FULTON COUNTY, GA — A proposal to sell the Atlanta City Detention Center to Fulton County for $68 million has been placed on hold.

The proposal had already received approval from the City Council’s Public Safety Committee and was being discussed before the Finance Committee on Wednesday.

The legislation has been updated to allow for Atlanta to pay a $1 lease to Fulton County for 50 years, and to ensure Atlanta officers are the ones who will maintain supervision of city detainees.

Fulton County desires to use the facility to help address overcrowding at its main jail on Rice Street. The sale would also relieve the city of the cost of operating the detention center.

Council member Wayne Martin said the city currently spends about $30 million to operate the facility.

“We have a facility that costs us about $30 million to operate, and for me I’m interested in learning what this proposed sale would do to those operational numbers,” Martin said.

The proposal has also drawn opposition. Critics have raised concerns about conditions at the Rice Street jail and whether Fulton County has enough staff and resources to operate another facility.

Council member Michael Julian Bond said he would prefer a joint operating arrangement between the city and county instead of selling the facility.

“Selling is not the answer, that hurts the city long term and puts us in a position where future councils and mayors will have to go hat in hand to the county, and we’ll be putting ourselves right back in the situation we were in 50 years ago,” Bond said.

The Finance Committee vote is the final committee hurdle before the proposal could advance to the full Atlanta City Council.

If the sale is approved in the future, Atlanta would lease back part of the facility and pay Fulton County to house the city’s detainees.

WSB Radio’s Ashley Simmons & Graham Carroll contributed to this story.