Atlanta councilmembers hold resolution seeking staged withdrawal of Fulton County detainees from Atlanta City Detention Center

City Councilmembers on the Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee voted unanimously to hold a resolution that would have initiated planning for a staged withdrawal of people detained at the Atlanta City Detention Center under the city’s intergovernmental agreement with Fulton County.

The resolution, 25R3289, authored by Councilmembers Antonio Lewis, Liliana Bakhtiari and Dacian Dozier, was put on hold after council members said they wanted more detail on Article 22 of the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) and related data about who Fulton County is housing at ACDC.

Supporters and opponents addressed the committee during the public-comment period. Jessica Corbett, director of external affairs for Fulton County, urged the committee to preserve access to the facility while Fulton County carries out jail repairs and reforms. “Fulton County's use of the Atlanta City Detention Center is essential to that effort,” Corbett said, adding that the county has committed funding to systemwide improvements and that the county entered a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice in January to improve conditions.

Devin Franklin, senior movement policy counsel with the Southern Center for Human Rights, told the committee the resolution as drafted would ask the city to enforce the staged-withdrawal language already in Article 22 of the IGA and cautioned about conditions that have arisen since Fulton County began housing detainees there. “What councilman Lewis is asking of you all is to go forward with the contract as written,” Franklin said, and he cited two deaths of people in Fulton County custody at ACDC since the county began using the facility.

Roberta Myers Douglas, vice president of state strategy and reentry at the Legal Action Center and a member of the Communities Over Cages Coalition, urged the committee to require Fulton County to submit a comprehensive plan for how it will populate ACDC and to begin broader public planning for repurposing the facility as a social-services hub.

Councilmember Antonio Lewis, one of the resolution’s co-authors, said he and his co-authors intended the measure narrowly to implement the staged-withdrawal provision in Article 22 and that additional time would allow council members to consult with attorneys and assemble the specific data requested. Councilmember Isha Collins asked for explicit data from Fulton County, including case types and counts, to avoid creating the impression that ACDC holds only low-level offenders. Lewis and the seconder, Councilmember Mary Norwood, asked to hold the resolution so those details could be shared with colleagues.

The motion to hold the resolution was made by Councilmember Antonio Lewis and seconded by Councilmember Mary Norwood. The committee vote to hold the item was 5 yeas, 0 nays; the item was held in committee.

Votes at a glance - Minutes approved (vote to approve minutes recorded earlier): 4 yeas, 0 nays — minutes approved. - Favorable claims approved (motion moved by Councilmember Antonio Lewis; seconded by Councilmember Mary Norwood): 5 yays, 0 nays — approved. - Unfavorable claims adverse (moved by Councilmember Isha Collins; seconded by Vice Chair Dustin Hillis): 5 yays, 0 nays — adverse claims sustained. - Ordinance 2501181 (lease amendment for office space at Lenox Mall; first reading announced): read into record. - Ordinance 25011335 (APD donation of vehicles from UASI, approx. $262,254.62): moved/seconded and passed 5 yays, 0 nays — item favorable. - Ordinance amending Chapter 10 (alcohol license distance exemption repeal, item 32501156): passed 5 yays, 0 nays — item favorable. - Resolution 25R3283 (collective bargaining agreement with IAFF Local 134): passed 5 yays, 0 nays — item favorable. - Resolution 25R3316 (settlement in Anne O’Connell case, $1,959.50): passed 5 yays, 0 nays — item favorable. - Contract authorization for APD systems analytics with Purigen Technologies (three-year term, up to $500,000 annually): passed 5 yays, 0 nays — item favorable.

Why it matters The committee’s action to hold the staged-withdrawal resolution delays a city-level push to require Fulton County to plan a phased removal of county detainees from ACDC under the IGA. The exchange revealed differing views about whether the resolution would prematurely terminate the county’s use of ACDC or would simply call for adherence to the existing Article 22 staged-withdrawal process. Speakers urged transparent data sharing on who is housed at ACDC and asked for a public plan for repurposing the facility once it is no longer used for detention.

What’s next Councilmembers said they want explicit data from Fulton County on the number and types of cases housed at ACDC, as well as clarity about the IGA’s provisions cited in the resolution, before taking further action. The resolution remains held in committee, and authors said they will work with attorneys and county representatives to supply the requested detail.