Architects return preliminary drawing of Madison Co. jail expansion

JACKSON, Tenn. — We now know what the new Madison County Jail could look like. County leaders said architects released preliminary drawings of the expansion project this week.

“The question we’ll have to come up with is how much of that can we do,” Madison County Commission Chairman Gary Deaton said.

New 3D drawings, just released Tuesday, show an expansion behind the current jail.

“It’s designed to minimize the amount of personnel that would be required to operate that facility compared to what it costs now,” Deaton said.

Deaton said they would like eight units with 48 beds each, 30 beds reserved for medical needs, and 24 beds for classification, or inmates who need to be separated. That brings the grand total to 438 beds.

Deaton said that is just what they want — those numbers are not set in stone, and it could all change. “We want to get all we can get, based on what we can afford to pay for,” he said.

Madison County Sheriff John Mehr said the new design allows officers to directly supervise and separate inmates. “Everybody’s tossed in together,” he said. “You know, you don’t want somebody waiting for first-degree murder and somebody that went out there and forged a check.”

Deaton said they are still not sure how much this new jail will cost. He said the next step is to take the plans and get bids. “Hopefully we’ll be able to take something to the floor for the County Commission to look at and approve no later than our August meeting,” Deaton said.

Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris said they hope to have a do-not-exceed price by the end of July.

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News spoke with several Madison County commissioners who had not yet seen the drawings. County leaders said the plans are more than 300 pages long.