Proposed Jail In Williamson County To Be Most Expensive In Tennessee Requiring Substantial Debt Or Property Tax Increase

Image Credit: Gresham Smith / Pulitzer Bogard & Associates LLC / TreanorHL

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

A proposed adult jail in Williamson County will be the most expensive in the state and possibly require a property tax increase.

According to our sources, if the county borrows the money for the Juvenile Justice Complex or JJJ Project, which includes the adult jail, it will require a substantial increase in debt for a county that has seen its overall debt essentially double over the last five years from $666 million to $1.2 billion.

According to one Williamson County Commissioner who talked to The Tennessee Conservative over the weekend, if all of the money is borrowed for all of the capital projects within the county this year, the county’s debt will increase to $2 billion by next year.

As it stands now, the county will pay $80 million in interest payments on the debt it has already incurred as part of this year’s budget, with the interest payments increasing to $100 million in 2025.

“I don’t see how the county could possibly pay for a $325 million capital project without a tax increase,” said Commissioner Barbara Sturgeon D8 via email. “I do believe we should review the project for cost savings in order to minimize the impact on taxpayers. For example, exploring renting or purchasing commercial space vs. building new buildings for part of the JJJ than building new which at this time looks more expensive per SF.” 

Sturgeon also said that new facilities were definitely needed in light of Williamson County’s growth.

The adult jail is projected to cost nearly $190 million, more than any jail built to date in Nashville, Knoxville, or Memphis.

However, Shelby County is in the initial stages of planning for an even more expensive jail according to Sheriff Floyd Bonner, with the county commission approving $200 thousand for a study on what could be an $800 million project. Bonner says the current 45-year-old jail is aging fast and becoming a safety issue.

In a letter to commissioners on May 3rd, Juvenile Judge Sharon Guffee demanded that commissioners approve funding for the Juvenile Justice Project in order to begin building within 30 days citing “the dire conditions in our existing space” and insisted that purchasing an existing building available in Williamson County to retrofit would produce “minimal, if any, reduction in cost or time.” 

The Williamson County Juvenile Detention Center that Guffee insists is insufficient for the county’s current needs maintains 12 beds and provides rehabilitation to juvenile offenders. Youth between the ages of 13 to 18 being held at the facility may be waiting for a court date, or to be transferred to another jurisdiction, or may be assigned to the facility for a specified period of time.

Both youth from Williamson County as well as surrounding counties – who either do not have a place for juvenile offenders to go or are at capacity – may be on site in the Williamson County location. Approximately 10 percent of the Juvenile Detention Center’s inmate population remains incarcerated for a length of time between six and twelve months.

According to a 2021 PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) Audit Report for the Juvenile Detention Center, the average daily population for the year was just 1 inmate. In 2018 – the only other year we could find data for – had the daily average population recorded as less than 4 offenders, not even a quarter of the facility’s capacity.

Plans for the detention center aim to increase the current 13,700 square feet to a proposed 117,400 square feet, creating a space that is 8.56 times larger than the current facility.

Family Attorney Connie Reguli has said that 48 beds have been planned for the new “kiddie jail” which is to be funded in part by private equity. Reguli says that when private equity gets involved, counties are expected to make a profit at the expense of children. Williamson County is surrounded by seven other counties whose juvenile youth could be sent to the new facility essentially treating the new cells as a Juvenile Jail AirBnB.

The annual operating costs for the center in Fiscal Year 2022 ran $4,363,000. Those costs are projected to increase to $10,452,000 once the new facility is built and more than double the current number of staff are hired to deal with what is being predicted to be a 400 percent increase in caseloads.

According to a master plan report summary, the county’s Juvenile courts and services are housed in a “woefully inadequate facility” that was built in the late 80’s. In its present location close to the adult jail, it is in violation of current state statutes, and “does not represent best practices.” The county’s Alternative Learning Center, serving suspended students in grades 7-12 is also part of the current building and hopes to grow from 80 seats to 150-200 seats.

More than one commissioner that we talked to have said questions regarding the need for the JJJ Project, and the projected costs being higher than similar projects in other counties, have been met with vague answers.

The total cost of the JJJ project which includes the Juvenile Detention Center, Alternative Learning Center, Special Ops, Sheriff’s Office, Courts, and adult jail is a whopping $360,878,104. Guffee is adamant that the county needs to build, and that no existing commercial space, such as the Verizon Building on Carothers Parkway, can be retrofitted any cheaper.

More than one commissioner that we talked to is not convinced that this is true and say that the county has a habit of overbuilding when it comes to capital projects. Tours of similar facilities in Davidson, Putnam, and Lewis counties show costs of those builds are not in line with what the Williamson County Commission is being pitched as necessary.

Commissioners will meet tonight for their scheduled monthly meeting at 7 pm in the Administrative Complex Main Auditorium.

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.