Commissioners approve $1.1B renovation plan for Fulton County Jail

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The Fulton County Board of Commissioners has given the green light on a plan to improve crumbling conditions at the Fulton County Jail.

In a 4-1 vote on Wednesday, commissioners approved a $1.1 billion plan to renovate the jail. Commissioners Bob Ellis, Bridget Thorne, Khadijah Abdur-Rahman and Commission Chairman Robb Pitts voted in favor of the plan. Mo Ivory voted against it, and Dana Barrett abstained. Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. was not there.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Leaders detail $1 billion plan to improve crumbling conditions at Fulton County Jail

Along with significant renovations to the jail, the proposed plan also includes a newly built special-purpose facility that would be used for medical purposes and to support housing needs.

The plan would have a nine-year timeline for the work to be completed.

Pitts said the plan would not need a millage rate increase for construction costs, but commissioners discussed at length on Wednesday the likelihood of increasing the rate to pay for operation costs.

The Fulton County Jail, which is on Rice Street, has been plagued with issues and controversy.

In July 2023, the Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into jail conditions, citing violence, filthy living quarters, and the in-custody death of a man whose body was found covered in insects. That investigation found that jail officials failed to protect detainees from violence, used excessive force, and held them in “unconstitutional and illegal conditions.”

The jail has also been the site of numerous inmate deaths over the past few years.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: City and county leaders weigh in on scathing DOJ report on Fulton County jail conditions

Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat has long believed that the county needs a new jail. In July 2024, commissioners scrapped plans for a $1.7 billion replacement jail, instead approved $300 million to rehabilitate the existing building.