At 4 p.m. Tuesday, officials began housing inmates in a new building at the Hamilton County Jail.
The construction is part of an ongoing expansion and renovation of the facility, which came under county control after private manager CoreCivic terminated its contract in 2020.
The $32 million project includes more beds, a central office for administration and new portals for inmate and public access.
(READ MORE: Silverdale prison construction project adds beds and offices, improves security and more)
Before the building opened for business on Tuesday, local officials and lawmakers cut a blue ribbon to celebrate the opening.
“Formerly known as the County Workhouse and later as the Silverdale Detention Center, this new Hamilton County Jail and Detention Center proudly bears the name and flag of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office,” said Sheriff Austin Garrett before cutting the ribbon.
Here are some important things to know about the new facility.
1. The building can accommodate an additional 128 people.
The existing facility had a capacity of 1,084 people. On Tuesday, 1,110 people were housed in the prison, Deputy Chief Shaun Shepherd said during a tour with the media.
When a law enforcement agency brings someone into custody, the sheriff’s office has a constitutional obligation to take that person in, Garrett said.
“We can’t say, ‘Oh, I’m out of beds,'” Shepherd said. “So we have to find a bed. … We’re not forcing anyone to sleep on the concrete floor.”
(READ MORE: Hamilton County Sheriff: Jail and facilities must grow with county)
MPs could install particularly low bunk beds in existing cells to increase the number of beds, he said.
The prison currently houses about 40 to 45 inmates waiting to be transferred to a state prison at some point, Garrett said, and another 30 to 40 are waiting to be transferred to a federal prison.
About 60 percent of the prison’s inmates are in pretrial custody, meaning they have not yet been convicted of the crime for which they are incarcerated, the sheriff said.
The closure of the downtown Chattanooga jail in 2021 left the sheriff’s office about 500 beds short, officials said. The 128 beds added with the new building will help make up that difference, Garrett said. Other planned expansions are expected to create more beds and a larger kitchen.
The new building includes additional housing units for female inmates and people with medical needs, Garrett said. Although the building opened Tuesday, those housing units were not immediately operational, he said.
2. A drug treatment program is in the works.
The prison plans to implement a medication-assisted treatment program to help people who use substances such as opioids detoxify and help them avoid overdosing during withdrawal.
On Monday, the county announced it had received a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to be used to launch the program. Last year, county Mayor Weston Wamp also announced that some of the funds from the opioid case settlement would be used for the program.
Currently, people who come to prison and are already participating in an outside treatment program – such as methadone at treatment centers in Chattanooga or Bradley County – can continue that program in prison.
But if people are admitted who are not in treatment, they cannot currently begin treatment in the prison, said Andie Jeane of medical provider Quality Correctional Health Care during a tour of the facility.
The facility has medication available for people with alcohol withdrawal, Jeane said.
3. The expansion added a new entry area…
People admitted to the prison now go through a reception area in the new building.
When inmates arrive, staff conduct an assessment to determine what level of security they require and any medical or mental health needs they have. About 70% of the prison’s inmates have mental health issues, Garrett said.
In the old holding area, defendants had to appear in person before a justice of the peace, who set the amount of bail. In the new area, defendants will appear via video call before the judge, who is housed in the old building.
4. And new cameras…
As part of the ongoing renovation work, a new camera system was also added to the prison.
County commissioners approved approximately $6.3 million worth of upgrades to the facility in 2022, including nearly 400 new cameras from Johnson Controls.
More than 600 cameras now monitor the facility, Sheriff’s Chief of Staff Ron Bernard said Tuesday. Correctional officers can monitor the video feeds from control centers throughout the prison.
Most of them record both audio and video, Garrett said, which is unusual for surveillance cameras or cameras in prisons.
“So we not only have the video, but also what is being said,” Garrett said.
5. And a new fence.
Renovations also included a new, higher fence to keep people from throwing contraband like drugs into the yard, Garrett said. Two people have died of overdoses at the prison so far this year, officials said.
Now, however, Garrett said, authorities are concerned that people might drop things from drones.
“You can never completely eliminate smuggling in a facility, it’s just not possible,” he said. “Inmates will take anything, even a discarded piece of plastic, to make weapons out of it.”
6. Reintegration programmes are being expanded.
The prison is expanding its reintegration programs, which include job training and life skills education.
Only inmates serving their sentences after conviction are eligible for the programs, rehabilitation officer Wendy Harris said in an interview, because they have a set schedule for their time in prison.
The prison has already started a cosmetology program for women and plans to begin classes for an electrician course next week, officials said.
“We have the most creative women here,” said Harris. “They can make anything beautiful, including themselves.”
The prison also plans to offer welding and carpentry programs.
The goal of reintegration is to help people avoid going back to prison, Harris said. When familiar faces return to prison, staff will interview them to find out what happened since their release that landed them back behind bars.
“This is not a place where the goal is to lock up the same or larger number of people,” Wamp said. “I would say the opposite is true.”
7. The prison has reduced its staff shortages.
When Garrett took over as sheriff in September 2022, there were 80 vacancies at the jail, he said, calling it a “severe staff shortage.”
Now there are 11, he said on Tuesday.
This is the highest capacity the jail has ever had since the sheriff’s office took over operations, Wamp said outside the facility.
Prison staff now walk down a hallway with a quote attributed to Garrett on the wall: “Don’t forget who you are.”
Contact Ellen Gerst at [email protected] or 423-757-6319.
