County Commission - Regular Meeting

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Good morning. It is Wednesday, June 10th, 2026. I will call to order the first committee on our agenda this morning, Committee No. 2, Public Works, if we could read the first item.

Good morning. Item 1 is a resolution approving a change order to the contract with Wagner General Contractors, Inc. for a no-cost time extension for the construction of a walking and biking trail along a portion of the Wolf River Greenway as part of the National Disaster Resilience Competition Grant. This item does not require the expenditure funds sponsored by Commissioner David C. Bradford, Jr.

Thank you. My screen does not allow me to click on mover or seconder, so... Moved by Commissioner Wright, seconded by Commissioner Sugarman. Good morning.

Good morning. My name is Jim Crook, project engineer for the Shelby County Engineering Department. This item approves a no-cost time extension for the Wolf River Greenway Trails Phase 6, which is part of the HUD Resiliency Grant. This phase adds a new pedestrian and bicycle trail approximately 1.5 miles long from Hollywood to Douglas Park. The project includes a pedestrian bridge which has been delayed by fabrication and delivery of materials. The project time is being extended to December 30th to accommodate the completion of the bridge and it coincides with the end of the grant. The administration recommends approval. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Cook. Commissioner Brooks, go ahead.

Good morning. I need some information on this. Quite frankly, I was at a meeting last night in Douglas, and I had several constituents who had some concerns about this Greenway. And apparently from their concerns and their comments, no one had bothered to meet with them. And that concerns me. So what I need to do is find out If you don't know now, we can talk a little later when we can get you and your group out there to talk with the constituents of Douglas High Park Bungalow. I heard some disturbing things in reference to there was some information in reference to water in a bottom. Over that way near the Greenway? I haven't seen that. It came to my attention last night, so I didn't dare go over there, but I will today. But I do need to talk with you and your group about engaging with the community, because they need to know what's going on, the impact on their homes, their neighborhood. and how they'll benefit or not.

Okay. We can get with you and I assume have a community meeting? Is that what you're ‑‑ Yes.

It's called One Douglas. It comprises Douglas. In fact, it's two, One Douglas and High Park Matters. They're concerned about that because no one has spoken to them. So if you can give me three or four dates, I can get back with them and let them know, find out from them the most convenient time.

Okay. So is it okay if I email you?

Oh, that's fine. That's perfect.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

You're welcome.

Thank you, Commissioner Brooks. Thank you, Mr. Cook. Seeing no other commissioners in the queue, we'll take this item to a vote. All right, if all commissioners had the opportunity to vote, let's tally the results.

We have aye votes from Commissioners Sugarman, Mills, Wright, and Bradford. Commissioner Brooks has abstained. We have four ayes, one abstained.

Thank you. This item will go down with a favorable recommendation. If we could read item number two.

Item 2 is a resolution approving a contract with Liberty Tire Recycling LLC in an amount not to exceed $724,600 to provide waste tire recycling services for Shelby County Government commencing July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 with the option to renew for two additional one-year periods. This item requires expenditure of FY 2027 waste tire program funds in an amount not to exceed $724,600, sponsored by Commissioner David C. Bradford, Jr.

Thank you. I have moved this item. It's seconded by Commissioner Mills. Commissioner Sugarman, I see you're in the queue. I also have two public appearance cards. I'm going to let the staff here speak first, and then we will go to the comment cards, and then I'll go to you, Commissioner Sugarman, if that's okay for the order.

Okay. All right. Director Noble, go ahead. Good morning, Commissioners. Cliff Norville, Public Works. As you may recall, the state passed a law that mandated waste tire recycling at the local level. And so we have been using contractors to assist us with that function for probably close to 20 years. And so the current contract is about to expire in June 30. We issued a solicitation for providing this service again. Two bids were received. One bid was judged incomplete. And so we are recommending that we go with Liberty Tire recycling for this function. The total amount for the contract is $724,600. It's a not to exceed amount, and the contract has two renewal periods associated with it, and we recommend approval.

All right, thank you. I'm going to go to the public comment cards, and I have them in no particular order, so if we'll just, when I call your name, if you'll come up and take a seat and make sure you hit the red button, tell your name, zip code, and then whatever your comments are, you'll have, we'll give you two minutes this morning. First up is Courtney Mack.

