He first started talking about the need for a new jail when he was elected sheriff in 2008. Now, 16 years into the job and soon on his way out, Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell is beating the same drum.
The outgoing sheriff, who chose not to run for reelection when his term expires in December, is spending his final months in office encouraging commissioners and, he hopes, taxpayers that they need to do something now rather than later.
“I know the commissioners have a hard job trying to find funding for everything, but the jail is one we can’t keep kicking down the road, hoping the need for one will go away. It won’t!” Terrell said during a recent tour of the new jail facility in Hart County.
Building for the future
Last week, Terrell joined several Habersham County commissioners and department heads for a tour of the new $26.2 million Hart County Jail. The 229-bed facility, which is set to open soon, is similarly designed to one Habersham County officials have been considering for years.
Incoming Sheriff Robin Krockum was not aware of the upcoming tour. However, he was out of town when the tour was conducted.
The jail uses prefabricated cells from Habersham County-based SteelCell, which are contained within a metal building structure. Its pod design allows for the classification and separation of inmates and provides a dedicated medical area with a doctor’s room and medical cells.
The new facility on Bowman Highway in Hartwell will house only the jail and its operations. The sheriff’s office will remain in its administrative facility off Reed Creek Highway.
According to Habersham County Public Information Officer Rob Moore, the Hart County jail project was priced before supply chain issues and inflationary spikes in costs. Hart County commissioners considered a 147-bed jail for $23.97 million but added an additional 82 beds for around $2.2 million more.
Hart County Sheriff Mike Cleveland told the Habersham delegation that when building the facility, Hart County commissioners planned for the next 50 years. If more space is needed in the future, it can be expanded off the back and roughly doubled in size.
Future growth is not something Habersham County has planned well for in the past.
Terrell said the current Habersham County Jail, built in the 1990s, was outgrown when inmates were moved in from the top floor of the old courthouse on Monroe Street. Currently, the Habersham County Detention Center lacks the ability for inmates to be classified and separated to the extent modern detention guidelines require.
Rising costs and inmate population
Touted as a state-of-the-art, ‘will last us into the future’ facility when it opened in 1997, the Habersham County Detention Center has not held up well. Within twelve years, the jail developed porous leaks and rust, and by 2009, then– newly-elected Sheriff Joey Terrell was warning of potential lawsuits.
The current jail was built originally to house 130 offenders. Since then, the county has added 34 more beds, further compressing jail space. A needs assessment study shows that the 2023 average daily population was 147 and on a steady rise, expected to increase at least 24% every 20 years. That means in 20 years, Habersham County’s jail population is expected to be well over 300 inmates.
However, the needs assessment assumption is inaccurate as stated in the press release. A 24% increase in inmate population over 20 years is not more than 300. Based on the needs assessment formula, in 20 years, the inmate average population will be approximately 182 and not well over 300.
According to Moore, the Georgia Sheriff’s Association has recommended Habersham County build a 350- to 400-bed detention facility.
Due to changes in the economy, estimates for an adequately sized Habersham County Jail are around $35 million to $55 million. This includes kitchen and laundry facilities to accommodate 500 inmates if the county needs to expand the facility.
“Every day that we wait to do something is costing the taxpayers more money because it’s not if we need a new jail – we all know we do – it’s when we have to build one,” said Sheriff Joey Terrell. “As a taxpayer, I understand that no one wants to pay more, but as a sheriff elected by the people, it would be irresponsible of me not to point out the desperate need for a new jail – now rather than later. And I’ve been saying this for years.”
Money and distrust are the holdups
Habersham County Commission Chairman Ty Akins toured the new Hart County Jail in February and said he is hopeful Habersham can find a way to construct a similar facility.
“We certainly understand the need for a new jail in Habersham County and are working diligently to find a way to fund it,” Akins said. “As commissioners, we understand the pressures the current economy is placing on the families in our community and realize every project and its impact must be weighed carefully.”
One thing holding up the construction of a new jail is voter approval. Voters decide whether to approve capital spending through referendums. They rejected a bond referendum to build a new jail in 2018, and commissioners chose not to include the jail in the most recent SPLOST.
Habersham County Manager Alicia Vaughn has raised the idea of creating and/or reactivating a public facilities authority to secure the bond debt to build a new jail; however, that idea has not been well received. The Habersham Hospital Authority secured millions in debt for a renovation and expansion project in the mid-2000s, and, as a result, taxpayers were forced to give the hospital to Northeast Georgia Health System while still being left on the hook for $51 million in bond debt and interest.
In 2019, Habersham County voters rejected a $32 million bond referendum to build a 314-bed jail. Many of those same voters remain reluctant to approve another major capital spending project, particularly with outstanding SPLOST projects the county has already said it can’t afford and the remaining hospital debt.
