ACWORTH, Ga. — The city of Acworth is no longer using its jail.
Leaders shut down the facility July 1.
Closing the Acworth Detention Facility has been in discussion over the past few years after the pandemic brought on various challenges, such as staffing issues and liability concerns, that made it difficult for the city to maintain the daily jail operations.
Moving forward, Acworth detainees will now be transported to the Smyrna Jail on Atlanta Road.
The National Council for Home Safety and Security ranks Acworth the 13th safest city in Georgia. Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood said the decision to close the jail would not compromise the city's safety.
“I think it's very important that we keep the jail staff and that we keep our police department fully charged because of the demands of public safety in our community,” Allegood said. “If you have any problems and you don't have the right people in the right places, then oftentimes it creates a lot of liability.”
Allegood said that the consolidation of the jail will save the city around $100 million a year and that money will be reinvested into “public safety services as well as other quality of life services” that will be discussed with the community.
In addition, Acworth Police Maj. Mark Cheatham said they are working to ensure that the closure will not interfere with public safety.
“One of the concerns people might have had were if we don't have a municipal jail in the city and we're having to take officers and make transports down to Smyrna, are we going to see less visibility of officers on the road? And the answer is no, not at all," Cheatham said.
To maintain the visibility of Acworth Police, the city has created a new transport division whose job is to solely transport Acworth detainees to the Smyrna Jail. This division will be made up of former staff from the Acworth Detention Center, and the remaining staff from the jail were absorbed into various city departments.
In terms of the future of the vacant jail, Cheatham said they are currently holding on to what they have in case of unexpected circumstances, however, no long-term plan has been made for the vacant center.
“Should something come up, should something that we don't foresee happen and we need a place to house the prisoners, we agree we have that location facility readily available,” Cheatham said.
In the meantime, Acworth officials believe this new venture will bring great benefits to the city.
“As we're operating these shifts, the day shift and the night shift, it will actually be able to keep our officers on the road and not be having to deal with what few inmates we do have the processing of those inmates so where we will actually increase our efficiency in our public safety,” Allegood said.