After stalled discussion, McFadden asks state to talk about juvenile jail again
Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden asked the state’s Department of Public Safety to meet with him in a public forum to discuss how they can “collectively move toward reopening” the county’s former juvenile detention facility, Jail North.
McFadden sent the letter to DPS Deputy Secretary William Lassiter on Oct. 31, after The Charlotte Observer reported that Lassiter still hopes for Jail North to reopen one day. In mostly private conversations, many in the criminal justice system have been trying to find a way to reopen it for years.
Others, including a collection of advocacy groups known as Children’s Alliance and District Attorney Spencer Merriweather, also believe something important was lost when McFadden closed the facility in 2022.
Jail North had beds for 72 teenagers. Its programs made a difference in those teenagers’ lives, too, supporters say.
McFadden cited staffing troubles when he shut it down, then moved employees who had been working in it to uptown’s adult jail.
“The Mecklenburg County Sheriff is willing to assist but not carry the full burden alone by recruiting, hiring and training the necessary staff to reopen the juvenile detention center,” McFadden wrote in his letter.
He suggested a “public forum” take place this week or next week.
By law, juvenile jails are a state responsibility. But Lassiter has argued that Mecklenburg County benefited from Jail North. With it sitting mostly empty since November 2022, he said he has tried to buy it, lease it or get McFadden to reopen it in some capacity. Nothing has budged the sheriff, he previously said.
McFadden has made his own proposal: He wants the state to shut down a juvenile jail in Cabarrus County and move all its employees to Jail North. That idea is infeasible and would, in fact, lead to fewer beds for teenagers overall, the state has said.
“My office is prepared to assist with coordination and logistics if all parties are willing to provide the funding and true resources that it would take to reopen this facility,” the sheriff wrote in his letter.
Matt Debnam, a spokesperson for DPS, confirmed on Monday that the agency was invited to discuss reopening Jail North. He said details about who would attend that discussion, as well as where and when it would take place, had not been finalized.
“The Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention remains in full support of reopening the Mecklenburg Juvenile Detention Center, and is committed to working with local officials and community partners to meet the needs of Mecklenburg County’s youth,” he said in an email.
Children’s Alliance Director of Advocacy Frank Crawford said he was surprised by the sheriff’s request for a meeting.
The alliance had been in contact with McFadden about reopening Jail North as a juvenile detention center earlier this year, Crawford said, and the sheriff said he would put together a proposal.
But McFadden never did that and — after not responding for weeks — eventually backtracked and said he would focus only on his agency’s mandates, which do not include running a juvenile jail, Crawford said.
“I’m encouraged that the sheriff wants to rejoin the conversations. We would welcome him back at the table again to have these conversations. That said, we’re somewhat confused because he’s given us different messages about whether he’s in this or not,” Crawford said.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.