The county has found itself facing some tough positions lately, battling over issues of a proposed judicial center or an addition to the county jail, as well as calls for a new Smithville Elementary school. No matter which way the county decides, it looks as if property taxes will increase, with the possibility of a wheel tax. But some are questioning how the county should proceed, and are weighing the importance of each issue.

The DeKalb County Commission has already approved moving forward with a planned 190-bed Judicial Center, and has approved preliminary designs for the project, settling on a two-story facility which would include inmate housing, offices for the DeKalb Sheriff’s Department, and judicial courtrooms.

Proponents of the facility say the move from the current jail system would be a safer option for the public, doing away with transports for prisoners to and from the DeKalb County Courthouse.

Currently, inmates must be walked across the Smithville Square, to what officials admit is a poorly secured courthouse. With a judicial center, inmate would simply walk down a hallway or stairway to court proceedings.

In 2019, the Tennessee Corrections Institute said they wanted the county to work toward developing a long-range plan to correct long standing structural deficiencies at the jail or risk its decertification. Findings identified during a state inspection of the jail on August 22, 2019 revealed that while the jail and annex are not currently overcrowded, a major concern is that the facilities do not meet the state square footage per inmate space requirements.

“By the Tennessee Corrections Institute (TCI), each inmate is required to have 25 square feet of clear floor space and 8 feet ceilings in sleeping areas and not less than 35 square feet for where an inmate is confined for more than 10 hours a day for walking areas. This is a total of 60 square feet per inmate,” said Sheriff Patrick Ray.

Another concern is the age of the buildings. The original jail was built in 1959 and lacks many state-required essentials such as stainless-steel sinks and commodes in the cells instead of the existing porcelain fixtures, and the facility has no sprinkler system. The annex was added in 2001 and has issues of its own.

According to Tennessee Corrections Institute (TCI) standards, the existing DeKalb County jail can now house no more than 52 inmates (16 females and 36 males) to remain certified by the state, and none of the prisoners can be kept in the basement of the older portion of the jail building. Several inmates have been relocated to other jails, but the county is having to foot the bill for that at up to $55 per day.

During meetings the State has said that they are not telling the county that they have to build a jail or a judicial center, however they point out that without the county making headway towards the issue, the jail would become decertified.

“If our jail is not certified and something happens to an inmate it only takes one sly attorney to make a big fat lawsuit and not only will we be sued but if it goes to federal court the county could be ordered to build a jail to federal rather than state standards and it might be $80 million instead or $40 or $50 million. I would rather build it to our own standards than risk having a federal court tell us how to build it. That’s what the issue is. We (county commission and I) don’t want our property taxes to go up either or have a wheel tax because we have to pay them too,” said County Mayor Matt Adcock.

While the approval of moving forward with a judicial center has been approved, there are some that have issues with the project, one of course is where would it be located. While a jail facility could be located in the county, a judicial center would require it be located inside the Smithville City limits. There have been varying locations tossed about during meetings, with some located just outside the city limits and would require the city to annex the property. With such a volatile issue, that may be a big ask for Smithville officials.

On the other hand, should a property be located outside the city limits away from developments, and the city not choose to annex it, this would force to county to purchase property inside the city, perhaps next to businesses and neighborhoods.

Another issue the county would face with a judicial center is staffing. State officials are recommending the staff at the faciality be increased from the current 17, to 57 to 63. Sheriffs’ officials say that number is high, but even if the staff were to double to 34, that would be a significant increase in yearly salaries and benefits.

There are many that are saying the solution to the location problem is to simply add on to the current jail, forgoing the judicial center. Steve Bates, the county’s fiscal agent/financial advisor has said that the cost difference in building a jail versus judicial center initially is $10 million.

Designers did estimates on three different 190-bed judicial center designs, two on a new site, and one built at the current location of the jail, with the current location coming out as the most expensive. However, no estimates have been made towards simply expanding the jail without the judicial center.

In either case, County Mayor Adcock said a new revenue stream would be required to fund it whether it be a higher property tax rate, the implementation of a wheel tax, or a combination of the two.

“What we are talking about is spending $40 million on building a jail only. We are talking about doing 30-year fixed rate bonds and coming up with a funding source to raise enough money to amortize the debt.,” said Bates.

“You will need a full year’s collection if we issue bonds in fiscal 2024-25. You must have money start coming in to put in debt service. Your debt management policy says at a minimum you must have 80% of debt service requirement in your debt service fund. We only have about $2 million in debt service right now, so we will need more money,” said Bates.

All county officials have expressed that they would much rather be talking about building a new school over a jail or judicial center, but say their hands are basically tied. While the jail is almost a requirement if the county doesn’t want to risk lawsuits and a federal judge mandating what type of facility be built, the jail issue has to be addressed. A new school is not so clear.

What many say is the problem with building a new school, is that the county already has an elementary school. The school may be aging and need some repairs, but with 10-years straight of declining student enrollment, some are asking why we need a new school. A fraction of the funds needed to build a new school could be directed towards fixing any issues with the current school.

In addition, the county has already made an offer to the DeKalb County School Board that they would fund a new school, with no tax increases, if the school system would put up $2 million of their $10+ million surplus in an effort to secure bonding for the project. The school board denied the request, saying they didn’t want to dip into their surplus at a time when Federal and State funds are drying up.

With that, the school board is now poised to come before the DeKalb Budget Committee with a request for $3.1 million in additional funds for teacher and staff pay raises, something that seemingly is not sitting well with some commissioners.

No matter how the county decides to move forward, there seems to be no real winners, with property taxes almost certain to increase. We wouldn’t want to be a commissioner right now.