The Hamilton County Grand Jury said in a final report that the jail facility at Silverdale takes too long to get prisoners to court and fails to recycle.
The report of the panel headed by Jimmy Anderson says, "This facility should not be a profitable operation to a corporate business-like Core Civic. The amount of time it takes to gather up an estimated 140 inmates and transport them to court Monday through Friday, not to mention the safety concern, is absurd."
The Grand Jury says video tele-conferencing "should be utilized at every opportunity" instead of transporting prisoners.
The report says, "The amount of recyclable waste that is trashed in this facility is unacceptable. Reusable trays, cups, and utensils should be used at every meal and the well-behaved inmates should be responsible for the cleanup."
Also, the report says of Silverdale, "It is recommended that this facility adopt the same inmate classification system as the county jail with different colored jumpsuits. There is a lot of space outside that could be developed as a garden area for the inmates to tend to during their time there."
The panel said during prison intake there should be pictures taken of an individual's tattoos, saying that could be valuable evidence in a later case.
The report said those charged with driving on a revoked license do not appear to get much punishment, saying those charge often drive themselves to court.
Here is the full report:
REPORT OF THE REGULAR GRAND JURY
September – December 2019
PRESENTED TO
THE HONORABLE
DON POOLE
JUDGE, CRIMINAL COURT
DIVISION III
HAMILTON COUNTY, TENNESSEE
Introduction
We, the Grand Jury, would first like to say what an eye-opening experience this has been for us all. Each one of us stood on selection day not knowing what the next four months would have in store and not one of us at the end of these four months has any regrets about it. The knowledge we gained about the judicial system and the inner workings of it is invaluable. The insight that our Assistant District Attorney, Jerry Sloan, and foreman, Jimmy Anderson, shared with us over this time has been eye opening and will never be forgotten. We are sad that this experience has come to a close for us. This venture brought together an array of people from all over Hamilton County: from Hixson to Signal Mountain, Red Bank to Soddy Daisy, Ooltewah to East Brainerd.
General Recommendations
We would first like to thank the judges that took time out of their busy schedules to share some of the insight on how things work behind the bench and what they are most passionate about within the judicial system. Having the insight that they shared with us on what their personal objective is when trying to improve our community was appreciated.
The general feeling of the jury room is a cold sad room, literally cold. It would be of great appreciation to anyone taking part in this process to have control of the temperature of the room, clean filtered water to drink, and a clean working refrigerator to store food. It would be nice to see a recycle program facilitated throughout the courthouse, jail, Silverdale, and juvenile building. Recycle bins should be in place in all of these centers and there were none to be found.
There are some concerns that we have and would like to share in hopes that some improvements could be made in the future: It would be very beneficial to the jury members to hear from the arresting officers, if at all possible, to get a more precise account of the case brought forward. We feel there is a breakdown in the current process for utilizing the jury’s time and the officers time. There is quiet a bit of idle time waiting on someone to come present the cases that are on the docket. We feel like a schedule of the cases for the day and the officers to present them would help greatly for the jury and the officers. We recommend the photographing and logging of tattoos into the system when someone is booked to be a priority again. It is imperative information for officers especially when trying to identify gang members. A lot of revoked license cases came through and it doesn’t seem that the revocation isn’t stopping the offender from driving. Most of them have driven themselves to court that day, more should be done about that.
Hamilton County Jail:
As has been stated many times before us we acknowledge the need for a better facility for the safety of the staff and the inmates. We appreciated the colored jump suit classification of this facility. There is an overwhelming need for a place to accommodate offenders with mental health issues. Most are homeless and some reside in the county jail, neither are places to adequately treat and house these offenders. There is a serious need for more staffing in this facility. The revenue profited by the Blind People could be better utilized to improve conditions in the jail such as employing the staff that is needed. Those machines should be handled and profited by the county jail. We would like to the thank the officer that came in of his off day to show us around the jail, he was a great storyteller and particularly informative.
Silverdale:
This facility should not be a profitable operation to a corporate business-like Core Civic. The amount of time it takes to gather up an estimated 140 inmates and transport them to court Monday through Friday, not to mention the safety concern, is absurd. Video conference should be utilized at every opportunity. The amount of recyclable waste that is trashed in this facility is unacceptable. Reusable trays, cups, and utensils should be used at every meal and the well-behaved inmates should be responsible for the cleanup. It is recommended that this facility adopt the same inmate classification system as the county jail with different colored jumpsuits. There is a lot of space outside that could be developed as a garden area for the inmates to tend to during their time there. We do want to the thank the warden, the assistant wardens, and the lead officers that took the time to tour us through the center and answer the many questions we had.
Juvenile:
The overall appearance of this facility of clean and in good condition. It was unfortunate that Judge Philyaw was surprised by our visit and couldn’t spend as much time with us as we would have liked. We do appreciate the time he did take especially with the very sensitive trial he was handling that day, as he does every day in his position. The approach that the lead officer has with these children is something to appreciate from someone in that difficult position. The passion from the volunteer teacher as he spoke about helping the troubled kids in that facility was very evident. The care the kitchen staff had for their job and those kids was heard. We do believe that therapy should be a mandatory thing for these young people.
Something that was unexpected was the gratitude voiced often to us by the judges and many of the officers presenting for our service to the judicial process. We recommend everyone serve at least once. It has been our privilege to serve this term as the Hamilton County Grand Jury.
The Regular Grand Jury, serving during the September-December 2019 term ,heard witness testify on 347 cases.