JOHN COFFELTContributor

Local officials are concerned that, if the population numbers continue on their present trend at the Coffee County Jail, the facility could get flagged during an upcoming inspection by the Tennessee Corrections Institute.

“Our population is growing and will continue to grow,” Sheriff Chad Partin said during the March 27 Law Enforcement Committee meeting.  “We are currently at 392 inmates out of 400 beds. We have been over 400 a time or two.”

Partin said the TCI will not likely approve the jail inspection and could put the county on a plan of action. 

One of the main concerns related to overcrowding is the female population, which is holding at 20% of the total population or 80 females.

“We’ve had a tremendous increase in female population,” Partin said.

A partial remedy for some of the crowding is to transfer state sentenced prisoners to other county jails. Jail administrators are currently searching through the inventory for inmates who can be transferred.

“County jails are designed for county inmates, 11 months 29 days is best,” Partin said.

Partin said that high jail populations increase the number of incidents and damage to the facility.