The Fulton County Jail is the hub of a detention network: Fulton County Jail, North Jail Annex, South Jail Annex for women, and the Marietta Annex.
According to historians, the first Fulton County jail was located downtown at Butler and Decatur Streets. It was called the Big Rock Jail and was directly across the street from the city of Atlanta Police Station.
Eventually, a jail was built at 1135 Jefferson Street to hold 900 beds. It soon became overcrowded.
In 1982, Fulton County leaders signed a Federal Consent Order mandating the establishment of a new county facility. Construction started on the 1400 bed facility at 901 Rice Street in the fall of of 1986.
In the summer of 1988, the first three floors of the South tower were occupied to relieve overcrowding at the Jefferson Street jail. On November 11, 1989, the Fulton County Jail became fully occupied.
The Federal Court released Fulton County from the 1982 Consent Decree in the spring of 1994. The Fulton County Jail would later earn the following accolades:
American Correctional Association
Accreditation - 2004
National Commission on Correctional Health Care
Accreditation – 2006
Presently, the Rice Street Fulton County Jail is the hub of a detention network that includes 901 Rice Street, the nearby Marietta Annex, the North Jail Annex in Alpharetta, and the South Jail Annex in Union City where female inmates are housed. The federally mandated population cap is 2500 inmates.
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