FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — People had the opportunity Thursday evening to question Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat directly during a town hall focused on overcrowding at the Fulton County Jail and a proposal that could change who is booked into the facility.
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The meeting, held at Enon Baptist Church in South Fulton, centered on the sheriff’s plan to stop accepting people charged with non-violent misdemeanors into the jail — a proposal that was initially expected to begin at the start of July but has since been delayed.
“That was our goal. It was also in the middle of FIFA,” Labat said, referring to the timing of the proposed rollout.
Instead of moving forward immediately, Labat said his office is continuing to gather feedback from community stakeholders before making a final decision.
“We’re going to absorb the data. We’ll let the data drive the conversation,” Labat said.
Labat said the sheriff’s office wants to ensure any changes are carefully considered.
“We’re going to be thoughtful about this process,” he said.
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According to Labat, people charged with misdemeanors account for only a small portion of the jail population — roughly 1% to 3%.
“You’re talking about 102 people, at a low, I think two weeks ago, 79 people,” Labat said.
Some community members at the town hall said reducing the jail population will require looking beyond misdemeanor offenders.
Mo Ivory, the Democratic nominee for the Fulton County Commission chair, said other groups also contribute to overcrowding.
“You’ll have the misdemeanors, then you’ll have people who are there for failure to appear, you’ll have people there who are on probation violations, all of those hundreds or 90 or whatever, they all add up to what becomes the overpopulation,” Ivory said.
Others urged caution, saying public safety must remain the priority.
“I’m a little concerned, though, because the misdemeanors range so vast, so I don’t want the ones that are really criminal to be let loose in the population,” said Dr. Arnita Adams-Johnson, a senior advocate in South Fulton.
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Labat emphasized that any discussion about reducing the jail population must also consider crime victims.
“When we have this conversation around nearly 3,000 people being incarcerated, that also means there are nearly 3,000 victims, and our goal is to serve and protect,” he said.
The sheriff did not announce a new timeline for when a decision on the proposal could be made.
Instead, he said the sheriff’s office will review the feedback gathered during Thursday night’s town hall as it evaluates the potential impact of any policy changes.
If the sheriff’s office implements the misdemeanor policy, it would only apply to new intakes.