Former US President Donald Trump is expected to turn himself in to a prison in Georgia on Thursday, charged with illegal attempts to change the outcome of the 2020 election in that US state.
It is a prison known for violence and negligence, which is why a federal investigation into the conditions in the facility has been launched, writes the Voice of America.
After being booked into the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Trump will be released on bail. However, this is not the case with all criminal defendants. Some spent months and even years in that prison before charges were brought against them.
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What could the apprehension of Trump look like?
When defendants arrive at the building, they usually go through a checkpoint before coming to the check-in desk. They are then taken to a large room where fingerprints are taken, the defendants are photographed, and they undergo a medical examination, says attorney Michael Harper, who toured the prison several years ago and has filed several lawsuits over inmate deaths at the facility.
There are usually several defendants in the room, along with prison employees and guards. Given Trump's security, it is unlikely that this will be the case on Thursday.
"It's a huge, busy room," says Harper.
In prison, they are charged with a range of crimes, from minor offenses to violent crimes.
Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labatt said earlier this month that Trump would be treated like any other defendant.
However, given that the former president has the constant protection of Secret Service agents, it is possible that certain concessions will be made to him for security reasons. In previous cases, in New York state court and federal courts in Miami and Washington, Trump was not handcuffed during his arrest. It was also not photographed, with officials using existing photos of the former president instead.
The procedure in Atlanta could be different.
"Unless someone tells me otherwise, we will follow normal practice and regardless of your status, we will photograph you," Labat said at a news conference in August.
Where is the prison and will citizens be able to see Trump?
The prison is a few kilometers from downtown Atlanta. It is across the street from a huge new park in an area where there are warehouses and apartment buildings.
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office said Monday that the area around the jail will be closed when Trump surrenders. This probably means that citizens will not be able to get close.
For now, Trump will not be brought to court on Thursday. Unlike other jurisdictions, defendants in Fulton County usually appear in court after the arrest and citation process is complete.
What are the problems in prison?
The Fulton County Jail, which opened in 1989, was holding more than 3.200 people earlier this year - far exceeding its capacity of 2.700.
Devin Franklin, a Fulton County public defender for 12 years, says his clients regularly accuse jail guards of opening cell doors to facilitate assaults.
Franklin recounted trying to relocate a 17-year-old who told him he was forced to fight other inmates for food.
Knife attacks are common and health care is poor, lawyers say. Three people died in prison during the past month, two of them in the prison hospital. All were found in cells with no signs of life.
The Justice Department announced earlier this year that it had launched a civil investigation into prison conditions, due to the violence, filth and last year's death of Lashon Thomson, whose body was covered in insects.
Labat asked the county to finance the construction of a new prison. Franklin says too many people accused of minor offenses are being held in jail too long because they can't make bail, and the district attorney's office isn't pursuing charges quickly enough.
"There are too many people in custody who don't need to be there, especially when you know you can't guarantee their safety," Franklin said.
What does Trump say about prison?
In an email sent Tuesday asking for donations, Trump described the prison as a "humanitarian crisis" and a "violent prison." He stated that guards were finding sharp objects made from the remains of collapsing walls.
The sheriff's office said in March that authorities found more than 200 handmade knives during the search.
"Prisoners are literally making sharp objects out of crushed walls in a dilapidated facility," Labat said at the time.
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