Nearly 400 pre-trial detainees to be transferred from private prison in Georgia in move critics say is “a catastrophe”

September 18, 2026 / 3:53 PM EDT / CBS News

The U.S. Marshals Service is preparing to transfer some 400 pre-trial detainees from a private prison in Georgia run by the Florida-based GEO Group to another facility nearly 200 miles away. Sources familiar with the plan say federal defenders, prosecutors and judges fear the move could disrupt criminal prosecutions in Atlanta, where the state's busiest federal courthouse is located.

An internal email from the U.S. Marshals Service viewed by CBS News said the move will begin the week of Sept. 21.

"Our plan is to move the prisoners in waves over the next five weeks," the email said, adding that prisoners who don't have a date on the court docket would be moved first. The remaining prisoners will be removed "weekly until all are removed from RADD [the Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility] by 10/31/2026."

The U.S. Marshals Service's decision to move the detainees stems from concerns about inadequate and unsafe conditions at the Deyton facility in Lovejoy, a 600-bed detention center, two of the sources familiar with the matter told CBS News. They added that the problems have persisted without any improvement.

Defendants are generally only detained pre-trial if…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/moneywatch/