State Senate holds first hearing looking into problems at the Fulton County Jail

ATLANTA — The state Senate is now conducting hearings into problems at the Fulton County Jail.

Some 10 people have died there since Jan. 1 -- two of them homicides.

The problems at the Rice Street Jail are well documented.

One man at that hearing said he was held there for nearly three years awaiting trial, only to have charges against him dismissed.

“When I used to sit there in a cell, I thought I’d never come home,” said Syranard Watson.

Police charged Watson with the shooting death of a local music producer in 2019 and he said he was held at the Fulton County Jail for nearly three years until prosecutors eventually dropped the charges.

He told Channel 2′s Richard Elliot that the jail is an awful place and doesn’t have much confidence in the justice system.

“It’s traumatizing because I’m still going through that right now, and they know that the numbers don’t add up. Their stories don’t add up,” Watson said.

“Indeed, the Fulton County Jail is or can be a very dangerous place,” said Amelia Joiner with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.

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Thursday, Fulton County Jail officials testified before a state Senate subcommittee looking into the jail’s well-documented problems.

They said the jail is short-staffed and has become a dumping ground for mental health patients, and they admitted they’re running a deficit on a $143 million budget.

They also reported 293 stabbings, 922 inmate-on-inmate assaults, 68 staff assaults and 10 deaths -- two of which are homicides.

“The physical plant has become so dilapidated that the inmates are able to create weapons by reaching into the walls, using broken flooring, electrical coverings, pipes, etcetera, to create makeshift weapons,” Joiner said.

State Sens. Sonya Halpern and John Albers represent Fulton County. They say they want to look at the whole problem, which, they believe is bigger than the jail.

“The whole system has to be looked at and there’s so many different pieces that come together,” Halpern said.

“I think everything is on the table right now, but we want to make sure we this right,” Albers said.

The committee will hold more hearings and then will make recommendations to the full Senate.

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