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?
Showing posts with label atlanta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label atlanta. Show all posts
Friday, January 15, 2010
Monday, November 23, 2009
The Courthouses of Fulton County
When Fulton County was created in December 1853, Atlanta was building its first city hall on a hill overlooking the burgeoning city and officials agreed to set aside half of the building as a courthouse for the new county -- rent-free.
The joint city hall-county courthouse opened in October 1854 and served both Atlanta and Fulton County almost 30 years.
In September 1864 federal troops captured Atlanta and the 2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry camped on the grounds of the city hall-county courthouse. Although spared from burnin
g during its occupation by Union forces, the city hall-county courthouse suffered abuse.
In October 1865, the Fulton County grand jury recommended the county's part of the joint building be "repaired thoroughly." During Reconstruction, Atlanta was designated state capital, and from July 1868 to January 1869, the city hall-county courthouse took on a third function — Georgia’s Capitol.
Conditions became so overcrowded, however, that the nearby unfinished Kimball Opera House was converted for use as the state’s capitol.
After Georgia’s state government moved to its new home, the city hall-county courthouse continued as home for Atlanta and Fulton County governments for nearly a decade.
In 1877, in a deal to keep the state capital from returning to its pre-Civil War site in Milledgeville, Atlanta officials offered to tear down the city hall-county courthouse and build a new state capitol. When the legislature accepted the offer, Fulton County made plans for a new court facility.
In 1879, the Georgia legislature passed a law allowing Fulton to levy a tax to fund construction
of a courthouse.
Fulton County’s new courthouse was completed in 1882. The new two-story red brick structure with a prominent clock tower was located at the corner of Hunter St. [now MLK Jr. Ave.] and Pryor St. —the site of the current Fulton County Courthouse.
Construction of Fulton’s first freestanding courthouse began in 1881. Completed in 1882, the courthouse had cost Fulton taxpayers the grand sum of $100,000.
By 1907, plans were underway for a new, larger courthouse to serve the county containing the Capitol of the New South.
An act passed by the legislature allowed Fulton to issue bonds to finance a new courthouse. In 1911 the old courthouse was torn down and work began on Fulton County's third courthouse.
When completed in 1914 at a cost of $1,250,000, Fulton County had Georgia's first million-dollar courthouse. It was also the state’s largest government building, surpassing the domed Georgia state capitol in square footage.
Despite the court’s impressive size, by the 1960s Fulton County's growing population again necessitated additional space. This time the expansion was for the county's government which had been housed in the Courthouse.
A new six-story Fulton County Administration Building was built behind the Courthouse to house county agencies, officials, and the Fulton County Commission.
By the 1980s, Fulton’s county government had again outgrown its existing facility and in 1986 work began on a new Fulton County Government Center. The modern glass and concrete structure across Pryor Street from the entrance of the Fult
on Courthouse was completed in 1989.
The Fulton County Administration Building on Central Avenue was torn down in the 1990s and replaced by a nine-story Fulton Justice Tower that opened in 1993.
The joint city hall-county courthouse opened in October 1854 and served both Atlanta and Fulton County almost 30 years.
In September 1864 federal troops captured Atlanta and the 2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry camped on the grounds of the city hall-county courthouse. Although spared from burnin
g during its occupation by Union forces, the city hall-county courthouse suffered abuse.In October 1865, the Fulton County grand jury recommended the county's part of the joint building be "repaired thoroughly." During Reconstruction, Atlanta was designated state capital, and from July 1868 to January 1869, the city hall-county courthouse took on a third function — Georgia’s Capitol.
Conditions became so overcrowded, however, that the nearby unfinished Kimball Opera House was converted for use as the state’s capitol.
After Georgia’s state government moved to its new home, the city hall-county courthouse continued as home for Atlanta and Fulton County governments for nearly a decade.
In 1877, in a deal to keep the state capital from returning to its pre-Civil War site in Milledgeville, Atlanta officials offered to tear down the city hall-county courthouse and build a new state capitol. When the legislature accepted the offer, Fulton County made plans for a new court facility.
In 1879, the Georgia legislature passed a law allowing Fulton to levy a tax to fund construction
of a courthouse.Fulton County’s new courthouse was completed in 1882. The new two-story red brick structure with a prominent clock tower was located at the corner of Hunter St. [now MLK Jr. Ave.] and Pryor St. —the site of the current Fulton County Courthouse.
Construction of Fulton’s first freestanding courthouse began in 1881. Completed in 1882, the courthouse had cost Fulton taxpayers the grand sum of $100,000.
By 1907, plans were underway for a new, larger courthouse to serve the county containing the Capitol of the New South.
An act passed by the legislature allowed Fulton to issue bonds to finance a new courthouse. In 1911 the old courthouse was torn down and work began on Fulton County's third courthouse.
When completed in 1914 at a cost of $1,250,000, Fulton County had Georgia's first million-dollar courthouse. It was also the state’s largest government building, surpassing the domed Georgia state capitol in square footage.
Despite the court’s impressive size, by the 1960s Fulton County's growing population again necessitated additional space. This time the expansion was for the county's government which had been housed in the Courthouse.
A new six-story Fulton County Administration Building was built behind the Courthouse to house county agencies, officials, and the Fulton County Commission.
