Fulton Jail Overflow Leads Sheriff To Seek ATL Detention Center

ATLANTA — Fulton County Sheriff Patrick “Pat” Labat wants to use the Atlanta City Detention Center to help reduce overcrowding at the Fulton County Jail.

In a letter addressed to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms released late Thursday, Labat requested use of the facility — where he was once chief — to avail 500 beds for jail overflow. Currently, Labat said an average of nearly 300 inmates have to use portable beds known as “boats.”

Negotiations to open the detention center to County use stalled earlier this month when Bottoms would only offer 150 beds, The Neighbor reports. Labat gave the City until June 15 — last week — to agree.

He said Fulton County Commissioners didn't receive a letter of intent from the Mayor's Office promised to propose the alternative to his request.

“At this time, that LOI would serve as the logical starting point for negotiations as all members of the newly formed joint committee engage in future negotiations,” he said.

Both Bottoms and Labat are part of a City-County joint committee established to come up with justice reform recommendations. However, as a plan to reduce or remove jail punishment for some minor crimes, Bottoms looks to close the detention center, transforming it into a diversion center for minor offenders.

Labat outlined specifically how he planned to use the space.

“Rest assured, the ask of 500 beds isn’t an arbitrary number and is in fact based on our desire to better serve an underserved population to include youthful offenders, mental health detainees, and female detainees,” Labat wrote.

He also pointed out that more space allowed jail staff to socially distance detainees and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“Not to be minimized, is the risk posed by COVID-19 in a correctional facility,” Labat wrote. “The CDC is clear about the heightened risk that overcrowding poses to detainees and deputies alike. I am proud of my team’s success thus far, but vigilance and reduction of overcrowding are critical to continued mitigation.”