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...

Mayor 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.

But Carr said there is another complication layered on top of the jail mandate...

The mayor commented that for the first time in many years, we're seeing a drop in school enrollment. The reduction is not limited strictly to here. And with those competing needs, Carr stressed that Rutherford County is entering this challenge from a position of financial strength. Over the past years, Rutherford County earned AAA bond ratings from Moody’s, Fitch Ratings, and S&P Global Ratings — a distinction shared by only a small percentage of local governments nationwide. Carr made it clear that he does not intend to jeopardize that prestigious rating by borrowing money in a way that would force a property tax increase...

Carr said that jeapordizing Rutherford County's financial stability rating is a non‑negotiable. As he put it, “We’re not going to risk that and we’re not going to borrow money and raise property taxes to pay a loan. We will construct the jail with NO TAX increase.”

Carr underscored that the county has no choice about the jail. The mandate is firm, the timeline is fixed, and the price tag is unavoidable. But he also made it clear that the final decision on how to proceed rests with the County Commission...