Fulton County commissioners have rejected pleas by District Attorney Fani Willis and court leaders for extra funding, passing a 2025 budget that one commissioner described as “some hard medicine to have to swallow.”
Willis threatened to sue the Fulton County Board of Commissioners if it didn’t adequately fund her office, citing the need for more attorneys and investigators. In a Dec. 11 letter to the board, Willis said she’d have to “explore legal remedies which includes filing a lawsuit against the Board of Commissioners to seek a budget consistent with the number and nature of cases this office handles.”
Willis’ letter doesn’t say how much extra money she asked for, though it references her request to restore a 20% cut in her staff from 2024.
Fulton County Magistrate Court Chief Judge Cassandra Kirk also warned about the consequences of her court being underfunded when seeking at least an extra $711,000 to hire six extra full-time support staff.
In a 5-2 vote Wednesday, county commissioners refused to green-light the extra spending.
“It is some hard medicine to have to swallow,” commissioner Bridget Thorne said during the board meeting before voting in favor of a more conservative budget. “I’m hoping that midyear we can actually talk about rewarding some of those justice partners that are doing a good job.”
A representative for Willis said Friday that she stands by her letter and is grateful to the two commissioners who supported extra funding. Kirk said magistrate court staff are streamlining operations and maximizing their expertise as best they can while continuing to advocate for “sustainable staffing” to effectively serve the community.
“With the board’s allocation of $5.1 million, we continue to have three team members to support nine courtrooms,” Kirk told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday.
Board chairman Robb Pitts spoke during the meeting about various department requests for extra funding that totaled about $130 million. He said the county could move money to satisfy the requests without affecting the millage rate, but he didn’t advocate for that.
In a newsletter recapping the meeting, Pitts said the approved budget will continue to fund the services Fulton citizens enjoy and rely upon while also respecting taxpayers.
Commissioner Dana Barrett, who voted against the budget with commissioner Marvin Arrington, said the county should be proactive instead of reactive in funding its justice system. Barrett proposed almost $15 million in additional funding for county courts and associated offices, including $3 million extra for Willis and $711,000 more for Kirk.
“This is all in order for us to be proactive in addressing the situation in our jail,” Barrett said during the meeting. “We know that we need to make real change in our criminal justice system. We can take proactive steps to do what is right.”
But Thorne said allocating money now to fix problems tied to the county jail would be irresponsible, as the county doesn’t yet know how much it will have to spend complying with an agreement it entered into with the U.S. Department of Justice to improve jail conditions.
In her letter, Willis told commissioners that “people will die” unless more money is allocated to addressing the county jail’s “deplorable conditions.” She said the underfunding of her office would worsen the jail problem and make the county less safe.
The board approved $39.3 million for Willis’ office, up from $36 million in 2024; that’s a 9% increase.
A county representative said the adopted budget, with a $989 million general fund, ensures that resources are available for the jail improvement plan.
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