CTAS staffing analysis: Williamson County jail meets accreditation requirement; staffing and relief‑factor issues noted

Jim Hart, a jail consultant with the County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS), presented a required staffing analysis to the Board of Commissioners following the sheriff’s office attainment of Tier 2 jail certification. The presentation, required within a year of accreditation, reviewed daily operations, staffing posts, shift scheduling and relief factors.

Hart said the methodology used the National Institute of Corrections staffing workbook and three years of employee-hour data to calculate net annual work hours and relief factors. He said the agency generally had adequate staff coverage but identified turnover, training capture and relief‑factor calculation as challenges that can create periodic shortfalls. The analysis found health‑care operations adequate under Tennessee Corrections Institute standards but noted that health screening at booking sometimes lengthens processing time.

Hart recommended continued focus on recruitment, better accounting for training hours in relief‑factor calculations and evaluating optimal shift lengths (8, 10 or 12 hours) to balance staff retention and operational needs. He said the jail plans to return to a 10‑hour schedule after testing a range of shift models. The report was previously presented to the law enforcement committee and the full staffing analysis was distributed to commissioners by email.

Commissioners had no substantive questions and thanked CTAS and jail staff for work to achieve accreditation. The presentation completes a compliance requirement and informs future hiring and budgeting decisions for the sheriff’s office.