The issue with the DeKalb County Jail goes back over two decades. The county has dealt with inmate overcrowding and infrastructure problems at the site since at least the late 1990s. Today, the fight is not over and issues still remain unsolved. The fact is, something has to be done, but what and how to pay for it are questions many disagree on.

It has been claimed that many in the public are uninformed about the issue and where the county stands now. While the issue has been extensively covered throughout the years by the media, the Smithville Review thought we would present a timeline over the jail issue, going back to the very beginning.

January 1999

The county was in discussions with three other counties (White, Warren and Van Buren) over the feasibility of a regional jail. County mayors from each county gathered in Sparta to discuss a regional jail that would be funded by all four counties, with the location at the convergence of White, Warren and Van Buren counties on Highway 70S in the vicinity of Rock Island. The idea was eventually deemed incompatible with the county’s needs.

May 2001

The DeKalb Jail Annex was planned and by April 2001 construction on the 38-bed, 5,365-square-foot addition was finished. Southbuild of Memphis was the architect/design engineer, while Henson Construction of Jackson, Tenn., built the structure. On May 6, 2001, the jail was then put in operation. The building featured 32 dormitory-style beds, with six additional beds in three isolation cells.

The Jail Annex was phase one of a three-phase plan for jail expansion. Phase 2 would be built to the south (behind) the annex with 44 additional beds, while phase 3 would be east. During this time the Smithville Review reported that the county had purchased adjacent land to the east of the new facility, including a house that was demolished, where phase 3 would occur. Phase 3 would add an additional 76 beds to the jail, for a total of 158 beds. Property was also acquired to the south of the jail from two individuals. 

Then County Executive (County Mayor) Larry Webb was quoted as saying, “With the property the county purchased we think there is enough property to take care of the jail needs for several, several, years.”

November 2001

The City of Smithville announced it would be shutting down its jail facility, which at that time was housing all female prisoners. The county offered to cover the cost of running the city jail, and pay insurance, but the city decided to shut down the facility noting that they were one of the last cities in the state that still operated a jail.

October 2014

The DeKalb County Jail and Jail Annex met minimum standards for certification. Sheriff Patrick Ray said the Tennessee Corrections Institute (TCI) performed an inspection of the DeKalb County Jail and the DeKalb County Jail Annex. In a letter from the executive director of the TCI, Ray said the jail staff was commended for the state of the facility.

March 2016

The Tennessee Corrections Institute approved the DeKalb County Jail and Jail Annex for certification after determining that the facility met minimum standards during a recent inspection. TCI Executive Director Beth Ashe wrote, " The inspection revealed that this facility meets all applicable minimum standards. The certified capacity for the jail and annex included 102 beds, 78 for men and 24 for women. The average daily population is 79, and there were 75 inmates incarcerated on the day of the inspection.

July 2017

The DeKalb County Jail passed another yearly inspection. In a letter from the Tennessee Correctional Institute, the jail was found to be fit for certification. The inspection report read, “A large percentage of the facility was newly painted, appeared to be very clean, and various locks were replaced. The facility appeared to be in good state of repair.”

October 2019

Stricter state inspectors made their presence known in DeKalb County. TCI inspectors want the county to work toward developing a long-range plan to correct long standing structural deficiencies or risk the jail losing its certification.

Several findings were identified during a state inspection of the jail on August 22, and a follow-up inspection on October 4, revealed some of the issues had been addressed, others remain which will require a longer-term fix. 

Issues raised included overcrowding and not meeting the state square footage per inmate space requirements. Each inmate is required to have 25 square feet of clear floor space and eight feet ceilings in sleeping areas and not less than 35 square feet for where an inmate is confined for more than 10 hours a day for walking areas. This is a total of 60 square feet per inmate.

After the inspection, Sheriff Ray stated, “I, along with others, do not understand how the jail has retained its certification for all of these years with the State Tennessee Corrections Institute doing the inspections and now, all of a sudden, we have all these issues.”

November 2019

The County Commission took the first step toward keeping the DeKalb County Jail and Annex from being decertified by the Tennessee Corrections Institute. The commission requested a partnership between the county, TCI, and the County Technical Advisory Service (CTAS) to develop a plan of action for addressing deficiencies found during a recent state inspection of the jail and annex.

