The Atlanta Journal-Constitution May 18, 2006 Thursday
Main Edition
METRO NEWS; Pg. 3D

Officials to urge jail to refuse some offenders

By: RHONDA COOK

A panel assigned to find fixes for Fulton County's overburdened judicial system will recommend that Sheriff Myron Freeman refuse to accept any inmates if police officers have not already secured arrest warrants.

The recommendation, to be announced at a news conference today, is an attempt to help Freeman reduce the number of people in his overburdened, stressed jail, which has yet to comply with any of the requirements of a federal court order that sets population limits.

The officials pushing the idea say public safety would not be affected because people would be less likely to be locked up for low-level crimes like traffic violations, trespassing and public indecency.

"The procedure we are recommending to Sheriff Freeman has been in place in Cobb County for many years," said Cobb's Chief Jailer Lynda Coker, a member of the Fulton County Blue Ribbon Criminal Justice.

But Freeman's attorney in the lawsuit, Ted Lackland, said Freeman would not make such a change without an order from the federal judge overseeing the jail lawsuit.

On Feb. 3, U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Shoob signed a consent order mandating tens of millions of dollars in renovations at the Rice Street lockup. The order also set minimum staffing levels and capped at 2,250 the number of inmates who can be housed there. According to the order, the cap is reduced if any section of the jail is not occupied.

On Wednesday, 2,392 inmates were in the Fulton County Jail, even though a section that could hold 200 was not occupied because of plumbing problems.

Stephen Bright, the attorney who filed the lawsuit in 2004, said the recommendation is a positive step that could help ease overcrowding.

The Fulton jail inmate roster includes hundreds of arrests of homeless and mentally ill people as well as people facing charges for traffic violations, disorderly conduct and trespassing.

Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Doris Downs said a warrant requirement would mean fewer homeless and mentally ill people would spend days in jail, only to have the charges against them dismissed the first time they appear in court.