MEMPHIS, Tenn. —
Shelby County Commission board members discussed conditions at 201 Poplar Wednesday, May 10.
Shelby County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) told commissioners there are over 100 Sherriff deputy vacancies that the sheriff’s office is trying to fill after they’ve lowered the recruitment age from 21 years old to 18.
Many commissioners and SCSO officials agreed that more efforts to provide mental and physical health resources for inmates need to be made.
"The facility that we’re in is 42-years-old," Chief Jailer Kirk Fields said. “By national standards, they say a jail that is in use ages in anywhere between 4 to 6 years every year of usage. We definitely need a new facility.”
During Wednesday's committee meeting, commissioners pressed the SCSO on the staffing, jail facility needs, and mental and physical health resources provided to inmates.
"After I left the four-hour tour of 201, I didn’t feel the same," Commissioner Britney Thornton said. "And I felt like I was triggered in so many ways just because of what I was seeing.”
In 2022 according to SCSO, there were 14 inmate deaths, which is the highest number of fatalities since Bonner took office in 2018.
SCSO said seven deaths were disease-related, three deaths were drug-related, one death by suicide, one death by murder by a cellmate, one death occurred outside of the jail facility, and one death still awaiting an autopsy.
Given the recent fatalities, Josh Spickler with prison watchdog organization ‘Just City’ said the information SCSO provided to the commission lacked transparency.
“A per capita death rate, a mortality rate in that jail that is shockingly high as compared to other jails across the country," Spickler, the executive director at Just City, said. "So, it’s very disappointing that the sheriff didn’t stay.”
The commission said it believes the death rate can be decreased by a new jail or rehabbing the current one, but others said increasing mental resources should be done immediately.
“Are we ready to pay for what we know needs to be addressed and do we have the capacity and resources to do so," commissioner Charlie Caswell said.
SCSO officials said inmates are given an initial physical and mental screening when they arrive in the jail and a full medical examination, as required by law within 14 days.
"We are responsible for the public health of the citizens of Shelby County even if they’re visiting into this jail system," Caswell said. "One day they may be released back out and if they’re coming back out unhealthy because they’re in a space like that, that’s not healthy; it’s a concern.”