Cocke County Sheriff C.J. Ball announced Friday afternoon that the county’s jail annex that is currently located in Jefferson County has been certified. The Cocke County Jail Annex located in Newport has been unavailable since the flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.
Calling it “great news for the county,” Ball noted it has been nearly a decade since Cocke County since Cocke County has received a certified detention center.
“Prior to Helene, the Cocke County detention center had one of the best TCI (Tennessee Corrections Institute) inspections in a long time but due to major overcrowding over lack of bed space, the jail was denied certification in 2024,” Ball said. He said the county employees did their job by completing the standards of TCI but this held up progress…