Atlanta City Council Moves A Step Closer To Closing City Jail

Caption

Atlanta City council approved legislation Monday to create a task force to decide how to repurpose the city jail. / Flickr

The Atlanta City Council approved a resolution Monday aimed at closing and repurposing the city jail.  

The legislation, introduced by Councilman Andre Dickens, creates a task force which would then decide what to do with the building and inmates.

It would be made up of advocates, city of Atlanta and Fulton and DeKalb County officials, but it could also feature current and former incarcerated people. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms could also select up to 25 people to join the task force.

Devin Barrington-Ward, with advocacy organization Close the Jail ATL, said the city jail has caused a lot of pain for some residents.

"And the way that we heal is by bringing those communities and people who have been harmed by this institution and the jail into the conversation,” he said. “They have to have an active role in how we repurpose and close it."

RELATED: Report Details 'Harrowing' Conditions For Immigrants At Atlanta's City Jail

Population at the jail hovers around a hundred people a day, though it can hold more than 1,000. In April, the average daily population was 119 according to Department of Correction officials.

Numbers have dwindled since the city decriminalized marijuana, ended cash bail and terminated its contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It costs the city about $32.5 million annually to operate the jail.