MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — There’s movement in the push to reopen Mecklenburg County’s juvenile jail.
Sheriff Garry McFadden closed Jail North in 2022 citing staffing concerns.
It would take around 100 people to staff the jail in a department with even more vacancies.
The sheriff says it will cost more than $17 million to open Jail North. He’d like to see it open by the end of the summer, but the money has to come from somewhere.
On Monday Sheriff McFadden made a commitment to reopen and operate Jail North.
“If the people in all of these areas wants to fund it, we have the keys and we’re ready to go,” the sheriff said.
He says it will cost nearly $18 million to do it. He’d need to hire 98 people to pull it off.
[ PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Sheriff says reopening juvenile detention center is unrealistic ]
He gave that information to a room full of local leaders brought together by The Children’s Alliance on Monday.
“We’ve been at this for two years and we would have liked it done yesterday,” said Frank Crawford with The Children’s Alliance.
Right now cells, classrooms, a library and even a barbershop all sit empty. The jail closed four years ago, forcing juveniles to other detention centers, primarily in Cabarrus County. This concerns experts in the filed who say kids need to be close to their support systems.
“The vast majority of these kids are coming home and the questions we have to ask ourselves is what have we done when we’ve put them away in a detention center?” said Judge Elizabeth Trosch with Mecklenburg County Juvenile Court. “Have we made them worse or have we made them better?”
Sheriff McFadden is optimistic to re-open the facility by the end of the summer, but a lot has to happen to make it a reality.
“We’re gonna give a great stab at it as they say,” the sheriff said. “We need it, we want it. We know we’d be the best to run it.”
But again, that is going to cost millions. With a state that can’t pass a budget, some just wonder if this will actually happen.
Next the budget people from the sheriff’s office, Mecklenburg County, and Department of Juvenile Justice will plan to meet to crunch the numbers.
WATCH: Mecklenburg County Sheriff candidates debate in front of primetime audience on Channel 9
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