Defense attorneys and federal prosecutors are asking Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens to house federal pretrial detainees in vacant beds at the Atlanta City Detention Center instead of moving them to a facility in Irwin County, about a six-hour round trip from Atlanta. Natasha Perdew Silas, executive director of the Federal Defender Program for the Northern District of Georgia, made the request in a letter to Dickens on Saturday. The program represents defendants who cannot afford attorneys. U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg made a similar appeal in August. The Atlanta detention center is less than a mile from the federal courthouse. Silas warned that transporting people in custody to a distant facility would consume time lawyers need to prepare cases and meet with clients, including confidentially. It could also make court appearances more difficult for defendants who are presumed innocent while their cases are pending. Federal detainees are being moved from Clayton County to the Irwin County facility. Defense lawyers and prosecutors have raised concerns about the effect of that transfer on access to legal counsel and the progress of criminal cases. Hertzberg has also pointed to staffing needs as a practical challenge to using the Atlanta facility. Dickens’ office said its focus is on negotiations to sell the city detention center to Fulton County. The City Council is considering a proposed $68 million sale. The mayor’s office did not provide further details about those discussions. The requests bring normally opposing sides of the criminal justice system together behind a proposal to keep detainees in Atlanta. Their appeal puts the immediate needs of defendants and court operations alongside the city’s longer-term decisions about the future of its detention center.