RUTHERFORD COUNTY, TN – For many longtime Rutherford County residents, this story has an unsettling sense of déjà vu. Three times in the past several decades, the county has been ordered to build a new jail because inmate populations surged far beyond capacity. County Mayor Joe Carr told NewsRadio WGNS that beginning January 1, 2026, that cycle will repeat itself…
Mayir Carr explained that this coming January 1st, the Tennessee Corrections Institute will officially place Rutherford County on a strict five‑year clock. Within that window, the county must plan the project, design the new facility, construct it, and be fully moved into the new jail. The countdown begins in less than a week.
The mayor emphasized that county leadership has not been waiting for the deadline to arrive. He, Finance Director Michael Smith, Commissioners Pettus Read, Laura Davidson, and Trey Gooch, along with Sheriff Mike Fitzhugh, the finance office and other county offices, have already been researching how to tackle what is expected to be a $400‑million undertaking. The mandate requires not only building the jail but completing the move‑in within that same five‑year period…