December 19, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb County Jail and Annex will be recertified for another year.
Sheriff Patrick Ray reported to the county commission Thursday night that the Tennessee Corrections Institute has granted recertification now that the county has agreed to seek a partnership with TCI and the County Technical Advisory Service (CTAS) in developing a “plan of action” for addressing deficiencies found at the Jail and Annex during recent state inspections. TCI had threatened to decertify the jail had the county not requested the partnership.
A “plan of action” allows a facility to maintain a certified status after failing to meet all minimum standards while demonstrating to the TCI Board of Control that the facility is making measurable progress over a period of time (months or years) to rectify deficiencies found during inspection.
“I went before the TCI board in Nashville on December 4 and explained to them that we had requested to enter into a plan of action partnership that you (county commission) agreed to and Tim (County Mayor) and I signed. They accepted that request and also recommended 2019-20 recertification of the jail because we had gone into that plan of action with them. We are still awaiting our certification paperwork from the state,” said Sheriff Ray.
“As part of the partnership, my office has to send a monthly report to them (state) of what we are doing . For example, I will include in my December report that I met with TCI and that I reported to you (county commission) tonight about that meeting. We have to do updates to keep the state informed on what we are doing to resolve any issues they have found at the jail,” added Sheriff Ray.
County Mayor Tim Stribling said the next step is for the county to comply with the state’s request to form an ad hoc committee to begin discussions on meeting needs at the jail.
“We entered into a plan of action partnership with the TCI for the purpose of overseeing the needs of the jail and TCI has indicated that we need an ad hoc jail committee. I am asking that county commissioners Beth Pafford, Matt Adcock, Anita Puckett, Bobby Johnson, Sabrina Farler, and Scott Little serve on that committee with me, Sheriff Ray, and Chief Deputy Robert Patrick. Our first meeting with Bob Bass of TCI will be on January 13 at 5:30 p.m. at the Veterans building. TCI has also requested that our criminal court judges, Gary McKenzie and Wesley Bray also be part of the meeting,” said County Mayor Stribling.
Several findings were identified during a state inspection of the jail on August 22 and while a follow-up inspection on October 4 revealed some of the issues had been addressed, others remain which will require a longer term fix. Although many of these same deficiencies have existed for years, both the jail and annex have consistently passed annual state inspections until this year.