Good morning. Courtney Mack, co-owner of Memphis Tire Recyclers, zip code 3017. We're here to protest the decision made by Shelby County Purchasing to award the contract for seal bid I0009522 Liberty Tire Recycling based on the merit that we had the lowest bid. And we've been servicing this contract for Director Norville and Shelby County Rose Bridge Engineering for the last two and a half cycles. We were awarded in 24. We've been renewed twice. So in the previous award, or still bid submission, They're looking for a vendor to do either shredding and recycling or shredding and landfill. Those are two separate activities. In the first submission, we gave our bid at $100 per ton, and for shredding and recycling, we didn't put any bid because we don't landfill anything. That's the whole goal of this company, to divert tires from landfills because landfills can't handle tires. It lowers the lifespan on them. So when we made our submission this time, we submitted virtually the same information, but we even lowered our bid to try to help taxpayers in the county save some money. And for the section for shredding and landfill, we didn't put anything. I said that Memphis Tile Recyclers is 100% green. We don't dispose of anything. Landfilling is disposal. The name of this contract is waste tile recycling. Why is landfilling even an activity that's considered waste? to be important in it. So this is why I'm here today to try to see if we can reevaluate the bid because our bid was lower than our competitors. I understand that they're saying that we submitted an incomplete bid, but how can we have an incomplete bid this time when it's the same exact bid that we submitted previously? The only thing different this time is that we've lowered our amount. Our previous bid was 100 per ton. Our bid this time is 90 per ton. And again, we don't landfill. That is the whole goal of my company. That is the whole objective of my company. We get so many customers redirected from Republic, which is another point. We can't even landfill tires in this county. If you go to Malone, to Republic, they're going to turn you away and most likely send you to us. If you go to the one in Millington, there's nowhere to even take a tire to a landfill. So I don't even understand why this is a portion of this contract again in the contract in section 3.0 it says shredding slash recycling and or shredding slash landfilling which means that both activities are not requisites you have to be able to do one or the other we've been doing this contract with just shredding and recycling to various end uses so fuel playground rubber crumb rubber um Side walls for cones, we have a lot of different people that we sell our materials to. So I don't understand how you can put a requisite on an activity when you say and or. You either have to be able to do one or the other. So the fact that they're claiming that we submitted an incomplete bid is a farce. It's kind of asinine to me because we've been doing the same contract for the last two and a half cycles. So that's why we're here today to see if we can just get some type of re-evaluation from the board.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Mack. I'm going to go to this other card, and then there may be questions coming back for you from some of the commissioners, that type of stuff. All right. Mr. Gerald Green, you'll have two minutes as well. Mr. Green, I think you know the routine. Just state your name and zip code, and then you'll have your two minutes.

Gerald Green, 38127. I met with one Douglas about this tire recycling place. And my problem is we have people live there and they're not recycling tires, they're just shredding them and mosquitoes are taking over the neighborhood. This place actually needs to be gone. That wasn't the first thing they said is gonna move it. The citizens over there called me because I've been looking at this since January. and been told several times they was going to relocate it. They got plenty of funding for this, but they're not utilizing the property. I've been over there several times, and it's an eyesore, and the community is suffering. And we've been trying to spend money in the neighborhood on a recycling tire place in the neighborhood. is in shambles because of this entire place. You can't come outside, the kids can't come outside and play because the mosquitoes will tote you away. I've been over there myself personally. Me and Brent Taylor, we went over there personally and this place needs to be gone. I don't know, code enforcement. This place needs to be gone. That's what Douglas people told me to come over and tell you. It's got to be gone. And I met with this guy, this gentleman here, at one Douglas meeting. I explained it to them, the severity of what was going on. But now we're negotiating getting another contract for these tires and just not looking at the people that's living there. I mean, what's wrong? I mean, I can't miss this district. It's bad. IT'S REAL BAD AND THESE PEOPLE ARE CRYING OUT AND WE'RE TRYING TO GET ANOTHER BID TO START THE SAME ROUTINE OVER AGAIN. IT MAKES NO SENSE. THEY NEED TO FIX THAT. THEY SAID THEY WERE GOING TO MOVE IT BUT THEY'RE NOT GOING TO MOVE IT. I SEE THEY'RE NEGOTIATING ANOTHER CONTRACT. THIS IS NOT RIGHT. IT'S NOT FAIR TO OUR TAXPAYERS OR OUR CITIZENS. THAT'S WHY I'M HERE TODAY.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Green. I'm going to go to the queue now. Commissioner Sugarman, Mr. Gloucester, I think I saw you in the room. You may want to stay close because I think there's going to be some questions headed your way as well. Commissioner Sugarman, go ahead.

