SCSO seeking $1.5M in emergency funds for ‘significant, growing challenge’ at 201 Poplar jail
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) said Friday that it is seeking emergency funding to address “a significant and growing challenge” at the 201 Poplar jail.
In a letter addressed to Shelby County Commissioner Charlie Caswell Jr., SCSO’s chief jailer, Kirk Fields, said at least $1.5 million is needed to address the department’s needs.
“The Sheriff’s Office now faces a significant and growing challenge,” Fields wrote.
In his letter, Fields said the money is needed at a time in which the jail “has reached historic levels, with no indication of a decline in the near future.” He also said that his department has been working to minimize the impact of “increased arrests” with the arrival of the Memphis Safe Task Force.
Some of the issues Fields noted in his letter included broken elevators and escalators, staffing issues, the rising cost of housing inmates and overcrowding that, in some cases, has forced people in the intake area to sleep in chairs.
Fields also said that “the jail has been using overtime to address intake and release for weeks.”
As of Friday, Fields said in his letter that the jail’s population is at 2,909 — which is 109 over capacity. He also said that the jail has not had a death since July, adding that “it is not helpful when elected officials repeat unsubstantiated claims which are designed to lead people to believe there are ‘cover-ups.'”
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