County Jails in Tennessee: A Survey of Forty-five County Jails

De Tocqueville has said, "The American county jail is the worst prison in the world." The system of county jails has grown up with little interest or attention on the part of the citizens of the state of Tennessee. Some have contended that any sort of prison is too good for the criminal, but the public does not realize that thousands who are innocent, are detained annually in these jails to await trial. Moreover, no man is guilty under the law until he is convicted in the courts.

The county jail, which creates one of our greatest social problems, can only be reformed through educational processes. Citizens of the State of Tennessee, their officials and the local authorities in the ninety-five counties of the state must be awakened to an adequate conception and understanding of the jail problem before any reforms can be attempted.

It is not the purpose of the writer to suggest a general reformation but his analysis is an attempt to illustrate graphically the construction of the county jail, how the jail is administered, and the treatment of its prisoners. The precepts of humanity charge society with the care of its defectives and from a humane standpoint, we should not confine persons in places which will injure them physically or morally. The conditions revealed are probably no worse than those existing in other states yet are nothing of which may be justly proud. However, the work has been done and the information compiles in a friendly and helpful spirit and it is hoped that this study may serve in some small way the cause of thousands of unfortunates who may be in the future confined in the county jails of Tennessee.