Senate Subcommittee on Fulton County Jail Issues Recommendations to Fix Longstanding Problems – 95.5 WSB

ATLANTA – The Georgia Senate Subcommittee on the Fulton County Jail has released its draft findings and recommendations to address problems at the detention center.

The published findings and recommendations are based on months of testimony, hearings and investigations into the problems at Rice Street Jail.

The Georgia Senate began investigating the operation of the prison after several inmate deaths and issues of transparency and organizational challenges between Fulton County and the Sheriff's Office.

The subcommittee was created to review the jail population, the structural integrity of the jail, court procedures in Fulton County, and the funding and staffing of the Sheriff's Office.

The investigation also followed the initiation of a federal investigation into civil rights violations at the prison by the U.S. Department of Justice, which began in July 2023.

While the recommendations are now public, they do not constitute an order. At this time, the next steps regarding implementation or compliance with the Senate's suggestions have not yet been determined.

Here are the subcommittee’s recommendations and findings:

• The Fulton County Commission should oversee any tax dollars allocated to building a new jail or renovating the existing facility.
• The City of Atlanta should transfer the Atlanta Detention Center to Fulton County for use in the housing of pretrial detainees.
• Fulton County should work with the Georgia Sheriff's Association and hire an outside jail expert to oversee the construction, renovation or consolidation.
• The county should employ a maintenance crew dedicated exclusively to working on and maintaining the Fulton County Jail facilities.
• The county should establish a Fulton County Jail Advisory Board representing the Fulton County Commission, the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, the Fulton County Prosecutor's Office, the Fulton County Clerk of Court, and the Fulton County Superior Court.
• Fulton County Commissioners should establish a task force to identify duplicate services, resources and personnel already provided in the Fulton County criminal justice system and include FSCO and the Atlanta Police Department.
• All natural and unnatural deaths in the prison must be reported and investigated just as a death within the boundaries of Fulton County would be investigated.
• All Fulton County Superior Court judges have complete records
• The Clerk of the Supreme Court of Fulton County should establish policies and procedures for the prosecution of criminal cases from arrest to conviction, to prepare monthly reports from all Fulton County law enforcement agencies
• The Fulton County District Attorney's Office and Public Defender's Office should develop processes and policies to allow for expedited trial of all non-violent and non-sexual crimes in court.
• The APD should submit all evidence from criminal proceedings to the Fulton County District Attorney's Office without the need for a public records request.
• The FCSO and the District Attorney's Office should establish RFP policies that include the Fulton County Finance Office as a consultant in selecting contracts for special needs and services not included in their annual budgets.
• The public and private relationships between the County Commission and the Sheriff's Office “were fragile, unprofessional and did not reflect the behavior that citizens should expect,” and weekly professional meetings should be held to improve dynamics and resolve problems
• The County Commission should work with the Sheriff to compare best practices and industry standards to develop and adopt a transparent and accountable budget and provide oversight without managing the Sheriff's Office budget in detail after it is adopted.
• The Atlanta Circuit's workload is currently not fully reported to Superior Court judges. The District should conduct an audit of the court and implement best practices
• The Fulton County District Attorney should have an outside expert review conducted to streamline the processes with the courts in deciding cases