The vote came after council members questioned whether they were approving the sale itself or a separate agreement governing how the facility would operate. City Attorney Amber A. Robinson said the intergovernmental agreement addresses operations involving both Fulton County and Atlanta, and is distinct from the sale. Chief of Staff Courtney English said the council retains final authority on the matter.

The proposed closing date is Dec. 2. If negotiations extend past that date, Atlanta would pay $150 per detainee per day, according to the terms discussed at the meeting.

English warned that rejecting the deal could leave Atlanta taxpayers facing a share of as much as $1.4 billion if Fulton County builds a new jail or buys the city facility to meet its need for additional inmate space. He said the city could be responsible for 60% of that cost.

Council members also debated how a transfer might affect alternatives to jail. Chief Operating Officer LaChandra Burks said Atlanta has two pre-arrest diversion programs: Grady Hospital operates the 24-hour Center for Diversion and Services, while Policing Alternatives and Diversion responds to calls when 311 is contacted. Burks said diversion is not available in every case, including when a person has an outstanding arrest warrant.

Council member Kelsea Bond raised a 2021 estimate, jointly cited by the city, Fulton County and Grady Hospital, that as many as 41 people a day could be eligible for diversion from local jails, detention centers or Grady’s emergency department. Burks disputed treating those figures as current facts, saying she had been involved in the city’s Justice Policy Board and discussions about how the diversion center operates.

Council member Michael Julian Bond urged colleagues to pause the deal and pursue a broader plan for the site. He pointed to a 2019 proposal to reimagine the detention center as a diversion center with health, wellness and housing services, which did not come to fruition.

The meeting’s procedure became uncertain after the vote, when Julian Bond sought to delay and reopen the debate, saying questions had gone unanswered. City Attorney Robinson and the council parliamentarian weighed in before members returned to discussion of the deal.

Bond called the detention center decision a rare opportunity for Atlanta to reshape its criminal justice system. The narrow vote advances the transaction, while the questions raised at the meeting leave the council’s role in finalizing the sale and operating agreement central to what happens next.