Local leaders discuss new ‘Day Reporting Center’ corrections program

JACKSON, Tenn. — A new rehabilitation program may be added to the Madison County jail by the end of the year.

State commissioners and local leaders came together Thursday to discuss the a program known as the Day Reporting Center.

“The courts may say, you know what, it’s a community-based option rather than incarceration,” Tennessee Corrections Commissioner Tony Parker said. “Like if an offender has a bad drug problem, they can put them on probation, and that offender can be required to participate in the Day Reporting Center.”

Officials say a program like this will not only keep young offenders from returning to jail but also will affect jail population and save the county money.

“I’m really excited about it and excited about the potential so that folks that are in prison and they come out, they’re not just wandering around in the wilderness — they have some direction,” Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris said.

Commissioners say since the Public Safety Act was established they have received funds for six more centers that already have proven successful. They say an overwhelming number of success stories have come from the state’s current location in East Tennessee. This is said to be due to the variety of programs offered to the offenders enrolled.

“Resume writing, job preparation, interview skills — all of those things that a citizen needs to go out and get a job,” Commissioner Parker said.

And officials say all of the programs included in the Day Reporting Center will not only benefit the inmate but the community as well.

“The old saying of ‘lock them up and throw away the key,’ it doesn’t work, and it doesn’t work in the sense of public safety as well as just the well-being of the community,” Mayor Harris said.

Officials say the next step in the process is to choose the best location in Jackson for the Day Reporting Center to be built.