Brown, Miller promise to ease jail crowding

The Democratic candidates for Hamilton County mayor and sheriff toured the downtown jail last week and promised to work, if elected, to ease overcrowding in the facility.

Political newcomer Aloyse Brown is running for mayor. Victor Miller, the homicide unit supervisor in the sheriff’s office and sheriff candidate, released a joint statement.

“Our jails should be facilities of justice, rehabilitation and a tool to enhance safety across our community. With the degree of overcrowding in our jails today, we are failing that standard in Hamilton County,” Brown said.

Miller added, “My colleagues at the Sheriff’s Department make up the finest corrections staff in Tennessee, but these professionals are working in a system that’s unnecessarily overloaded and understaffed.”

Brown and Miller propose a three-pronged approach to safely reducing jail overcrowding: Reform bail bonding laws so more low-risk offenders can make bail; expand mental health and drug courts; and work with community organizations to develop rehabilitation and re-entry programs.

Miller added, “Right now we face a very simple choice: continue to pay nearly $100,000 per day to house inmates, or sensible reform. I believe every taxpayer knows which is the better value.”

His opponent, incumbent Republican Jim Hammond, and a team have been working for many months to develop wraparound services for what they call “frequent users,” who mostly have unmet mental and behavioral health challenges that keep them cycling in and out of jail.