The city of Newnan has decided that it's no longer feasible to stay in the jail business.

That's the word Coweta County Sheriff Mike Yeager, who asked the County Commission to consider a proposal to jail the city's prisoners in the county's facility.

Currently, the county jail houses Newnan's female inmates, since it does not have a women's facility. But Yeager was recently approached by city officials about housing all the city's prisoners.

Yeager said the city's jail population floats between eight and 12 prisoners and the county jail could accommodate the extra load.

The sheriff also referred to a section of the Official Code of Georgia that allows municipalities to charge an additional 10 percent on fines and bonds that would be sent to the county to help defray the costs of the additional prisoners.

“We don't get anything now, so I'm all for it,” he said.

Yeager said the city would handle all the security of bringing the prisoners to the jail. The city also would be responsible for any emergency medical care the prisoners would need before being incarcerated.

Yeager said he checked with surrounding governments and used some of their agreements with cities to draft a policy for Coweta County and Newnan. County attorney Mitch Powell finalized the agreement and the commissioners gave their unanimous support to it. 

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