The jail has been infamous for egregious conditions, including overcrowding, a lack of hygiene, and malnourishment, which have led to prisoner deaths. In 2023, the family of Fulton County jail inmate Lashawn Thompson said the 35-year-old man found dead in a filthy jail cell in September 2022 was "eaten alive by insects and bed bugs."
"After an extensive investigation, we find reasonable cause to believe that Fulton County and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office violate the constitutional and statutory rights of people incarcerated in the Fulton County Jail. Fulton County Jail fails to adequately protect incarcerated people from the substantial risk of serious harm from violence, including homicides and stabbings by other incarcerated people," the DOJ Civil Rights Division said in the report.
The report describes conditions at the jail as "dangerous and unsanitary." Meals are also served to the incarcerated population in an unsanitary manner and do not meet nutritional standards, the report observed.
The report also stated that the jail's deputies and detention officers use excessive force against incarcerated people.
Living conditions, medical and mental health care in the Fulton County Jail "do not meet basic constitutional standards," the report concluded.
On August 24, 2023, Trump was arrested on election interference charges, booked and released on bail from the Fulton County Jail. On that day, Trump also posted his first message on the social media platform X since 2021 and shared his mugshot. In June 2024, his presidential campaign sent a funding email to supporters in which it quoted Trump saying he was "tortured" while held in the Fulton County Jail.