The Rice Street Jail suffered a significant flooding event on Jan. 31, but no inmate areas were affected, according to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.
County officials determined that neither the weather nor frozen pipes caused the flooding. An estimated 70,000 gallons of water were released, and water service to the building was temporarily shut off to facilitate repairs. It has since been restored.
As of 5:00 p.m., water restoration contractors were still onsite extracting standing water and assessing any additional remediation needs, the sheriff’s office statement said.
Shortly after 5:00 a.m. Saturday, detention staff reported a water leak from a toilet within a third-floor medical unit area to a jail maintenance area, the statement said.
“Maintenance personnel responded and attempted to tighten the coupling at the source of the leak,” the statement said. “During the repair effort, the pipe coupling failed, resulting in widespread flooding that affected multiple areas on the third floor and levels below. Areas impacted include the front entrance and lobby, medical clinic, officers’ dining room, portions of the server room, and courtrooms.”
The release said a burst pipe caused flooding on Oct. 11, 2025, during a planned repair. At that time, several servers were damaged. The servers were replaced for $1 million.
“Today, these servers were affected by the water,” the sheriff’s office said. “We are still assessing the full damage. “
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Due to the closure of the front lobby, all employees and contractors have been directed to enter through the back entrance. The front parking lot should only be used by individuals picking up inmates who have been released.
The front lobby is expected to remain out of service until at least 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 1.
This is a developing story.
