Cheatham County votes to name new justice center after Doris Wheatley

The Cheatham County Commission voted July 20 to name the countys new criminal justice facility for Doris Wheatley after a motion and subsequent roll-call vote that the chair announced as 9 yes, 2 no and 1 abstain.

Supporters described Wheatley as a longtime community benefactor. Bob Herrick, who the chair introduced to speak about Wheatley, said Wheatley used personal fundraising to buy a computer for the county court and later established scholarships for students to attend Austin Peay State University. "He was a good guy," Herrick said, describing Wheatleys community fundraising and scholarship work.

Not all commissioners and speakers supported naming the facility for a single person. One meeting participant urged caution and said the building is "bigger than any one man or woman" and recommended leaving the name as the Cheatham County Justice Center to avoid offending families of other former sheriffs.

The naming motion was moved and seconded on the floor; during debate a commissioner attempted to amend the motion to defer the naming until September to gather more public input. After procedural votes the original naming motion was brought to a final roll call and recorded as passing.

Commissioners who supported the motion said they wanted to extend a formal invitation to the Wheatley family to attend the next meeting for an official presentation. The chair said staff would arrange to have the family present when the naming is made official.

The vote completes the commissions action on the facility name; there was no ordinance number associated with the vote and no further legal steps were recorded in the meeting minutes.

The commission moved on to other agenda items after the vote.