Atlanta City Jail Task Force Holds Its First Meeting

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Atlanta's jail task force held its first meeting Tuesday afternoon. / Georgia Public Broadcasting

Atlanta's jail task force held its first meeting Tuesday afternoon.  

The 25-member group will help determine the future of the city's detention center and how the space will be repurposed.  

Sharon Turner, with Save Kids of Incarcerated Parents, serves on the task force, spent time in the jail. Turner said she is motivated by one thing.

"My goal is to transform ACDC into a center of wellness, freedom, and equity for people like myself that needed resources, housing, and mental health, not incarceration," she said at the task force’s first meeting.

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Population at the jail has continued to decline since the city ended cash bail and stopped accepting Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has said in the past her goal is to have the jail closed by the end of her first term.

The task force also has two city councilmembers on board, Matt Westmoreland and Antonio Brown.