No new Annex/Criminal Justice Building built at all, new Annex/Criminal Justice Building located on the courthouse lawn, new Annex/Criminal Justice Building located on a yet unnamed site, new Annex/Criminal Justice Building located at the Justice Center. County officials have secured a seven million dollar loan for the new Annex/Criminal Justice Building.

Loudon attorney, Joe Ford, speaking as a tax payer, not as the former Loudon City attorney, strongly supported keeping the new building downtown for the economic welfare of downtown Loudon. He also referenced the fact that in order to move the new Annex/Criminal Justice Building to the Justice Center, Loudon City officials would need to annex the property to comply with the requirement that the courthouse must be located in the county seat, Loudon City. Ford seemed to indicate that Loudon officials would not annex the Justice Center property. 1st District Commissioner, Kelly Brewster, stated that Loudon City officials would never annex the property. Ms. Brewster is married to Loudon City councilman, Tim Brewster.

Location Pros & Cons

Up until 1975, the jail was located just behind the courthouse, essentially where the current annex stands now. Inmates were just walked the couple hundred feet from jail to court. In 1975, the new Justice Center at Sugerlimb was opened. Since then, felony inmates have been transported the nearly three miles from jail to court. In the early days, there weren't that many felony inmates to be transported. Now days, at any given time, half to three quarters, 95-125, of the inmates in the jail are felons waiting to go to criminal court in the old courthouse. All must be transported and guarded.     

Any location except the Justice Center will continue to require felony inmates to be transferred to stand trail. This is certainly not the best situation for officer safety and is very costly.

Downtown Economy

Those who oppose the Justice Center location seem to have only one argument. Moving the new Annex/Criminal Justice Building out of downtown will hurt the downtown economy. This doesn't exactly add up. 

Recently, Loudon City government moved their entire operation out of the downtown area as did the Loudon Utilities Board taking dozens of employees out of the downtown economy. There were no news media reports of opposition to these moves and how they would hurt the downtown economy.  The few employees and users of the court system could never make up the foot traffic lost when all the city operations moved out.

The plan for the old courthouse, when it's restored, is for it to be a historical destination venue with some limited office use. The main courtroom area up stairs would be available for community use. Part of the main floor would be a museum and historical records repository. A historical destination venue would bring far more foot traffic to downtown than the courthouse ever could. The old historical courthouse would then absolutely become the focal point of downtown.

Officer Safety

The single most important issue to be considered for new Annex/Criminal Justice Building should be officer safety. Even confined in the jail, officers must be on guard at all times to inmate actions. Officers are always out numbered and could be attacked at any time, within the jail. Now add the risk of openly transporting felony inmates outside the jail. The sheriff's office borrows a short bus for criminal court days. Many inmates, at one time, are loaded on the bus and hauled from the Justice Center to the downtown location for their court appearances. The opportunity for something to go wrong during this time is exponentially higher.  This is an unnecessary risk our officers have faced for years. Circuit Court Judge, Mike Pemberton, who also spoke at last Monday's meeting, reminded us of the tragic murder of a corrections officer at the Roane County Courthouse during an inmate transportation. We have a once in a generation opportunity to at least reduce the dangers our officers face every day. The Justice Center location would allow all inmates to remain within the facility when taken for their court appearances. No more outside transportations. 

County Seat

State law requires that the "courthouse" be located in the county seat. Loudon is the county seat of Loudon County. The law also allows for a Criminal Justice Building to be located outside the county seat but within the county boundaries. So the debate is what exactly defines the "courthouse"? Hopefully, this is not a question that will be a controversy. If county officials and those responsible for the management of inmates and officer safety deem the Justice Center location the best for all involved, hopefully, Loudon City officials would be supportive, willing partners and annex the Justice Center property to eliminate any controversy. The current city limits are within about 1200 feet of the Justice Center property.

What's Best  

It's impossible to argue that the Justice Center location isn't by far the best location for the new Annex/Criminal Justice Building for officer safety and inmate security. For forty-five years the sheriff's department has been tasked with an extra risk that we have an opportunity to eliminate.

With the addition of the new 17.5 million dollar, 275 inmate jail, we're committed to the Justice Center site for many years to come. Here's the chance to finally have all our law enforcement and judicial operations on one site.

The old jail beside the courthouse, 1975