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Federal detainees returning to Mecklenburg jails
Federal detainees held outside North Carolina while awaiting proceedings in the state’s western federal district will move to Mecklenburg County under a renewed agreement announced Oct. 16.
The arrangement between the U.S. Marshals Service and Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office restores a detention partnership that ended in 2023. Since then, federal pretrial detainees have been housed in as many as 14 facilities across several states, some as far as six hours away, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Officials say the transfers will make it easier for defense attorneys to meet with clients, reduce transportation demands and bring federal payments to North Carolina facilities.
“Housing federal detainees in Mecklenburg County whose cases are pending in this district not only brings millions of federal dollars to North Carolina that otherwise went to other states, it benefits the federal justice system,” U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson said in the announcement.
Detainees will be housed at Mecklenburg County Jail Central and the recently reopened Mecklenburg County Detention Center North, known as Jail North.
Jail North closed in 2022 and reopened under Sheriff Garry McFadden’s direction. The sheriff’s office moved more than 200 state detainees there in September. Federal payments for housing detainees will help fund the facility’s operations, according to the announcement.
The renewed agreement follows three years in which federal detainees were housed in facilities in states including Georgia, Virginia, South Carolina and Kentucky.
For defendants, those distances can complicate meetings with attorneys to review evidence, discuss legal options and prepare for court. Officials said housing detainees in Mecklenburg County will improve that access and make transportation to Charlotte’s federal courthouse shorter and less expensive.
Federal prosecutors also will have easier access to detainees who serve as witnesses in other cases, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Officials said many detainees will be closer to relatives, potentially supporting family contact and eventual reentry. The announcement did not establish that every detainee would be closer to home.
“The reopening of Mecklenburg County Detention Center North will allow for the continued due process of federal detainees and ensure the federal judicial system operates efficiently,” Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Edge said.
The Marshals Service is responsible for the custody, care, and transportation of people held on federal charges and relies on agreements with state and local governments to provide detention space.
The transfers concern people with pending federal cases. Detention does not establish guilt, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The Western District of North Carolina covers 32 counties, including Rutherford and McDowell. Its federal courts operate in Charlotte, Asheville, and Statesville.
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