Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall has announced plans to immediately begin relocating hundreds of inmates from the Metro Jail.
It was set to be a mass migration of accused killers, rapists, drug dealers, and thieves.
Sheriff Hall revealed his high-security plan to move hundreds of convicts, and it was unlike anything ever done before in the history of the city.
First and foremost, the move centered on upgrading security.
"Every cell door had to have one of these flaps installed for food trays. The high risk people won't all move out of their cells to eat," said Hall.
This was to accommodate the new neighbors on the block: the cell block.
"Its going to be traumatic moving, dramatic, a huge undertaking," said Hall.
But the sheriff said it's time now to move all his inmates from their current location downtown because the jail has been falling apart. The city will tear it down and rebuild.
In an exclusive interview, Hall for the first time showed off the temporary quarters at CCA and city facilities off Harding Place, but those were mostly minimum security.
Now they must go max.
"We've added an exterior razor wire fence on the outside, so you have two the entire way," said Hall.
And there's retrofits inside including removing all the breakable porcelain toilets and replacing them with metal ones.
"We're upgrading the security level to make sure the community is safe," said Hall.
The refurbished cells will now host all manner of inmates from convicted killers and rapists, to accused drug dealers or thieves awaiting trial, and this will not be an overnight stay.
"At least three years. We call it temporary, but that is a long time," said Hall.
The move was planned to begin Monday with dozens of inmates going by van or bus, and all of them will be at the new location by July 1.
The move will limit the use of nearby Ezell Park where the city will install portables for sheriff staffers.
Also, during the next month, families of inmates will need to double check the schedule for visitation, medical treatments, and court dates.
