Former President Donald Trump has until no later than noon on Friday, August 25th to voluntarily surrender to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia, Fani Willis, the district attorney, said on Monday.
The script that officials in Atlanta will follow for his arrest and booking is likely to deviate from the standard operating procedure, just as it did when Mr Trump was arrested on separate charges – stemming from hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign – in New York in April.
In New York, prosecutors contacted a lawyer for Mr Trump on the evening of March 30th “to co-ordinate his surrender to the Manhattan DA’s Office for arraignment,” according to a post on Twitter by the district attorney, Alvin Bragg. The move was unsurprising, as suspects in white-collar cases are often given a chance to turn themselves in.
A few days later, Trump was fingerprinted and escorted through a Manhattan courthouse after surrendering to investigators from the district attorney’s office. But he was also allowed to forego certain procedural indignities, including being handcuffed and having his booking photo taken.
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Some of those accommodations were likely arranged in pre-arrest discussions that the Secret Service conducted with their counterparts in the New York Police Department. In Georgia, similar co-ordination is likely to be undertaken by the Secret Service and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department, which is responsible for the main jail system for Atlanta, as well as courthouse security.
In the months leading up to Trump’s arrest, sheriff’s department officials declined to discuss the logistical details, although the Fulton County sheriff has said Trump won’t receive any special treatment. The department’s website notes that most people arrested in Fulton County are taken to the main jail on Rice Street, just northwest of downtown Atlanta and close to Bankhead, a working-class neighbourhood rich in local hip-hop lore.
At the jail, arrestees typically undergo medical screening, fingerprinting, a check for outstanding warrants and have their mug shot taken. “All arrestees who do not bond out of jail will routinely appear before a judge within 24 hours after arrest,” the website states.
– This article originally appeared in The New York Times.