Jeff YarberBradley County, Tenn., commissioners want to take a closer look at county jail maintenance and staffing concerns.
In August, a Tennessee Corrections Institute inspector cited the jail for overcrowding, understaffing and a host of plumbing and mold problems. An anonymous sheriff’s office employee recently accused Sheriff Eric Watson of misuse and mismanagement of funds and doctoring the jail staff books before a planned Dec. 7 re-certification. If cited maintenance and staffing problems have not been corrected by then, the Bradley County Jail could lose its certification.
On Monday, the commission voted 12-0 in favor of the body’s Building and Land Committee’s recommendation to request a prioritized list of maintenance needs from the Justice Center, which includes the jail. The list is due within six months.
Commissioner Dan Rawls called for sustained jail staffing as opposed to moving officers around to pass an inspection. He insisted he was not attacking the sheriff’s department for arresting people who needed to be arrested.
“The likelihood of litigation based on understaffing can become tremendous and is a huge liability for the county and the taxpayers in the county,” Rawls said.