The Fulton County Commission approved a $1.2 billion plan during its Aug. 20 meeting to build a special purpose building for mental and medical health services for inmates, along with complete renovations at the Rice Street main jail.
The special purpose building would have 1,818 beds and would be completed before renovations to the main jail. That would enable the county to house inmates displaced during renovations to the main jail to be housed temporarily in the new building. That would offset how many inmates would need to be sent to jail facilities outside the county.
It would take a projected five years to design and build the special-purpose building, during which no renovations would be made at the Rice Street jail. That didn’t sit well with Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat.
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“Yesterday’s vote by four members of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners (BOC) to spend a billion dollars to build a special purpose facility is the equivalent to being in a burning building and voting to design a new fire station that will not open for five years,” Labat said in a news release. “The vote is a political game of smoke and mirrors that flies in the face of the federal consent decree.”
The sheriff said the failing infrastructure of the Rice Street Jail is a long-standing problem he attributed to demand that was far beyond its designed capacity. In the news release he cited failing pipes that continuously burst and leak, a foundation that floods when it rains, locks that don’t work properly, and an outdated HVAC system he said spans across three federal consent decrees.
Labat said four of the commissioners turned a blind eye to the need for a new jail.
A report by ACR Partners, the county’s consultant on the jail, reported on deficiencies and required repairs on jail facilities during the commission’s Aug. 20 meeting. The Rice Street Jail’s roof, interior finishes, plumbing, fire protection, and electrical systems were reported in critical condition, with major repair or replacement required. Classified in poor condition and requiring significant repairs or replacement were the exterior enclosure, interior construction, and HVAC.
Roger Lichtman of ACR Partners said the plan would cost an estimated $1.23 billion. The special-purpose facility would cost $536 million, and the Rice Street Jail renovation would cost another $552 billion. A 10-year maintenance estimate was $96 million. Outsourcing inmates was estimated at $47 million.
The county would use the $10 million being set aside for debt service, an existing $8.6 million from a returned tax allocation district (TAD) increment, and property taxes funds that had been going to TADs once the TAD funding period ends, plus an expected $50 million annually projected in a reduction in pension contributions starting in 2033.
“I think this is the very fiscally responsible approach, that puts us in a position to hopefully hold the millage rate flat, while also not so financially exhausting us that we’re not going to have the ability to do the other things we desire to do, and stuff that we have clearly planned to do, senior facilities on both ends of the county hospital in South Fulton, etc.,” Vice Chairman Bob Ellis said.
Commissioner Dana Barrett was not convinced that the plan properly dealt with the population size to enable housing people by classification, which includes criminal history, legal status such as pre-trial or sentenced, behavior, and mental and physical health.
“Let me just be clear and say that I do think, given the options presented, that the idea of investing in a special-purpose building first makes a lot of sense. So at the highest level, I agree that this is the best of the four options presented, certainly,” Barrett said.
