County leaders to tackle overcrowding at Madison County Jail
JACKSON, Tenn. — At the risk of being decertified, Madison County commissioners discuss ways to cut down on overcrowding at the county jail. “This is not really a new problem,” Commissioner Larry Lowrance said. “It’s just gotten a little bit worse and we need to address it before it becomes a huge problem.” Commissioners agreed to form a committee that will work to alleviate overcrowding. “We’re going to need to have input from the DA’s office, the judges, the court system, to help us determine some things we can do,” Mayor Jimmy Harris said. A state inspection in May found inmates sleeping on the floor and the number of male prisoners exceeded capacity. “Perhaps some of the people that are in there are those that you could put an ankle bracelet and they could be monitored in that way,” Commissioner Ann Harrell said. County leaders say the committee will work with a detention facility specialist to come up with a plan of action and present that to the state by September. “Eventually we can be decertified, which has an impact on our jail, our liability, as well as our reimbursement from the state,” Harris said. “When you think of overcrowding and you gotta solve that problem you think basically okay one way is just release people early,” Lowrance said. “Okay, the other way is build another jail. Right now we’re not at either one of those options.” Commissioners meet again Aug. 18.
