Hamblen County announces new jail is fully operational after 300-inmate transfer

Sheriff Mullins told the Hamblen County Commission that staff completed the transfer of roughly 300 inmates to the new Hamblen County Jail early Monday and the county is now operating both facilities as the new center came online.

"We started on this months ago...So about at 5AM, we started moving prisoners. We got all about 300 of them moved over with 0 incidents," Sheriff Mullins said, describing a coordinated operation that used full-body scanners and additional officers from four neighboring counties to support the move.

Commissioners and the mayor commended the sheriff and his team for planning and preparation. The chair called the transition "pre planning pays off," and several commissioners said the new facility is safer for inmates and staff.

Mayor Cutshall said the county will schedule a tour of the old facility so the public can see why the new jail was needed. The sheriff said the new facility will initially apply a restrictive schedule to inmates but that day-to-day conditions will change with behavior.

The commission did not vote on new policy tied to the jail during the meeting. The only operational action reported was approval of multiple budget items elsewhere on the agenda that fund county operations.