Fulton County officials report jail population rise, longer stays and progress on Rice Street "blitz"

Fulton County officials reported an uptick in jail bookings and longer average stays at the county jail during the Board of Commissioners’ April 16 meeting, and managers outlined ongoing maintenance work aimed at returning hundreds of beds to service.

County strategy staff said the average length of stay for the jail population rose “to 47 days,” while a one‑day snapshot of currently incarcerated people showed an average duration of about 222 days as of April 11. Commissioners pressed staff on how the numbers were calculated and asked for regular trend charts to help track progress.

Why it matters: Commissioners cited public‑safety and budget implications tied to higher jail populations and to people waiting in intake because housing beds are unavailable. County managers said returning beds to service and improving diversion are essential to easing pressure on the jail system.

The report: Steve Naraki, deputy director in the county’s strategy office, walked commissioners through the justice system scorecard. He told the board the county had resumed automated reporting of its unindicted population and that the unindicted share of the jail population was 18 percent for March 2025. Naraki also said the felony clearance rate improved to 76 percent for the month of March and that felony dispositions within 180 and 365 days had improved.

Naraki said the county’s average daily jail population was rising: March’s average monthly population was about 2,539, and a one‑day snapshot in mid‑April showed about 2,632 inmates. "For this one‑day snapshot of 2,632 inmates, about 55 have been in jail 90 days or less, and about 17 percent on the opposite end have been incarcerated for over a year," Naraki said.

Maintenance and beds: Joseph (Joe) Davis, director of real estate and asset management, gave a status update on the county’s jail blitz maintenance program, saying crews had completed roughly two‑thirds of the planned work and were beginning blitz work in housing areas that require clinical cleaning. "As of this morning we’re 64% complete with the blitz," Davis said, and he said a closeout walkthrough for one unit was scheduled the same day. He described larger zones taken offline for major repairs and said 575 beds remained unavailable because of maintenance and the blitz work; he projected overall completion between July and August.

Electronic monitoring and diversion: Commissioners pressed staff about use of electronic monitoring and diversion. Naraki reported 805 participants were on the county‑funded ankle monitoring program as of March 31 and that about 69 percent of that group had been on monitors a year or less. He said the county set a cap for the monitoring program at roughly 1,500 participants. Vice Chair Bob Ellis asked for trend bars showing the year‑to‑date totals so the board could see whether monitoring use is increasing or decreasing; Naraki agreed to add comparative charts.

Several commissioners asked whether judges and law enforcement consistently cite monitoring or diversion as alternatives at booking and what data record why officers do or do not divert someone. Naraki said superior court, the public defender and Atlanta Police Department have regular case review meetings and that APD records reasons an individual is not diverted; he said the county and justice partners were working to obtain those data to analyze whether diversion is being used where it might be appropriate. "There’s a monthly or quarterly Justice Policy Board meeting," Naraki said. "We are told by APD in those meetings that officers are required to fill out a reason why an individual would not be diverted." He added that the county was still working to obtain the raw reason codes for independent analysis.

Justice partners and follow‑up: Several commissioners asked that the sheriff’s office, superior court, public defender and APD be asked to brief the board on how they use monitoring and diversion, and whether process changes could increase appropriate diversion. Naraki and county staff agreed to request more detailed reporting from justice partners and to add trend charts and the items commissioners asked for to the monthly operational report.

Public safety and next steps: Commissioners said they want the board to see recurring, comparable trend visuals for monitoring and diversion and to receive a clearer explanation of who remains in the jail for long stays (including competency, medical, or other reasons). Staff committed to expand the operational report to include more repeatable visuals and to follow up with justice system partners on data about non‑diversions.

Ending: County staff asked commissioners to direct any specific metrics they want tracked and promised to return with more granular trend charts next month and with a request that justice partners present on monitoring and diversion practices.