County Mayor Stribling said, “I spoke to a gentleman named Bob Bass of the Tennessee Corrections Institute. He said don’t fret over this. I talked to him about the plan of action and he said ‘I will write you a plan of action. I will be with you every step of the way.’”

December 2019

The DeKalb County Jail and Annex was recertified for another year, and an ad hoc jail committee was formed. Sheriff Ray reported that the Tennessee Corrections Institute granted recertification now that the county has agreed to seek a partnership with TCI and the County Technical Advisory Service (CTAS) in developing a “plan of action” for addressing deficiencies found at the Jail and Annex during recent state inspections.

January 2020

The jail committee of the county commission met with the Deputy Director of the Tennessee Correction Institute where he made recommendations for addressing deficiencies at the DeKalb County Jail and Annex.

TCI Deputy Director Bob Bass said, while the problems at the jail and annex cannot be fixed overnight, the county is on the right track in showing the state a good faith effort in trying to address them.

“Your job as a steering or ad hoc committee is to let the jail experts come in and tell you what is wrong with the jail and make suggestions to upgrade and fix them and let you go in front of the full county commission and make recommendations. You have some real serious physical plant problems at the jail which may require you to have to throw a little money at but let’s see what we can do. What I try to do is look at things we can fix without spending a lot of taxpayer dollars,” he said.

April 2021

Bob Bass, Deputy Director of the Tennessee Corrections Institute (TCI), said the DeKalb County Jail and Annex are being recommended for state certification again this year.

William Wall, Executive Director of the TCI wrote “The Tennessee Corrections Institute recently inspected/re-inspected the DeKalb County Jail and Annex. The inspection revealed that this facility does not meet all applicable minimum standards. However, the assigned Detention Facility Specialist is recommending that your county corrections partnership’s formal Plan of Action be submitted and approved by the TCI Board of Control at the next meeting scheduled on June 9, 2021 to be held electronically to consider granting certification to this facility.”

January 2023

Sheriff Ray, county commissioners and County Mayor Adcock met with Bob Bass, Deputy Director of the Tennessee Corrections Institute (TCI), and Jim Hart, Jail Consultant and Field Manager of the County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS).

“Your population is growing and as your community grows, chances are you will need a bigger jail. Of course, any given day you could be overcrowded for various reasons. In 2018, our inspection showed you had 90 inmates. In 2019 there were 107. After COVID you were back up to 77 inmates in 2021 and 99 in 2022 with 102 beds total capacity for 78 males and 24 females,” said Bass.

“It’s going to be a long process. It’s not something you do in one or two meetings. There will be deliberations for probably at least 12 to 16 months before decisions are made,” Bass continued. “There is no specific time limit. It takes time to get these things done.”

Although jails in Tennessee may operate without state certification Bass said he doesn’t recommend it because of the risk of liability and lawsuits against the county.

August 2023

TCI officials required that the jail’s number of certifiable beds, at 102 (78 males and 24 females), must be reduced to no more than 52 (16 females and 36 males) immediately. In addition, the 64-year-old basement portion of the jail, which housed 23 inmates, can no longer be used for that purpose.

Sheriff Ray informed members of the County Commission’s Jail Committee that 29 inmates currently in the jail complex will have to be housed at jails in other counties at a projected cost of $55.40 per day each, for a total of more than $1,600 per day. To house that number of inmates for a year it would cost nearly $600,000.

September 2023

The County Commission made its first steps to tackle the jail problem at a Jail Committee meeting. The consensus leaned towards building a criminal justice center, but the problem of where, and more importantly how to pay for it, arose.

During the meeting County Mayor Adcock offered at least one proposal, identifying 38 acres of property just off Anthony Avenue, near the Smithville Walmart. Adcock’s recommendation was for a criminal justice center with four courtrooms, offices, sheriff’s department, and a jail with 225 beds. The project is estimated at over $50 million. Funding ideas were discussed, with a wheel tax and/or a property tax increase proposed.

The idea of converting the current Smithville Elementary building was discussed with engineers reporting that the cost of refurbishing and adding on to the building to convert it into a criminal justice center would also be $50 million, the same as building a new facility.

November 2023

A meeting of the Jail Committee ended with the recommendation that the county move forward with a proposed judicial center over expanding the current jail. The committee voted 8-2-1 to recommend to the full county commission that a new judicial center be built once a site has been located for the project.

