Fulton County jail to begin sending inmates to south Georgia

<p>In an effort to ease overcrowding, the Fulton County Jail will begin sending hundreds of inmates to southwest Georgia.</p><p>The move, also meant to help the problem-plagued jail meet conditions of a federal court order, will send inmates to Pelham and to Decatur County.</p><p>The transfers will bring the Fulton County Jail's population below the 2,250 mark, as stipulated in the court order. On Tuesday, the jail held 2,881 inmates.</p><p>The transfers will involve inmates who have been arraigned on felony charges and are awaiting trial. They will not include defendants facing a death penalty trial, such as courthouse shooting suspect Brian Nichols.</p><p>Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman, through a spokeswoman, declined to release details of how many inmates will be transferred, when they will leave or how much the transfers will cost the county.</p><p>"The sheriff has a plan to outsource inmates starting this week," spokeswoman Sgt. Nikita Hightower said. "The jail is overcrowded, and we have to do something."</p><p>The Fulton County Commission set aside $2 million this year for transferring inmates.</p><p>Pelham police Chief Nealie McCormick and Decatur County sheriff's Capt. Janice Van Kirk said Fulton County will pay $35 a day for each inmate. The two jails will clothe, house, feed and transport the inmates to and from Atlanta.</p><p>McCormick and Van Kirk said they will pick up Fulton County inmates Thursday. McCormick said he agreed to take 100 men but expected to eventually house more if a deal is worked out in which Pelham can lease an empty 225-bed state prison in Mitchell County. McCormick said he would then lease those cells to Fulton County.</p><p>The jails have refused to take any women or inmates with severe physical or mental problems.</p><p>In the meantime, Fulton County also is talking with Cook and Brooks counties, both also in South Georgia, but no agreement has been reached, officials in those counties said.</p><p>But some are critical of the plan, saying it would mean lawyers would have to travel far to talk to their clients and said there could be delays in court proceedings.</p><p>"I have grave concerns about individuals leaving their lawyers," Fulton County Chief Judge Doris Downs said. "How do you force a case to trial when you have a defense attorney saying, 'I haven't had adequate access to my clients?'"</p><p>Michael Mears, director of the Public Defenders Standards Council, said there will be lawsuits arguing that defendants are being denied adequate representation because of the hundreds of miles that will separate them from their lawyers. Pelham, in Mitchell County, and Decatur County, which borders Florida, are both more than 200 miles from Atlanta.</p><p>Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard also said he had problems with the transfers. He said he was concerned "that some of the most dangerous people in our county will be outside. It concerns me that they might escape."</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc2c0)</p>