Five days and counting ...

Five days and counting until the 2010 budget is final for the Fulton County Judicial System.

Fulton Commissioners must approve the final budget Jan. 20 at their 10 a.m. meeting.

But the question remains: Will commissioners pass a budget that protects public safety, provides adequate funding for the courts and supports the requirement that Fulton's Judicial System provide access to justice for all?

Think This Can't Happen?

The Fulton County Justice System is under enormous stress to process tens of thousands of criminal and civil cases with its current employees and judges.
Criminal prosecutions and civil litigation will be delayed even further if hundreds of Justice System employees and staff are laid off as a result of further budget cuts.
The county’s latest budget proposal calls for 10 percent across the board cuts in addition to prior reductions in state and county support for the Justice System. But that approach just doesn’t add up.

Here are some examples that show reducing or eliminating court programs that safely remove defendants from the overcrowded Fulton Jail will only add to the budget:

Jailing pretrial defendants: Daily Cost - $72 x 1,300 = $93,600.
Supervised pretrial release: Daily Cost- $  5 x 1,300 = $  6,500.
Daily saving:                                                             $87,100.

Jailing pretrial defendants: Daily Cost - $72 x 500 = $36,000.
Drug/Mental Health Court:  Daily Cost - $23 x 500 = $11,500.
Daily saving:                                                          $24,500.

What You Can Do: