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Commissioners adopt resolution removing New Chicago/North Memphis site from consideration for Walter L. Bailey Criminal Justice Center
Summary
After public opposition and local commissioners’ remarks, the board adopted an add-on resolution asking county leadership to remove New Chicago/North Memphis from consideration as the site for a replacement or relocated jail.
The Shelby County Board of Commissioners’ Law Enforcement committee voted to approve an add-on resolution asking county leadership to remove the New Chicago/North Memphis community from consideration as the site for a proposed rebuild or relocation of the Walter L. Bailey Criminal Justice Center.
Commissioner Henry E. Brooks introduced the add-on, saying he has met with residents and heard opposition to placing a jail in the New Chicago neighborhood. “I am in support of the residents. I have heard them. I have been to the meeting. I have heard their opposition to having a penal colony, if you will, in their community. And I support that opposition,” Brooks said.
Two public speakers addressed the committee in support of the resolution. Carnita Atwater of the New Chicago CDC described the neighborhood’s exclusion from a 177-page needs assessment and said the New Chicago CDC had been “intentionally been disenfranchised, ignored, and denied accessibility to city and county funds.” She thanked Commissioner Brooks for speaking out on the community’s behalf.
Andrea Bell told commissioners she opposes siting a jail “in their backyard” and urged keeping the facility downtown if it is rebuilt. “No one in Memphis should have a jail in their backyard,” Bell said. She argued that renovating the existing downtown facility would avoid placing incarceration infrastructure in a residential community.
Brooks moved to suspend rules and place the add-on before the committee. The committee then voted on the resolution: Commissioners Erica Sugarman and Henry E. Brooks voted yes; Vice Chair David Bradford abstained. The clerk recorded two aye votes and one abstention; that tally was reported as a favorable recommendation. The committee chair noted the item would move forward with a favorable recommendation.
The discussion included references to a previously passed, commissioner-sponsored resolution calling for culturally competent community engagement in redevelopment decisions and to community meetings where residents voiced opposition. The record shows commissioners debated both the location choice and the procedures used to develop the needs assessment that informed siting options.
The resolution as presented removed New Chicago/North Memphis from consideration for the Walter L. Bailey Criminal Justice Center relocation or rebuild and asked that the county follow inclusive community engagement practices when considering sites for major redevelopment projects.
