Shelby County Commissioners followed through on a resolution that provides $10 million in emergency funding for a slate of emergency repairs to the Shelby County Jail during the Monday, Sept. 24 meeting.
Sponsor Charlie Caswell’s resolution was approved on a 8-3-1 vote.
The eight-figure sum will pay for a growing docket of repairs, including replacing hundreds of broken cell doors at the aging lockup. The faulty doors have put the safety of inmates and staff at risk.
Inspections at the jail currently underway Tennessee Institute of Corrections provided further impetus to quickly pass a resolution.
However, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office will have to absorb the costs of an additional $6.3 million. The resolution does not reimburse the department for repairs it paid for out of its own budget.
While the $10 million will take care of the bulk of the repairs – cell doors, a new door control system and HVAC-systems and lighting repairs, for example – other items in need of repair may have to wait, or sit idle.
This includes repairs to an antiquated escalator, which is expected to run upwards of $5 million. No longer in production, replacement parts would need to be fabricated.
Caswell said another resolution could always be introduced, if more money is needed to shore up the SCSO’s budget.
“If you need anything, you bring it to this body,” said Caswell. “If you have other items and they’re putting at risk those in the jail, the officers…we’re saying, “bring those items so we keep moving forward.”
During the runup to the vote, Bonner warned that holding the SCSO responsible for the $6.3 million could shortchange other areas of the department. These include using money earmarked for payroll to cover the costs, which could endanger the department’s maintenance of effort.
A maintenance of effort required by state law forbids cutting salaries to law enforcement agencies, unless requested by the sheriff. The Shelby County Jail is also required to be fully-staffed.
To date, only $4.3 million of the additional amount have been spoken for.
“Not all of it has been expended,” said SCSO’s CAO Alicia Lindsey. “Only some of that has been encumbered. Meaning, we haven’t written checks out the door.”
In past years, the sheriff’s department has paid for repairs to the jail from its own budget. However, following a power surge in February, several systems in the jail went down.
The funding item reallocates $5 million in ARPA funds earmarked for a planned mental health justice center. It also draws $5 million from the FY2025 capital improvement budget.
The CIP money was slated for an ERP replacement system. The software allows large organizations to manage and automate several core functions, like accounting and procurement.
The resolution also amends the ARPA and CIP budgets.
It replaced a competing resolution from Commissioner Amber Mills introduced during the Sept. 4 Budget & Finance Committee meeting.
The failed item attempted to reallocate over $15 million of the mental health center’s funding to cover the costs of repairs.
Caswell swiftly introduced his substitute in an effort to save the bulk of the funding. It had been crafted in coordination with the administration of Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris.
The proposed 60-bed mental health facility is estimated to cost $25 million and take two years to build.
Like a new jail, a facility to divert inmates with mental health struggles has long been considered a necessity. Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner recently said one-third of the inmates at 201 Poplar struggle with mental health issues.
According to the SCSO, there are currently 2,800 inmates being held at the county lockup.
Following Monday’s vote, Mills complained of the process during a point of order.
This included allegations that a substitution for her original resolution was ignored in favor of Caswell’s, in spite of being emailed to Chair Miska Clay-Bibbs first. Mills also said as the sponsor of the original item, she should have been allowed to introduce a replacement.
“There were three times it was not done properly,” said Mills.
She did not offer a third.
A study on a new jail is ongoing. A presentation is expected around the new year. Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris has said a new facility could cost $1 billion and take 10 years to complete.
