Fulton County Jail
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| Location | 901 Rice Street Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
|---|---|
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| Status | Operational |
| Capacity | 1,125 |
| Population | 3,000 (as of 2023) |
| Opened | 1989 |
| Managed by | Fulton County Sheriff's Office |
| Warden | Sheriff Patrick Labat |
| Street address | 901 Rice Street |
| City | Atlanta |
| County | Fulton County |
| State/province | Georgia |
| Country | United States |
The Fulton County Jail, also referred to as Rice Street,[1] is a prison in Atlanta, Georgia. It was built to hold up to 1,125 prisoners in 1989 but now houses over 3,000.[2] The US Department of Justice found in 2024 that conditions in the jail were unconstitutionally "inhumane, violent and hazardous".[3]
Fulton County jail holds both people in pre-trial detention and people who have been convicted and sentenced.[4] The prison is administered by Fulton County.
History
[edit | edit source]| [icon] | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2024) |
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The original Fulton County Jail was constructed in 1904 on Pryor Street in downtown Atlanta with a capacity of 400 people.[5]
The current facility was built in 1989 at 901 Rice Street.[6]
A former Fulton County jailer was remanded to prison himself in 2012 on charges of accepting bribes of more than $26,000 to distribute drugs inside the jail.[7]
In September 2022, 35-year-old inmate Mr. Lashawn Thompson died in his cell three months after being arrested kept in pre-trial detention for a misdemeanor.[2][8] His death was considered due to neglect and his family was compensated $4 million.[9] The county sheriff, Patrick Labat, fired three jailers after the scandal.[10]
The jail received media attention from the August 24, 2023 mug shot booking of former president Donald Trump.[11]
In November, 2024 the Department of Justice reported that Fulton County Jail violated constitutional and statutory rights of prisoners, and that prisoners were vulnerable to serious harm from conditions in the prison.[12][13] In December, 2024 a class action lawsuit was filed against Sheriff Patrick Labat over conditions in the jail. Plaintiffs in the suit include defendants from the YSL RICO trial, and seek a court injunction requiring the sheriff to improve conditions at the jail.[3] In 2024, it was announced that the jail would be renovated rather than constructing a new facility.[14]
In popular culture
[edit | edit source]The third and fourth seasons of the docuseries 60 Days In were set at the Fulton County Jail.[15]
Notable inmates
[edit | edit source]- Frank Dupre, jewelry store robber[16]
- Harrison Floyd, director of Black Voices for Trump[17]
- Scarface, rapper and record producer[6]
- Phil Spector, record producer[6]
- Gucci Mane, rapper and record executive[6]
- Katt Williams, comedian[6]
- Wayne Williams, convicted murderer[6]
- Playboi Carti, rapper[18]
- King Von, rapper
- Lil Durk, rapper
- Young Thug, rapper
- Donald Trump, president of the United States
References
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- ^ a b The real behind the wall: A look inside the infamous, deadly Fulton County Jail, article in Atlanta magazine, by George Chidi, 15 July 2023
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- ^ a b c d e f Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ FBI Atlanta: Former Fulton County Detention Officer Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison, 2012 press release from the FBI Atlanta division
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Fulton County commissioners reach settlement in death of inmate 'eaten alive by bedbugs', article by Fox 5 Atlanta, 3 August 2023
- ^ Sheriff accepts resignation of key leadership at Fulton County Jail, Fox 5 Atlanta newstory, 17 April 2023
- ^ August 2023 press release for the Trump mugshot booking, by the Fulton County, Georgia Sheriff's Office
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- ^ Hanging the Peachtree Bandit: The True Tale of Atlanta's Infamous Frank DuPre Tom Hughes (2019) Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 162584946X, 9781625849465
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