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HUNTINGDON (October 25) Carroll County is
faced with the possibility of constructing
an $8- to $10-million, 150-bed new jail. The
state could decertify the 30-year-old,
112-bed Carroll County Jail within five
years, Sheriff Bendell Bartholomew told the
county Law Enforcement Committee last
Thursday. Concerning the time line for
decertification, Sheriff Bendell Bartholomew
said, The jail inspector (Robert Kane) told
me less than five years. My guess is it will
be probably less than three years.
Committee members had originally convened to
discuss a proposed 4,153 square-foot
dormitory, costing $700,000 to $800,000, for
the ever-growing female population. The dorm
would prevent decertification as early as
next year. A preliminary architectural
drawing was presented for the dormitory,
which would be located behind the current
jail on Norandal Drive, Huntingdon. Sheriff
Bartholomew said the current jail campus has
adequate space to construct a new facility.
It could be constructed on the front parking
lot or behind the existing facility.
The inspector indicated a proposed low
security, dormitory-style facility would
only be a Band-Aid for a short while, said
the sheriff.
Mayor Kenny McBride said paying for a new
jail is a problem. A $10 million facility,
payable over 30 years, would cost the
taxpayers $500,000 to $600,000 annually. The
only two revenue sources are a wheel tax or
property tax. He noted the debt on the
County Office Complex will retire in 2009,
freeing up approximately $150,000 in debt
service annually. When asked why Carroll
County must build a new jail, McBride said
the current jail is antiquated, according to
state officials. He said the jail is still
very functional.
Prisoners may continue to be housed at a
decertified jail, said Mayor Kenny McBride,
however, the state will cut in half its
maximum $35 daily cost reimbursement for
housing state prisoners and premiums of
liability insurance would skyrocket, if
available at all. County mayors and sheriffs
across Tennessee asked for a $50 daily
reimbursement for state prisoners in local
lockups, however, the bill was killed in a
House committee of the Tennessee
Legislature.
The sheriff said the state of Tennessee is
making every county build a fine new jail
to house their prisoners. The problem, in
part, is the local jail is housing state
prisoners, convicted locally, who would be
transferred to state prisons if the state
had adequate space. Instead of the state
spending the money on a new prison, it is
forcing the counties to continue to house
the prisoners and forcing those counties to
build new facilities and the local taxpayers
to pay for it. Neighboring Henderson and
Benton counties must construct new jails.
Henry County is adding a dormitory to its
new jail. McBride said Haywood, Hardeman,
Hardin, Chester (80-bed), Fayette, Decatur,
Benton and Henderson counties are currently
building new jails or must build a new jail.
Haywood is building a 175-bed, $9 million
jail. Haywood raised property tax 40 cents
per $100 assessed value. Hardin is building
a 184-bed, $9.2 million facility. Hardin
raised the wheel tax $36.00 annually.
Bartholomew said murderers, etc. are housed
in county jails instead of state prisons.
State reimbursement for the prisoner begins
at the time of conviction. Sometimes those
prisoners are incarcerated more than a year
before going to trial, said the sheriff.
Overcrowding is not a problem at Carroll
County Jail, which has fewer prisoners now
than in years past. In September, the daily
average census was 76.3 prisoners.
Bartholomew said the significant number of
plea bargains in the county judicial system
has reduced the number of prisoners at the
jail. However, the number of female
prisoners has increased during his tenure
from an average of two, when he was first
elected, to 25 to 30 today.
Carroll County was the site of the last
proposal to construct a state prison. During
a July 10, 2001 non-binding referendum,
Carroll Countians voted 4,023 to 2,414
against construction of a state prison in
the county. Governor Don Sundquist proposed
to build the prison on Industrial Drive in
Huntingdon. The proposed 1,676-bed facility,
with approximately 440 jobs, was never built
in Tennessee, causing the current
overcrowding in many counties.
McBride said he is researching how other
Tennessee counties are dealing with jail
issues. He will convene the Law Enforcement
and Budget committees to address the issue
and convene a work session of the Carroll
County Commission to discuss the matter. |
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