NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — State convicts held in Nashville are costing big money, says Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall, and now he's going to sue the state over convicts wrongly left in his care.
For the past several years, Sheriff Hall has asked the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) to transfer inmates for placement in state prisons.
But he says he's been ignored, and now there's an overcrowding problem costing millions.
"In this situation, the state of Tennessee unfortunately gets to determine when they are going to take the prisoners," said Hall.
Federal courts have set loose guidelines that states should collect inmates within two weeks.
The sheriff says he has a backlog in the hundreds.
"So, I'm losing $100 a day per inmate—about $170. That's about $6 million a year."
Here's how the process is supposed to work:
The sheriff says inmates who receive a one to six year sentence typically remain in the jail.
But more serious convicts, sentenced to seven years or longer, are to go to state prisons.
That's not happening and the sheriff says the jail is now 400 over capacity.
And he points to an ironic twist:
"We failed our state standards. Why? Because we are overcrowded. Why? Because of state inmates. The state of Tennessee is inspecting our jails telling me I'm not meeting standards because of their inmates."
The sheriff says he's had enough and is ready to take a dramatic step.
"I've told Metro legal, the Mayor, the Department of Corrections. I've told everybody. You're going to have to sue to get this resolved. If they don't pick up their inmates, you as a city are going to have to sue. And if the city won't support me I'm going to hire my own lawyer."
That is something the sheriff has never done before, but he says he means it. He says the issue is a major problem for the jail and taxpayers and he's not going to sit back and let it keep happening.
We did reach out to the TDOC for comment. They declined, citing pending litigation.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at nick.beres@newschannel5.
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