CHARLOTTE — The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service have reached an agreement to relocate federal detainees to detention facilities in Mecklenburg County, officials announced on Friday afternoon.
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The partnership addresses a regional shortage of local detention beds for federal pretrial detainees in the Western District of North Carolina. Currently, about 350 of the district’s 450 federal detainees are housed in facilities outside North Carolina while awaiting trial.
“These are serious federal detainees in our facilities,” said Chief Deputy U.S. Marshall Chris Edge.
The relocated detainees will be housed at Mecklenburg County Jail Central in Uptown Charlotte and the Mecklenburg County Detention Center North. Jail North was closed in 2022 but was recently reopened under the direction of Sheriff Garry McFadden. In September, the sheriff’s office transferred more than 200 state detainees to Jail North, which has an adult capacity of 651.
The renewed arrangement restores local housing for federal detainees following the end of a previous agreement in 2023. Since that agreement ended, federal pretrial detainees have been held in as many as 14 facilities across states including Georgia, Virginia, South Carolina, and Kentucky, with some locations up to six hours away from Charlotte.
Housing detainees locally is expected to reduce delays in federal court proceedings. U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson stated that having detainees closer to their defense attorneys and the court could reduce case timelines by up to a year and a half for some cases.
“I think across the board, we’re going to see our cases go much, much faster because of this,” Ferguson said.
The U.S. Marshals Service holds legal custody of individuals on federal charges from detention orders through the conclusion of their cases, relying on state and local agency partnerships for housing.
Sheriff McFadden commended federal law enforcement officials for collaborating on the agreement to bring detainees back to Mecklenburg County.
“This is true partnership,” McFadden said. “This is what America needs to see.”
The federal government pays per detainee per day to have them housed in Mecklenburg County.
Sheriff McFadden said this will add up to millions of dollars, which will go into their budget to help with various things, including funding Jail North and rehabilitation programs.
“Sure, they commit crimes but at some point, they’re going to go back to the community, and we want to create better citizens,” the sheriff said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutes federal criminal cases across 32 counties in western North Carolina. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina maintains court divisions in Charlotte, Asheville and Statesville, with its primary headquarters located in uptown Charlotte.
Transfers will begin with an initial group of 60 federal detainees with total transfer numbers subject to change day by day as space opens up in local facilities.