The commission faced questions from the public following the Jail Committee’s recommendation to build a judicial center rather than a jail, once a suitable site and funding are secured. Some citizens are asking why the facility is needed.

December 2023

Sheriff Ray addressed the county commission during its Meeting of the Whole, and detailed the number of inmates housed in other facilities and the daily cost and roundtrip mileage to each facility.

Sheriff Ray told the commission that since September the county has paid $39,923 to house prisoners, with $451 still not paid. He said that this is 75.17 percent of the $60,000 budgeted since July 1, 2023.

January 2024

The DeKalb County Jail Committee got some sticker shock after a jail consultant and architects gave out some preliminary numbers. An architect explained some average cost for other jails that have been built in the Middle Tennessee area, saying that most averaged $600 per-square-foot, with an average cost at $225,000 per bed. At the projected 272 beds for a 20-year growth plan, the cost of just the jail portion of a proposed judicial center would come in at $61.2 million, plus soft cost such as furnishings, fixtures and testing. That cost would not include office space, courtrooms, etc.

February 2024

During a Jail Committee meeting, architects presented three different plans with cost estimate for a proposed justice center. The cost of a 150-bed facility with shell space was estimated at $65,317,500, and $57,317,500 without shell space. A 190-bed facility was estimated at $67,817,500 with shell space, and $63,817,500 without, and a 225-bed facility came in at a whopping $70,317,500.

The projected cost of the courtroom complex would be $11,550,000 and the estimated design services fees based on 6 percent of the construction value is $3,000,000. These numbers do not include whatever the cost may be to purchase property for the project, if necessary.

March 2024

The County Mayor and Commission held a public forum to discuss the proposed new judicial center and jail. At the event, Stephanie Harding, Detention Facility Manager at the Tennessee Corrections Institute (TCI); Jim Hart, Jail Consultant and Field Manager of the County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS); John Eisenlau of Treanor Architects and Rick Bruining of Bell Construction, spoke and answered questions.

May 2024

The county jail committee, made up from the entire county commission, settled on the design of the facility. The committee voted 11-0 to approve the cheapest 190-bed option, a two-story design to be built at a new location.

The estimated cost for the project will be $63,817,500, not including the purchase for the land and the cost of three times more staffing. Treanor Architects and Bell Construction, designed the 102,000 square-foot, two-level structure, which would be situated on up to a 15-acre site.

The County’s Budget Committee twice failed to move forward with the process of a bond resolution. Beforehand, the committee voted unanimously to include a total of up to $910,000, $425,000 for a new fire truck and a total of $485,000 for two new ambulances, in the bond resolution to be funded from any excess proceeds or interest income from the bonds.

Proponents of the facility say the move from the current jail system would be a safer option for the public, doing away with transports for prisoners to and from the DeKalb County Courthouse. Currently, inmates must be walked across the Smithville Square to what officials admit is a poorly secured courthouse. With a judicial center, inmate would simply walk down a hallway or stairway to court proceedings.

June 2024

The DeKalb County Commission met with the 2024-25 consolidated budget and a $65 million bond resolution as its main focus, with a proposed increase to the property tax rate from $2 per $100 of assessed value, proposed to $2.61. The 61-cent increase would be the second tax rate hike in as many years, up from $1.7308 to $2 last year.

In the end, the commission split down the middle over the bond issue and the tax rate, voting 7-7 on each with County Mayor Matt Adcock breaking the tie with a “Yes” vote.

As for the property tax hike, the commission lessened the blow by voting to remove the proposed 10-cent portion of the increase, slated to go to schools ($630,000), and instead allocating $370,000 from the local purpose (sales tax) fund giving schools a total contribution annually of $1,910,000. This brought the tax rate down to $2.51 per $100 of assessed value.

The commission also acted on a resolution for a public referendum to be put on the ballot in the November, asking voters if they would support a $100 wheel tax for debt service to fund construction of a judicial center.

July 2024

Actions made by the DeKalb County Commission sparked a grass-roots movement with some local residents mounting a petition drive aimed at stopping the county’s planned funding for a proposed judicial center. At issue is the issuance of bonds, not to exceed $65 million, for the development and construction of a judicial center.