A master plan for a new jail and other government facilities on 33 acres of county-owned land will be high on the agenda as Fayette County commissioners conduct their annual retreat this Friday and Saturday.

Commissioners will meet 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days at the Holiday Inn Express, Ga. Highway 74 in Peachtree City.

The group will discuss goals and budgeting priorities for fiscal year 2000.

Plans for a new jail and courthouse are likely to be first on the list of priorities. Commissioners and other county officials have expressed increasing urgency about the project recently as overcrowding at the county jail threatens to involve federal agencies.

Federal courts frequently force county governments to build new jail facilities using federally imposed plans and specifications if those counties don't handle overcrowding problems on their own, officials say.

Built in 1987, the county's current jail is often filled with twice as many inmates as it was designed for.

Cells built for one inmate often house two, and extra cots are placed in day areas to handle the population.

Architects have been working on plans for a judicial complex that includes the jail, sheriff's offices and courts, but the jail recently moved to the front burner. The facility will be designed as part of an overall master plan that eventually will include a new county administrative complex.

Among other items commissioners will bring to the table Friday and Saturday will be electronic imaging for county records, a communications plan that was named last year's top priority, long-term goals for industrial development and other priorities.

All commission meetings are open to the public.