Greene County commissioners are looking for ways to expand their jail after it lost state certification for being too crowded.
The Greene County jail has 158 beds, but the sheriff says they house about 280 inmates each day.
Commissioners are hoping to find a way to house all the inmates before the Tennessee Corrections Institute meets in December so the jail can be re-certified.
The plan starts with an old plant on Snapps Ferry Road that's large enough to house up to 1,200 inmates. But, the move could cost millions in taxpayer dollars.
It's something Commissioner Fred Malone says could happen anyway, if room isn't added.
"Possibility the insurance might go up, and of course there may be lawsuits," said Malone.
"Our children in our schools need the financing more than the people in the jail need it. I'm sorry that they're overcrowded, but that's more or less their own fault that they got in there," said Greene County resident Sherry Campbell.
Commissioners are also considering adding on to the current jail facility or the workhouse facility.