Nashville-Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall announced today he has initiated plans to reduce the number of inmates in sheriff’s office custody. Those include the expansion of pre-trial release (PTR) criteria and the elimination of the work-release program. PTR participants are expected to double over the next few days and all work release inmates are being furloughed immediately.
“Additionally, I am working with Chief Public Defender Martesha Johnson by providing her lists of medically high-risk individuals who may qualify for release, including pregnant inmates,” Hall said. “As sheriff, I am working to reduce the number of individuals in our custody and it’s imperative all criminal justice leaders do the same.”
While many in the system work toward necessary releases, misdemeanor arrests have increased over the past two weeks. Hall emphasized in these unprecedented times, we must take bold action and the system cannot continue to operate under a “business as usual” mindset.
“As stated last week, we fully expect to have COVID-19 positive cases in our facilities. It’s critical we reduce the inmate population now. As criminal justice leaders we need to take action because of the serious impact this virus will have on sheriff’s office staff and inmates.” Hall concluded.
