ATLANTA — The Atlanta Public Defender’s office filed a petition on September 18, 2023 with the Fulton County Superior Court to prevent inmates from being transferred to out-of-state jails, saying Sheriff Pat Labat does not have the authority to do so.
In a ruling Friday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said despite agreeing that conditions inside the jail are terrible, Georgia law already bars Labat from exporting prisoners to another state. The judge stated in his ruling that Labat is not actively considering transferring inmates, so he denied the petition by the public defender’s office.
The Sheriff calls the ruling a victory in his efforts to relieve overcrowding.
Labat told Channel 2 Action News while his office had investigated the possibility of moving inmates out of state, there was never a plan to do that. He said it simply would not be necessary to achieve the population reduction in the Fulton County jail.
Labat said this week the jail population was below 2,000 inmates for the first time in years.
Judge McAfee said the current statutes only authorize transfers due to unsafe conditions to the “nearest county having a secure jail,” not outside Georgia.
Labat made the proposal last month as he continues to struggle with the overcrowding. So far, 10 detainees have died inside the jail just this year.
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The county made a deal earlier this year with the city of Atlanta to house around 700 inmates inside the old city jail.
Last month, Labat proposed moving up to 1,000 inmates to jails in Mississippi.
Activists then filed to stop the sheriff from sending those inmates to another state, saying it would prevent attorneys from effectively representing their clients.
Despite denying the petition, McAfee’s ruling also said state law “does not permit the Sheriff to transfer detainees outside of Georgia.”
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