As the Knox County jail population reaches "an all-time high," jailers are left double-bunking inmates, and top officials are again pushing for a public safety center designed to house and treat the mentally ill who are arrested for nonviolent crimes.
The move, according to Knox County Sheriff Jimmy "J.J."Jones, would ease overcrowding at the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility on Maloneyville Road, and stave off potential lawsuits.
But, he suggested, there's another option that would work as well: Build a multi-million dollar jail pod.
"As the population grows, we run the risk of extensive and expensive litigation regarding jail conditions," the sheriff wrote in a Dept. 15 letter to Knox County Commissioner Chairman Dave Wright. "We currently are so close to our rated capacity that our inmate objective classification systems is being compromised. Any classification failure could also expose the county to failure to protect litigation from the injured inmate."
Jones said that on Aug. 30 the inmate population reached 1,019 inmates, or about 98.4 percent capacity. He noted that the jail has 928 beds for the general population and 108 for the "medical/mental health."
The sheriff added that he's "exhausted all internal remedies," and suggested to the county commission's leader that a safety center would "ultimately impact the overall criminal justice system."
Alternatively, the county also could build another jail pod, which in the past he's said could cost as much as $20 million. The last one – built in 2007 – cost $13 million.
"Both avenues in my opinion should be explored to efficiently use the taxpayer's dollar, while providing protection to the citizens of Knox County by protecting them from those that violate our criminal laws," the sheriff said.
County leaders have long talked about building a facility to combat jail overcrowding at the East Knox County detention center, and help those with mental health issues get the care they need. But, county officials say they need the county, state and city to each chip in $1 million to get the operation up and running.
The county set aside its share in 2013, but neither the state nor city included funding in their respective budgets for this year.
The center would treat offenders who voluntarily stay for up to three days, and could serve about 4,000 people a year. Officials say the facility would cost about $2 million to build and then another $1.7 million annually to operate.
Officials have talked about putting it behind the McNabb Center on Springdale Avenue in North Knoxville or on Ball Camp Pike.
