Consultants discuss Madison Co. jail overcrowding at town hall meeting
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DOWNTOWN JACKSON, Tenn. — Residents take a closer look at overcrowding at the Madison County Jail. Consultants working for the National Institute of Corrections hosted a town hall meeting in downtown Jackson to discuss problems at the facility, Thursday. “The current facility is poorly configured and is not cost efficient to operate,” Cheryl Gallant, a criminal justice consultant, said. Gallant toured the current facilities and said the county needs a new jail and facilities that can accommodate upwards of 650 inmates. “They have outgrown the number of available beds to serve their inmate population,” she said. County employees, citizens, and commissioners were able to ask questions during the meeting. Madison County Commission Chairman Gary Deaton said they are in the process of putting a plan together. “The jail we have we built 18 years ago,” he said. “We spent $17 million building that. This no doubt would cost more.” Jackson-Madison County NAACP President Harrell Carter said he would rather see taxpayer dollars spent on education. “Yes, we’re overcrowded but why are we overcrowded?” he said. “We look at our educational system and I think we can figure out why.” Gallant discussed possible solutions to overcrowding. “Some most likely will be building bed capacity the other is building alternatives to incarceration,” she said. County leaders could not say for sure how much a new facility will cost. Consultants said the jail annex above the courthouse also needs to be shut down.
