ATLANTA — UPDATE: You can see some of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners' discussion on this subject, from Wednesday's meeting, above this story.
Original story below
An amended emergency petition was filed on Monday in Fulton County Superior Court in hopes of preventing the sheriff from shipping hundreds of detainees out of state as he works to fix a crisis happening inside the Fulton County Jail.
On Wednesday, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners will hear a presentation from the sheriff's office that will update them on options to move hundreds of inmates to two private prisons. The presentation will also include funding options to not only house the detainees hundreds of miles away from Fulton County but also the costs to transport them back and forth for hearings.
Currently, two private prisons are under consideration: the D. Ray James Correctional Institution in Folkston, Georgia, located around 300 miles away from Atlanta, and the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Mississippi, which is roughly a 400-mile journey one way from the city.
Last week, Rob Pitts, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, wrote in an email regarding the two privately owned prisons:
"Both of these are viable options but are located more than four hours from Fulton County. Transferring inmates to Tutwiler and Folkston will take time and cost taxpayers additional money."
In an amended emergency petition filed by Maurice Kenner, Circuit Public Defender, Atlanta Judicial Circuit, it states on the first page that moving any inmates from the Fulton County Jail to an out-of-state facility is a "clear violation of his legal duty," referring to Sheriff Pat Labat.
The petition also states, "Under Georgia law, a sheriff's duty requires him to transfer persons housed in a jail with unsafe conditions to either the jail of an adjoining county or the jail of some other county if the latter is more assessable."
Overcrowding is the imminent issue the sheriff is trying to fix, following 10 deaths inside his jail since January 1, 2023, and the announcement in July that the Department of Justice was launching a civil investigation into the Rice Street facility.
“People in prisons and jails are entitled to basic protections of their civil rights,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said. "During this comprehensive review of the conditions of confinement at the Fulton County Jail, the Justice Department will determine whether systemic violations of federal laws exist, and if so, how to correct them.”
Chairman Pitts told 11Alive in previous interviews the jail is in a "crisis." He said the board's first priority is fixing the overcrowding to reduce the number of inmates so the sheriff's jail staff can better manage the facility.
Pitts has also thrown out two additional options when it comes to moving inmates out of the Rice Street facility. Those include the Atlanta City Detention Center and the United States Penitentiary on McDonough Boulevard. He admitted there are several things to look into regarding the legality and if space is even available.
As for the public defender's office, they said in the petition that moving any inmate out-of-state will "seriously damage relationships with their attorneys and families and will deny them the effective assistance of counsel."
The petition also stated the sheriff can't violate the detainees' "right to meaningful access to counsel afforded by the Sixth Amendment" pointing to the distance to the facility in Mississippi from Fulton County.
It pointed out the fact that the sheriff is "responsible for making public defender clients available for all meetings with their counsel, in keeping with the Sixth Amendment's guarantees. Transporting each detainee client of the public defender's office for every meeting for a round trip of 792 miles, which likely will be impossible, will prove costly for the sheriff and the county."
The sheriff's office had declined several interviews about the possibility of moving inmates and the conditions inside the jail. However, on Tuesday afternoon, the sheriff's communication director sent the following statement:
"Outsourcing inmates is the best and safest avenue for safely housing detainees until the case backlog is addressed and overcrowding is relieved."
When we asked for a response to the amended petition that claims moving inmates out-of-state is a "clear violation of his legal duty'" referring to the sheriff, the communications director said they've not yet received the amended petition and referred to their previous statement.
The Board of Commissioners' meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Wednesday. Besides the presentation by the sheriff on outsourcing inmates, 11Alive has learned some attorneys and/or staff will be at the meeting to give public comment regarding how moving inmates across state lines will impact their ability to represent them.