Williamson County Commission approves jail, juvenile justice center funding

On Monday, the Williamson County Commission approved up to $280 million in bonds for a long-discussed JJJ (or triple-J) project which includes plans for the construction of both a new adult jail and juvenile detention and court facility.

The resolution passed 16-7 with Commissioners Mary Smith, Barb Sturgeon, Brian Clifford, Lisa Hayes, Pete Stressor, Drew Torres and Christopher Richards voting no, while Jeff Graves abstained from the vote.

The meeting lasted more than five hours, but the JJJ project has been studied, planned and debated since 2017, including numerous committee and informational meetings over the past several months.

“I do not have an appetite for building a Taj Mahal jail, none of you do, none of our citizens do; that's ridiculous,” Williamson County Sheriff Jeff Hughes told the commission, referring to criticism over concerns of overspending on a future facility.

“I could[n't] care less about the living conditions of inmates in jail," Hughes continued. "What I do care about is the staff of the sheriff's office who have to work there, 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and it's a dungeon.”

A proposed $75,000 study to explore the feasibility of renovating a Cool Springs commercial building for a juvenile facility was voted down.

In August, commissioners toured that Duke Drive building, which had been promoted by some critics of the project's price tag as a potential alternative location for the juvenile center.

That proposed option proved unpopular with some Cool Springs neighborhood residents and sparked concerns over potential zoning disputes with the City of Franklin.

According to Hughes, the current 108,000-square-foot county jail dates back to 1989 and has 454 beds.

Current plans for a new jail would see the building expanded to approximately 248,000 square feet with a projected 592 beds and a 30-plus year lifespan. 

One Williamson County Sheriff's Office (WCSO) official told the commission that every part of the jail's physical components are “at end of life.”

“We're not effectively serving our children and families,” Williamson County Juvenile Court Judge Sharron Guffee told the commission. 

Designs for the new juvenile facility include six courtrooms and a detention center which would be projected to last 25-plus years.

“Until we have a commitment from this commission to fund this project, I can't have those conversations," Guffee said. ”We still have more design work to do until we can get our engineers and our builders at the table to talk about these cost savings.”

The exact timeline for the next steps of the project is unclear at this time. The entire Sept. 9 County Commission meeting can be viewed below.

The $280 million also includes a seismic study of the current Century Court jail location, something also advocated for by critics who have expressed concern over the proximity of the jail to a quarry located off of Downs Boulevard. Some citizens have also expressed concerns over potential tax increases to help pay for the project.

“We can't refurbish, we cannot remodel the existing jail without evacuating it; that's not possible. We can't retrofit a commercial building; that's not possible,” Hughes said, while agreeing that the seismic study should be done prior to building a new jail and juvenile facility in the same area as the existing buildings.

“The reality is this: We have to build a jail to meet TCI [Tennessee Correctional Institute] standards,” Hughes continued. “If we're decertified, then we could fall under the purview of a federal consent decree. We don't want the federal government looking over our shoulder. That's that. That's the last thing we want.”

The commission also unanimously approved up to $3 million in funding for a new WCSO special operations facility using the county's American Rescue Act Funds.