Fayette County criminals won't

lack for a place to stay while the county is building its new jail.

County commissioners have reserved

50 beds in Fulton County's oversized jail in Union City, guaranteeing

the South Fulton Municipal Regional Jail Authority $45 a day for each

bed for six months.

The contract calls for a phasing-in

period of 30 days, during which the county pays only for those inmates

actually in the jail 28 on one recent day. After the phase-in period,

the county will pay the full $2,250 a day for six months.

Fayette has been housing a

couple of dozen prisoners at the Union City facility for about two months

now, but the contract with the Fulton authority formalizes that arrangement

and guarantees that the facility will be staffed up to handle the load.

Designed to prevent any lawsuits

due to overcrowding at Fayette's current jail, the contract is a stop-gap

measure while a new $58 million jail and courthouse complex is completed.

The old jail, designed for

about 85 inmates, has been holding more than 200 on a regular basis in

recent months.

Commissioner Greg Dunn reported

during last week's commission meeting that progress on the new jail has

been rapid.

"We have a 100 percent

set of drawings for the jail and courthouse construction," said Dunn,

adding that he met recently with Mallett and Associates (the engineering

firm overseeing the project) and architects Ingram Paris to go over the

drawings.

"Jim [Mallett] and I were

very pleased with what the architects had before us," he said.

Dunn said he hopes the project

can be put out for bids within 60 days. Mallett said the project could

be ready for groundbreaking by April or early May.

"It's almost here,"

said Dunn.