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 occasionally tops 3,000.[2]
History
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adding to it. (March 2024)
A previous Fulton County facility was first constructed in 1904 before the current one was built in 1989 at 901 Rice Street.[3]
The third and fourth seasons of the
docuseries60 Days In were set at the Fulton County Jail.[4]
In April 2023, the county sheriff, Patrick Labat, fired three jailers after the death of a 35-year-old inmate caused a scandal.[5] Mr. Lashawn Thompson died in his cell only three months after being arrested and remanded to the jail for a misdemeanor in June 2022.[2] His death was considered due to neglect and his family was rewarded $4 million.[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]
The jail received media attention from the August 24, 2023
mug shot booking of former president
Donald Trump.[8]
In August 2023, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners approved plans to find the funding for a new $1.7 billion facility to replace the Fulton County Jail.[9] The new facility is planned to have a 4,500 bed capacity.[10]