The reopening of a Mecklenburg County detention center is relieving overcrowding and bringing more federal tax dollars back to the county, but the return of juveniles remains up in the air.
Mecklenburg County Detention Center North, or Jail North, reopened in September to help alleviate overcrowding at the existing jail, Detention Center Central. Formerly a juvenile detention center, Jail North had closed in 2022 due to staff shortages at the adult jail, but plans to reopen it have been in the works for months.
Its reopening is anticipated to lighten the burden on Detention Center Central, which had been reported as exceeding its capacity since May. The reopened facility could also lead to economic benefits for the county, as the arrival of federal inmates means federal tax dollars could follow.
However, whether juveniles will ever return to the facility remains unclear. The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office has been involved in discussions with the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice since Jail North’s initial closure to explore this possibility, but as of now, the sheriff’s office is focusing on issues like overcrowding and employment at the centers.
As juvenile justice facilities are facing their own issues with overcrowding, and many Mecklenburg County youth are having to be housed outside of the county, advocates continue to push for their return to Jail North.
Overflow inmates in Mecklenburg
The reopening of the facility was announced in May, with Mecklenburg County Sheriff Gary McFadden noting the severe overcrowding issues at Detention Center Central.
“To maintain the safety and security of our staff, residents, and the community, we must take immediate action to address the growing population inside Detention Center Central,” McFadden said in an announcement.
“As we move into the summer months — when crime tends to increase — reopening Detention Center North is a necessary step to help manage the overcrowding while we continue working through these ongoing challenges.”
With a capacity of 1,791 inmates, Mecklenburg County's Detention Center Central has faced issues with overcrowding for months. In June, it had a population of 2,080, with more than 300 inmates forced to stay in overflow areas, sleeping on “stack-a-bunks.” More than 80 inmates were waiting to be transferred to state prison.
In August, the population at Central grew to 2,222 inmates, according to an update from the sheriff’s office. It wanted to go ahead with the reopening to alleviate this, but hit a roadblock due to a budget issue.
To move forward with the reopening, the sheriff’s office had to appear before the Board of County Commissioners on Sept. 1 and ask for approval to amend their budget.
“I want the public to understand that we are not sitting still,” McFadden said in the press release.
“(The Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office) is doing everything within its authority to prepare the North Detention Center for reopening. Once the necessary budget amendment is approved, staffing arrangements are finalized and the remaining inspections are completed, MCSO will be positioned to move forward to reopen the North Detention Center.”
The sheriff’s office has since been able to move forward with the reopening after commissioners voted to fund it. On Sept. 17, the first group of more than 200 inmates were moved over to Jail North from Central. While this relocation has helped, there’s still more work to be done, as 189 inmates are still in overflow areas at Central. Of these inmates, 72 are waiting to be transferred to state prison, according to a September press release.
McFadden praised the jail staff at the reopened facility for “compassion and professionalism,” as well as their “hard work and commitment” that made the transfer successful, also offering words of encouragement to the staff that remain at Central, who he said continue to work under “extremely difficult conditions.”
The sheriff’s office is still looking for ways to alleviate overcrowding at Central, but called upon county leaders to help with resources and potential solutions.
“My staff has done and will continue to do everything within its authority,” McFadden said in the press release.
“Now, we need those who have the power to make critical decisions to assist us. The people who serve inside our detention facilities and the residents entrusted to our care should not have to carry this burden alone.”
McFadden said he’d like to see more inmates from Central transferred to the facility in the future, but it will depend on funding.
“That is why we need additional funding because we need more staff,” he said.
Federal inmates
Mecklenburg County hasn’t housed federal inmates since 2023, following the decision to close Jail North. More recently though, it was decided that they would return, McFadden told CPP.
McFadden said the decision came about after first being approached by the federal government in February and asked whether he’d be open to having federal inmates return to Jail North. Now that a contract has been signed, roughly 66 residents are anticipated to be transferred to the facility, a process that began this week.
This transfer will mean more federal tax dollars are brought back to the county, since facilities housing federal inmates receive a per diem rate per inmate — a fixed amount of money from the federal government to cover the costs of each inmate — US Attorney Russ Ferguson told WBTV 3.
“This is good for the taxpayer,” Ferguson told WBTV 3.
“Not only are we bringing money from other states here to Mecklenburg County to employ that money, to employ people — but we’ll be saving money on transportation, US Marshals going back and forth, saving money on opposing counsel going back and forth.”
Future of juveniles
Currently, the primary obstacle to returning kids to Jail North is funding. It would cost $13 million to reopen the juvenile wing of Jail North, money that the state has yet to allocate, McFadden said.
In the meantime, the sheriff’s office’s priority is supporting employment at the detention center and continuing to address overcrowding, he said.
While Central has seen its population grow, so has the number of Mecklenburg County youth in secure custody, Frank Crawford, advocacy director for the Children’s Alliance, told CPP.
As of the end of October, that number had reached 67 kids awaiting court action, while the average daily population from the county over the past year has been 57 kids, he said.
Ultimately, Crawford said he just wants to see in-custody youth placed in their home county.
“We can shower them with programs and interventions while we have their attention,” he said. “The outcomes are better if kids are served locally.”
If they can’t succeed in bringing kids back to their home county, Crawford expressed concern over what it could mean for the future.
“These kids who don’t do well are graduating into adult systems, and we’re going to pay for them in adult mental health facilities and adult prisons,” he said.
This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. 