of Commissioners several times over the past year over whether the fault lies more with a lack of support from the county or with the sheriff's management of the facility.

Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts said in July that building a new prison was not currently possible.

“If a lightbulb goes out in prison, they say that's why we need a brand new $2 billion prison. That's nonsense. That's nonsense,” Pitts said.

His comments came after the plant's kitchen area had to be evacuated due to a second gas leak in a week.

At the recent Board of Directors meeting this week, an update was provided on the ongoing flash repairs.

Slides presented at the meeting said repair work was just over half complete, with six units – or 726 of 1,122 non-medical cells – refurbished and the most recent “blitz” on a seventh unit beginning on August 17.

According to the presentation, nine of eleven units are to be completed by the end of 2024, with full completion expected in January or February 2025.