Fulton County reports falling jail population, outlines jail-blitz repairs and ongoing consent-decree work

Fulton County officials reported a decline in the county jail’s average daily population and outlined a multi-month facility repair program, while community advocates urged the Board of Commissioners to pursue policy changes alongside physical fixes.

County staff said average length of stay improved in January, and the average monthly jail population fell to about 2,470 inmates in January with a one-day mid‑February snapshot of 2,497. Steve Naraki of the county’s strategy office said some reporting metrics remain unavailable while staff shift to automated data pulls, and that the office expects several months to stand up revised data reporting measures.

The county’s jail-blitz maintenance program has completed seven of 11 housing units (about 64 percent), Joseph Davis of asset management told the commission. Davis said Housing Unit 5 South was completed in February and 7 North was “99 percent” complete, projecting March 1 as a conservative completion date for 7 North. He said the first round of blitz work should finish by late spring, with additional assessments and recommendations to follow.

Why it matters: the facility repairs are part of a broader response to frequent reports of poor conditions and recent incidents at the Fulton County Jail, and county officials said they are coordinating facility work with the county’s consent-decree process and the Department of Justice.

County presentations and data

- The county’s justice scorecard showed an improvement in average length of stay, from 48 days to 40 days in January. Naraki said some clearance‑rate and aging-of-unindicted metrics showed declines month‑to‑month and that the automated reporting process remains a work in progress. - The county-funded electronic monitor program had 846 participants as of Jan. 27, with about 60 percent on monitors for under one year and 40 percent for more than one year. - County staff said 540 beds remained unavailable in February, down from earlier reported counts of about 744 unavailable. Davis said some beds remain offline because of recurring localized flooding problems in specific floors (not system-wide floor‑drain backups) and because of the time it takes to move detainees safely for repairs. - The Alpharetta annex still houses about 50 inmates; staff reported an operating cost of roughly $50 per inmate per day for that facility.

Repairs, capital and timelines

County staff said a $3.2 million allocation previously approved by the board funds a set of high‑priority repairs, including a fire alarm upgrade (projected May 12 completion), padded cells replacement, kitchen equipment replacement (4–6 weeks from purchase order), laundry equipment replacement (deferred for operational reasons), and elevator modernization (assessment completed; specifications in preparation). Facility assessments by consultants began in mid‑February with findings scheduled for presentation in June and renovation recommendations in August.

Public advocates’ concerns

In public comment, Michael Collins of Color of Change urged the commission to treat the Department of Justice consent decree as a prompt to address upstream drivers of incarceration — including prosecutor practices, bail, and court management — not merely facility conditions. Devin Franklin of the Southern Center for Human Rights told commissioners that a recently introduced state bill, SB 7, would allow Fulton County to request municipal jail beds and said recent incidents (he cited three deputies arrested for alleged abuse and another recent death at the jail) show that adding beds alone will not improve safety. Franklin’s remarks called for policy changes to reduce jail population rather than expanding capacity.

Operations and oversight

Sharon (Chief Financial Officer) and Naraki said the county is working closely with superior‑court partners to identify backlogs and case‑management strategies. Davis and the maintenance team said they are meeting weekly with a third‑party inspector (EMSI) to review housing-unit readiness; Davis said EMSI inspects housing units and submits items for work‑order tracking.

Staffing and contracted support

Commissioners questioned whether a change in staffing or contractor funding would affect maintenance and monitoring. County staff said EMSI’s contract value last year was roughly in the $800,000 range; staff later stated that the sheriff’s office was expected to fund EMSI going forward and that the county had not continued the funding from non‑agency sources. Commissioners expressed concern about what would happen if the sheriff did not fund the service.

Ending note

County leaders emphasized the work is ongoing: staff asked for more time to automate reporting, promised monthly updates, and scheduled a June briefing on assessment findings and an August recommendation for renovations. Community advocates urged that those facility improvements be paired with criminal‑justice reforms to reduce people’s time in custody.