Jail North will reopen to manage overcrowding from ‘Iryna’s Law’: Sheriff McFadden
The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office will reopen a shuttered juvenile jail later this year — but not to hold teenagers this time.
As the county’s main jail in uptown struggles with “unprecedented overcrowding,” Jail North will reopen in August and take on some of the burden, the sheriff’s office said in a news release Tuesday afternoon.
The reopening is slated for sometime in early August.
On Tuesday, 2,084 people were being held in the main jail that is designed to hold just 1,791. The sheriff’s office said that means 288 people are being kept in “overflow areas” and having to sleep on a “Stack-A-Bunk,” a bunk that is on the floor.
Last week, The Charlotte Observer reported on complaints from some who had to sleep on those bunks. Overcrowding is affecting everything from meal times to medical treatment, several people being kept in the jail told the Observer.
Sheriff Garry McFadden has blamed “Iryna’s Law,” a criminal justice bill authored by Republicans in the state General Assembly and signed by Democratic Gov. Josh Stein late last year. The bill was filed in response to the killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a city light rail train. Among other things, the bill changed some pretrial release rules.
“As we move into the summer months — when crime tends to increase — reopening Detention Center North is a necessary step to help manage the overcrowding while we continue working through these ongoing challenges,” McFadden said in a statement.
Recent activity on Jail North
The sheriff’s office is also rolling out a hiring initiative that it hopes will draw in up to 50 new detention officers, according to the news release.
Jail North housed juveniles charged with crimes before McFadden closed it in 2022. At the time, he cited staffing problems at uptown’s adult jail.
Local children’s advocates, criminal justice leaders and others pushed for the sheriff to reopen Jail North as a juvenile jail last year. He entertained the idea before abruptly stepping away from negotiations with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and others.
This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 4:40 PM.