Over the past month, the number of people held in the dilapidated and dangerous Rice Street facility who haven’t been formally charged with a crime has jumped by nearly 400. Many remain locked up simply because they cannot afford to post bail. As of mid-June, 106 unindicted people had been incarcerated for more than 90 days, with 26 detained for more than 180 days.

“My opinion is that Commissioner Rob Pitts is a liar, Commissioner Bob] Ellis is a liar, Commissioner Bridget] Thorne is a liar, and Commissioner] Khadijah Abdur-Rahman] has decided to lie with them. They have decided that they do not care about humanity,” Willis told Capital B Atlanta on Friday.

Fani Willis, Fulton County’s top prosecutor, photographed in her Atlanta office (Chris Mitchell for Capital B).

“They’re paying in one way or another. You’re paying it either here so we can move the cases efficiently, or you are paying $105 a day to keep those inmates there.”

Criminal justice advocates like the ACLU of Georgia, the Southern Center for Human Rights and Women on the Rise, have called on the district attorney’s office to prioritize the most serious felonies and move quickly through the lower-level felony cases that can be adjudicated through accountability courts and diversion programs.

In January, Capital B Atlanta published a letter sent by Willis to the county’s Board of Commissioners threatening a lawsuit if her office was not sufficiently funded in 2025.

When the final budget was adopted weeks later, an additional $49,031 had been added to the $39 million budget, far less than the $7 million Willis proposed. The county commissioners have remained clear that unless they raise taxes — which they don’t plan to do — there are no additional funds for the district attorney’s office.