FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Tensions flared during a Fulton County Commission meeting on Wednesday after a plan to significantly reduce the jail population was introduced, catching some commissioners and the sheriff off guard.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Robb Pitts laid out a five-point plan aimed at cutting the population at the Fulton County Jail by at least 1,000 inmates.
Pitts said the jail was originally built to house about 1,500 single-bed inmates but currently holds around 2,000.
“This plan that we’ve come up with, we can reduce that population significantly by at least a thousand inmates,” Pitts said during the meeting.
The proposal includes opening a new diversion center for non-violent offenders and increasing the use of ankle monitors.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Man shot, killed by officers in Publix shopping center parking lot
- Chick-fil-A changes fry recipe
- Man shoved kids on bikes into fountain, arrested at Sandy Springs concert, police say
However, some commissioners said they were blindsided by the rollout of the plan.
“This is a political stunt. It’s absolutely ridiculous,” one commissioner said during the meeting.
Despite the criticism, the board voted to pass the plan.
Pitts said the initiative would not require additional taxpayer funding.
“No additional cost to the county. Money is already in place. It’s just a matter of us following through with what’s already in place,” he said.
Later Wednesday, Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat said he and his office were not consulted before the plan was introduced.
“Let’s be clear, we didn’t see the plan. We had no line of sight of the plan, only that it was occurring, so I think that’s a bit disingenuous,” Labat said. “Ankle monitors... increasing that... if they had listened to us the first time, then we wouldn’t have had ankle monitor problems.”
The chairman maintains the funding is secured and says the focus now is implementation.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2026 Cox Media Group
