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Residents and advocates urge council to reject siting a new jail in historically redlined neighborhoods; resolution denied
Summary
Public commenters and several council members argued a proposed new jail would worsen long-standing disinvestment in historically redlined Black neighborhoods. The committee denied a resolution that would have directed planners to avoid those neighborhoods, with opponents saying site-selection should await consultant recommendations.
Public commenters told the Neighborhoods Committee on May 18 that building a large, campus-style detention center in historically redlined neighborhoods would deepen the economic and social harm those areas have long endured.
Wells Todd, speaking for Take Them Down Jackson / Interrupting Redlining, said the legacy of redlining created concentrated poverty and depressed land values and asked the council to refuse to site the new jail in Black neighborhoods. "The question now is what are you going to do about it?" he said, arguing the city must not perpetuate past discrimination by placing a new campus-style jail where land is cheapest.
Other members of the public made similar appeals. Bobby Okconor said redlining limited Black families' ability to build wealth and warned that placing a detention center in such neighborhoods would worsen those "scars." Nancy Murray Settle, also with Interrupt Red Lining, called the proposed plan "a billion-dollar" project and urged smaller, rehabilitative alternatives and a more equitable distribution of criminal-justice infrastructure.
Council Member Matthew Paluso introduced a nonbinding resolution (2026-0356) intended to tell the administration and contractors working on site selection to avoid neighborhoods identified in past redlining maps. Paluso framed the measure as a reassurance to constituents that the council would not repeat earlier discriminatory siting decisions.
But several council members objected to a blanket prohibition at this stage of the planning process. Council Member Lannon, who is the council liaison to the Jacksonville Justice Center effort, said the city hired a third-party consultant (CGL) through an open RFP and that site-selection is one part of a multi-deliverable process. "Let's let the process play out," he said, adding that prematurely ruling out swaths of Duval County could produce a surge of similar exclude-this-area resolutions across districts.
Other colleagues likewise said they supported the principle of avoiding harm to historically marginalized neighborhoods but opposed adopting a resolution that could preempt or complicate the technical site-selection work. Council Member Bolan said he understood the concern but called a citywide ban on consideration of certain neighborhoods "not viable" at this time.
The committee voted to deny the resolution, with the clerk recording "one yea, six nays." Committee members who opposed the resolution said the appropriate time to litigate particular sites would be after the consultant returns its recommended site options.
What happens next: the consultant’s preliminary report is anticipated early next year; several council members urged staff and the consultant to present recommended sites before the council takes further action on siting decisions.
Sources: Public comments from Wells Todd, Bobby Okconor and Nancy Murray Settle; council debate led by Council Members Paluso, Lannon and Bolan; final committee vote recorded by the clerk.
