ATLANTA — Big changes are coming to the Fulton County Jail. Deputies will stop booking misdemeanor arrestees with limited exceptions this summer.
The change will start at the beginning of July and will happen in the midst of the FIFA World Cup matches.
The move may have some impact on jail overcrowding, but they will have to wait and see.
Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat told Channel 2’s Candace McCowan that misdemeanors are only a small fraction of those locked up in the Fulton County Jail.
“We released a guy yesterday who was charged with public drunkenness,” Labat said.
And it’s that type of crime that will soon not be booked into the Fulton County Jail.
The jail will stop accepting those charged with misdemeanor crimes, with exceptions for domestic violence, sexual assault, or repeat offenders.
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“There is this mythology that we have a bunch of misdemeanors, and we need to let everybody go. Well, again this morning, we only had 109 misdemeanors,” Labat said.
Each of those 109 would remain in jail under this policy change.
Just last week, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners voted on a resolution asking the sheriff to put this policy in place.
“There’s going to be situations that happen, public drunkenness, things of that nature. This is a way to reduce the jail population, and this is what this is all about,” Fulton County Commissioner Chair Robb Pitts. “[Labat] is saying he will implement it; I believe it’s July 1. Our resolution asked him to do it immediately.”
But Labat said he got the opinion from the county attorney to move forward with the policy earlier this month, and he is taking steps to inform stakeholders.
“This started in October with the county attorney’s office, so it has no impact on the World Cup,” Labat said. “We are not doing this in a vacuum. We are talking to mayors; we’re talking to police chiefs to figure out the best course of action.”
Labat said once the policy is in place, there will be no release of people who are already booked there. It will only impact those coming into the jail.