A 911 recording showed a Bradley County Jail commander notified law enforcement in August that the facility could not receive any more prisoners.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported the decision to temporarily stop taking prisoners came one day after an inspection report by the Tennessee Corrections Institute cited the Bradley County jail for being overcrowded and understaffed.
In the 911 recording on August 18, Captain Gabe Thomas said freezing jail admissions would "tick a lot of people off." Thomas has been head of the judicial and corrections services division.
Thomas said in the 911 recording that he had "75 people up in booking" and the corrections division had told Cleveland police and county sheriff's deputies there was no room for new prisoners.