By the 1980s, Fulton’s county government had again outgrown its existing facility and in 1986 work began on a new Fulton County Government Center. The modern glass and concrete structure across Pryor Street from the entrance of the Fult
on Courthouse was completed in 1989.The Fulton County Administration Building on Central Avenue was torn down in the 1990s and replaced by a nine-story Fulton Justice Tower that opened in 1993.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Breaking the Cycle
Yesterday I was talking with my court administrator about problems facing the judiciary and we agreed that recidivism is probably the most serious and difficult to address.
A key reason is that nearly 70 percent of the felony detainees in our Fulton County Jail are on medications for various mental disorders and two-thirds of a large group of detainees tested by Fulton Superior Court tested positive for drugs. As one experienced jurist once told me "If we didn't have drugs we wouldn't have much business," so too without mentally ill offenders our courts would be almost empty.
So today when I saw our county's commission chairman pop into a press conference held by Atlanta's mayor and police chief to tamp down a furor over a rash or recent high profile (i.e. famous people victims) crimes I was surprised and pleased by his focus on the problem of repeat offenders.
John Eaves, the Fulton Commission chair, said he has parternered with law enforcement and the courts in Atlanta and Fulton County to set up a reentry program for felons returning to Fulton from prisons. He promised to work with city officials to deal with the problems posed by criminals.
After all, Eaves pointed out, every offender caught in Atlanta ends up in the county jail, which he said is overrun by mentally ill and addicted repeat offenders. Without addressing those underlying engines propelling these detainees to commit additional crimes the problem will only get worse, Eaves said.
I'm anxious to learn more about Eaves' effort because it is a brilliant concept, one that our chief judge has been trying to spark for several years.
One especially successful such program that Chief Judge Doris Downs points to when promoting the idea has been operating in Savannah, GA for some years. Called the Savannah Impact Center, it houses job, educational, counseling and other services for offenders coming back from prison stints along with offices for probation and other law enforcement agencies concerned with tracking and monitoring those coming back to their communities after serving their time.
The U.S. Department of Justice also recognizes prisoner reentry as a key vulnerability in our nation's criminal justice system. Here is what the DOJ's website has to say about the problem:
"Nearly 650,000 people are released from state and federal prison yearly and arrive on the doorsteps of communities nationwide. A far greater number reenter communities from local jails, and for many offenders and /defendants, this may occur multiple times in a year. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) over 50 percent of those released from incarceration will be in some form of legal trouble within 3 years. In his 2004 State of the Union, President Bush proposed “a four-year, $300 million prisoner re-entry initiative to expand job training and placement services, to provide transitional housing, and to help newly released prisoners get mentoring, including from faith-based groups."
For a better understanding of the effect of mental illness on recidivism take a look at the Public Broadcasting System's Frontline series program The Released. Its exploration of what happens to mentally ill offenders once they are released from prison found that within 18 months of being released two-thirds had been re-arrested.
A key reason is that nearly 70 percent of the felony detainees in our Fulton County Jail are on medications for various mental disorders and two-thirds of a large group of detainees tested by Fulton Superior Court tested positive for drugs. As one experienced jurist once told me "If we didn't have drugs we wouldn't have much business," so too without mentally ill offenders our courts would be almost empty.
So today when I saw our county's commission chairman pop into a press conference held by Atlanta's mayor and police chief to tamp down a furor over a rash or recent high profile (i.e. famous people victims) crimes I was surprised and pleased by his focus on the problem of repeat offenders.
John Eaves, the Fulton Commission chair, said he has parternered with law enforcement and the courts in Atlanta and Fulton County to set up a reentry program for felons returning to Fulton from prisons. He promised to work with city officials to deal with the problems posed by criminals.
After all, Eaves pointed out, every offender caught in Atlanta ends up in the county jail, which he said is overrun by mentally ill and addicted repeat offenders. Without addressing those underlying engines propelling these detainees to commit additional crimes the problem will only get worse, Eaves said.
I'm anxious to learn more about Eaves' effort because it is a brilliant concept, one that our chief judge has been trying to spark for several years.
One especially successful such program that Chief Judge Doris Downs points to when promoting the idea has been operating in Savannah, GA for some years. Called the Savannah Impact Center, it houses job, educational, counseling and other services for offenders coming back from prison stints along with offices for probation and other law enforcement agencies concerned with tracking and monitoring those coming back to their communities after serving their time.
The U.S. Department of Justice also recognizes prisoner reentry as a key vulnerability in our nation's criminal justice system. Here is what the DOJ's website has to say about the problem:
"Nearly 650,000 people are released from state and federal prison yearly and arrive on the doorsteps of communities nationwide. A far greater number reenter communities from local jails, and for many offenders and /defendants, this may occur multiple times in a year. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) over 50 percent of those released from incarceration will be in some form of legal trouble within 3 years. In his 2004 State of the Union, President Bush proposed “a four-year, $300 million prisoner re-entry initiative to expand job training and placement services, to provide transitional housing, and to help newly released prisoners get mentoring, including from faith-based groups."
For a better understanding of the effect of mental illness on recidivism take a look at the Public Broadcasting System's Frontline series program The Released. Its exploration of what happens to mentally ill offenders once they are released from prison found that within 18 months of being released two-thirds had been re-arrested.
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