Proposed county budget has money for jail improvements
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris has put forth to commissioners what he calls the toughest financial plan he has ever had.
The mayor wants to pump millions into both the juvenile court system, as well as adult court. In the 112-page proposed budget, there is no proposed property tax increase, but there is also no room for new employees.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner says the conditions inside the Criminal Justice Center are getting worse. The sheriff said something as simple as a milk carton can be used by inmates to overthrow the jail’s locking system.
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“They’re taking those and jamming them into the doors and our signal at the box, on the outside of the pod is showing a green light, which means it’s closed, and actually the door is able to slide open,” said Bonner.
The Sheriff sounded the alarm, saying more needs to be done to protect other inmates as well as staff. Just last month, a nurse was attacked while inside the facility handing out medication.
An inmate has been charged with her assault.
Meanwhile, a charge to the commissions has been issued by Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris to approve a budget he hopes will address the state of decline at the jail.
“Whatever needs to be done to address the severe and repeated problems at 201 Poplar,” said Harris.
Just last week, inmates set several fires in the facility while cell doors were being knocked off of their tracks, as told to us, by those with the sheriff’s department.
Mothers express concerns about conditions at Shelby County Jail
All of this further underscores what the mayor says really needs to be addressed.
“We know most of the folks at 201 Poplar suffer from mental illness and trauma, and so as it goes untreated, we are all poorer for that,” said Harris.
There is a push to advance mental healthcare for those who find themselves locked up at the criminal justice center. The mayor says there is an urgency to get the right resources in need right now.
But, the proposed new initiatives, will have to move forward without new employees.
“We have plenty of positions that are empty that have never been filled that represent, from an accounting standpoint, numbers on our bottom line. So we have to repurpose that money temporarily,” Harris said.
The mayor is also pushing to rebuild Regional One Hospital.
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