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Shelby County delays $350,000 jail master plan vote after heated public and commissioner debate
Summary
Commissioners heard a multi-hour presentation and public comment about a proposed public'private master plan to relocate the Walter L. Bailey Criminal Justice Center. An add-on resolution to allocate $350,000 to study a move to New Chicago was amended to include alternate sites and sent back to committee for Aug. 20 to allow finance and staff to add funding exhibits.
A proposal to spend $350,000 on a master plan to relocate the Walter L. Bailey Criminal Justice Center led to more than three hours of presentations, public comment and commissioner questions before the Shelby County Commission sent the measure back to committee for more work.
Kemp Conrad of Cushman & Wakefield and P3 adviser Al Dotson presented a vision for a modern, consolidated justice campus on a 71-acre greenfield site known as the old Firestone property. Conrad said the master-plan funding would allow the county and the developer team to produce a program, site planning, schematic designs and refined cost estimates: "We would request $350,000 to start funding a master plan so the community and the Commission can start moving forward," Conrad said.
Dotson described the public'private partnership as a tool to allocate construction and financing risk to the private sector while preserving policymaker control over design and operations. He said the master plan would be a planning exercise, not a commitment to build: "This will be preliminary planning and stakeholder engagement, not a commitment to construction," Dotson said.
But public speakers and several commissioners pressed the presenters on process, siting and community impact. Dr. Carnita Atwater, executive director of the New Chicago Community Development Corporation, told commissioners she and other neighborhood leaders had been excluded from planning despite earlier community-originated redevelopment proposals: "We do not want the New Chicago community to be a dumping ground for a jail," Atwater said.
Several commissioners echoed calls for more community engagement and asked staff to identify alternative county-owned sites rather than focusing on a single private parcel. Commissioner Brooks warned against colocating juvenile-court and detention functions with adult facilities and cited research urging caution: "Exposing youth to adult jails is detrimental," she said, urging more study and public hearings.
Finance staff told the panel that $350,000 could be taken from the CIP contingency but recommended returning the resolution with exhibits showing the exact funding source. Deputy CFO Michael Thompson said the usual process requires exhibit attachments so the committee can determine funding impact.
After debate and several amendments (including language to require assessment of alternative sites such as Shelby Farms and downtown), the Commission voted without objection to send the amended add-on back to committee for Aug. 20 so staff and finance can prepare required exhibits and funding details. The chair said the referral gives time for "the full process" to be observed before any expenditure is authorized.
Next steps: the item will return to committee with the requested exhibits and the expanded site-assessment language. Commissioners asked that the courts, clerks and community stakeholders be included early in the master-planning process.
