After months of waiting, part one of a study into a potential pathway to address the aging jail at 201 Poplar was finally delivered to Shelby County Commissioners during a Budget and Finance Committee meeting Wednesday, June 11.
In the first part of a two-part review, a County Technical Assistant Services consultant accessed the infrastructure, capacity issues and operational inefficiencies of the current lockup. The final chapter is expected to address possible locations for a new facility, along with costs to build from scratch or renovate an existing property.
Much of the first installment was based on a review of Tennessee Corrections Institute inspections that spanned from 2017–2024. Many of the problems that occurred over the period were addressed during recent renovations to the main jail.
“They routinely cited physical plant deterioration. Problems with doors, locks, fire annunciator panels, water leaks and periodic crowding in different areas of the facility,” said CTAS consultant Jim Hart.
Inoperable escalators contributed to the difficulty in managing multiple housing units on multiple floors. Much of the wear and tear was done by inmates. Jails age at a 3–1 ratio compared to standard facilities. In addition to rigging doors and jamming locks, inmates also routinely flood areas of the lockup.
“I think it’s just going to continue as that building that was opened in 1981 continues to age, I think you are still going to keep investments going into the building,” said Hart. “The question that becomes part of the further discussion is, do we keep putting good money toward an aging facility?”
As a result of deterioration, it is common for as many as 300 beds at 201 Poplar to be unavailable. The 2,813 bed facility can’t meet the basic needs of its 2,753 inmates. The shortfall is exacerbated by inmates with high risk of violence. They are placed in single cells, further eroding the on-paper bed count. The Jail East women’s lockup and the juvenile court jail are also at capacity.
“As we say all the time, we’re busting at the seams everywhere,” said Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, who requested the study earlier this year.
The layout of the main jail also doesn’t weigh in its favor. For example, booking and releasing share a space with several other jail functions, like records and identification, public bond payment, fugitive operations and visitation check-in. Inmates are also released from custody in the annex.
“Annex visitation area serves multiple purposes and sort of becomes a congested, confusing area of operation,” said Hart. “It just sort of becomes a large mixing bowl of functions and operations in that area.”
The physical plant also hamstrings medical staff who work by “piece-mealing” a clinic together. For the “sickest of the sickest” inmates, it’s “just totally inadequate,” Hart added
There have been six inmate deaths at 201 Poplar this year. They have been attributed to overdoses, mental health issues, suicides and unknown medical reasons.
A lack of manpower is another issue. With a cascading series of issues and failing infrastructure, shortages are acutely felt. Safety quickly becomes an issue for inmates and staff alike.
“It requires extensive staffing to appropriately manage that facility,” said Hart.
A perusal of 46,000 inmate records from 2023–24 revealed that 67% of inmates are released within seven days. Only six percent were released within 24 hours of being taken into custody. According to Hart, the surface look presented streamlining opportunities. They include intake and booking procedures, inmate classification and medical screening.
“They all sort of delay that process. In many instances, it was just having adequate staff to support the movement of inmates — the processing in, the processing out of inmates to keep that moving,” said Hart.
To address the issues once and for all, three different locations have been taken into consideration. Expanding 201 Poplar in an adjacent L-shaped parking lot is one possibility, but it has its flaws.
“It keeps it sort of connected to what’s going on, but I don’t think it will have the ability to address some of the issues such as the booking and release (or) the limited access on Washington Street,” said Hart.
It is also likely the most cost-prohibitive. A 2007 study, Hart noted, concluded “significant improvements are needed to the CJC [Criminal Justice Center], if that option was considered.”
Converting the Jail East at 6201 Haley Road is another. It could be used to handle all intake and processing duties. If an inmate’s stay goes beyond seven days, he could be transferred to the main lockup.
Other properties on the short list for a new jail include Shelby Farms and the long-vacant Firestone property in North Memphis. A newly-built facility has been estimated to cost $1 billion. The prices for a single new bed could run upwards of $200,000 to $250,000, depending on which way the county goes.
For one commissioner, the findings provided “a better sense of where we stand as a county.”
“I’m processing what I’m hearing. I’ve been looking forward to this presentation for some time,” said commissioner Mick Wright. “I’m glad this was done in two parts.”
