Rutherford jail renovations move forward after 11 year delay

Rutherford County is now spending millions to improve its overcrowded detention center, but county records show local leaders were already confronting a larger question: If officials knew the county would eventually need a new jail, why wasn’t one fully funded?

A jail feasibility presentation was given at a 2015 meeting, according to public records. 

A space needs study was done by Moseley Architects in 2023, according to public records. Later, in Dec. 2024, a design-build project was approved. 

Former County Manager Steve Garrison later publicly acknowledged the problem during the May 5, 2025 Board of Commissioners meeting. 

Garrison said Rutherford County needed to begin long-range planning for several major facilities, including a new jail, courthouse and schools. Previous reporting documented his warning that those projects could ultimately cost hundreds of millions of dollars. 

He has since left the position and now works for Governor Josh Stein's GROW NC office. 

The proposed budget did not recommend borrowing money or appropriating local funds to construct a new detention center. The county’s own budget documents help explain why. 

A June 2025 update was presented by the architect, according to public records, followed by another update in Oct. 2025. The latest agreement was passed in June 2026.

Garrison warned in 2025 that Rutherford County was facing slowing sales tax growth, continued inflation, uncertain economic conditions and major financial exposure following Hurricane Helene. At the time, more than $45 million in county fund balance was financing debris removal work while Rutherford County waited for FEMA reimbursement. 

Public records now show that the policy decision to choose a state contractor debris model, over a FEMA direct-scoped USACE model, negatively impacted taxpayers and led to other projects being unfunded.

The proposed budget at the time also identified significant spending pressures involving education, employee compensation, public safety and aging county facilities. Garrison wrote that the county needed to maintain reserves because Rutherford County is responsible for financing capital projects not only for county government, but also schools and the state court system. 

That left county leaders with a distinction between recognizing a future jail need and funding one immediately.

At the same time Garrison was warning about an eventual replacement jail, Rutherford County was already spending money because its existing detention center could not meet all of its needs.

His budget documents show the county had only set aside $380,000 for inmate housing costs, another $160,000 for inmate medical costs and $200,000 to modernize the detention center elevator during the 2024-25 fiscal year. 

The budget message also showed the county entered that fiscal year with more than $47.7 million in unassigned general fund balance. Garrison argued that maintaining substantial reserves was important, particularly because the county was using its own cash to front Hurricane Helene recovery expenses while awaiting federal reimbursement.

By the June 2, 2025 commissioners meeting, those financial concerns were even more pronounced.

Meeting records show Chairman Bryan King noted Rutherford County was still under a state of emergency at that time and warned that jail renovations would require moving inmates elsewhere, creating additional costs.

Garrison responded that the county was financially positioned for the 2025-26 fiscal year but needed to enter the following budget cycle with “extreme caution,” saying 2026-27 could look substantially different. Instead of recommending a locally financed replacement jail, the county moved ahead with a more limited strategy: renovate the existing detention center using money already provided by the North Carolina General Assembly.

The state had appropriated approximately $10 million for detention center improvements. Meeting records show county officials were working under deadlines attached to part of that money and trying to keep the project within the existing detention center footprint. 

That project is now underway.

Construction has started on a $7.9 million renovation and expansion at 198 N. Washington St., beside the current Rutherford County Detention Center.

Sheriff Aaron Ellenburg said the existing jail has overcrowding, like many jails in the state. At about $70 per inmate per day, the practice creates an ongoing expense for the county without construction of a new jail, something previous administrations have known about, according to a review of available public records.

Ellenburg agrees Rutherford County will ultimately need a replacement facility, but he has also acknowledged the financial challenge commissioners would face in paying for one.

The original part of the jail was approved for use in 1975, with an expansion added in 1997, according to public records. "The facility is aging and was not designed for today’s inmate population or operational needs," Ellenburg told WCAB News earlier this year.

"After taking office, I invited local elected officials to tour the detention center and see the conditions firsthand so we could work together on solutions. Then I sought help from the state," he said. " I personally invited then–Speaker of the House Tim Moore (now a U.S. Representative), along with Senator Tim Moffitt and Representative Jake Johnson, to see the conditions we were facing. Because of Speaker Moore’s support, we secured $10 million in 2023 for detention center upgrades—state and federal funding that does not rely solely on local taxpayers and is not a reason for your taxes to increase."

The work should also give detention officers better visibility and improve security for staff and inmates. That makes the current project both an improvement and a reminder of what was left unresolved in 2025.

Garrison told commissioners Rutherford County needed to start planning for a new jail. His own budget showed the county was already paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for inmate housing and repairs to the old facility.

But rather than recommend financing a replacement, Garrison urged the county to preserve cash, navigate Helene recovery costs, and use available state money to extend the life of the detention center already in place.

The decision avoided committing Rutherford County taxpayers to tens of millions of dollars in new construction debt at the time.

It did not eliminate the underlying problem. The Rutherford County Planning Department is in charge of organizing the contractors for the project.

A new county manager, Scott Webber, started this week and is ultimately responsible for overseeing the work completed at the Rutherford County-owned property.