Thank you, Jerry. You know me so well. Okay. So first of all, I want to say I am an environmentalist. I've set that on record for many, many times. I do believe in recycling. And so a question for the... vendor here, do you have one location or do you have several locations and can you address what Green State did on record?

Sure. We have several locations. We have two main locations, one in South Memphis and one in the Douglas area. And to Mr. Green's point, we are actually in the process of relocating from Chelsea. We are operating properly and within compliance with the state for the zoning, but we do understand and appreciate the concern from the community, which is why we're going to be relocating. We've already purchased an additional machine to try to clear that site so that we can go to another site. So again, we're We don't necessarily owe anybody anything because we're operating within compliance and our permit from TDEC. But I understand and we definitely want to be sensitive to this situation. And he's right. We have had a conversation. Matter of fact, we were on the board of Juan Douglas. We were asked to be on the board of One Douglas. And once we had the issues, we actually recused ourselves because we didn't want any conflict of interest or anything. So yeah, we definitely have intentions on relocating from there. Our goal is to be gone by the end of summer and find another place that's a little more secluded and away from any type of residential areas.

Thank you. I'd like to make a motion to amend this contract, if it's approved, to require that the one-year extension that they require become before the commission. Can I get a second? Thank you. I have a few more questions. This is regarding taxpayers' money.

I have a motion from Commissioner Sugarman to amend this so that the one year has to come back in front of us. I had a second from Commissioner Brooks. Do I have any objections to this? We've got discussion from Commissioner Mills. Go ahead.

Do renewals not come before us anyway? Not necessarily? I thought we passed something last term on that. If that's not the case, I have no issue at all.

All right. I'm not sure, but we will let the amendment stand as is, and that way we'll make sure we're here back in front of us. I don't have any objections to that, so this item has been amended as Commissioner Sugarman's amendment there. Go ahead, Commissioner Sugarman.

Thank you, Chair. I apologize. I've got a list of questions I'm trying to get to. And so I got back into the queue because I do have a list of questions. You know, as we see taxpayers' money, you know, this fly to other states because vendor after vendor are awarded outside of the states. We have huge problems in Memphis and Shelby County as many other counties as they're suffering because of housing insecurities, food insecurities, all kinds of instability as far as their jobs are concerned. People in Shelby County are not making a living wage. In fact, they're barely making any wages that are livable. Many of my constituents, for example, work in two jobs just to make ends meet. And so we need to make sure that we give people who are vendors and local vendors who are employing people. So my question then becomes, how many people does your company employ?

At any time, we have between 15 and 20 employees. Thank you. Most of the employees are, we work with the reentry program. Most of them are trying to reacclimate themselves back into society. But, yeah, at any given time, we've got between 15 and 20. Of course, we have the people that kind of dry out or whatever because it is some tough work. But that's another one of our goals to ensure that we're keeping our people gainfully employed.

That is a huge issue because we want people who have been convicted of a crime to have opportunity to make a living so that they won't recommit. So I commend you for that. And these are questions for the purchasing director. And I will also send it in via email with their lists, okay? Number one, how many local vendors were deemed nonresponsive? And a question real quickly, is nonresponsive and incomplete the same thing or they're different? Are they different or the same thing? So I'll make sure when I send you the emails, I get my answers correct before Monday. Okay, so my question again is incomplete and nonresponsive the same thing? Yes or no?

Good morning. Commissioner James Gloss, the administrator of the person. I'm going to answer your question.

Okay, first ask the first one.

The first question, there's a difference between nonresponsive and something being incomplete.

Okay, thank you. So I've seen these questions, but I want them on for the record. And once I get through, if you have time, you can answer them. So I want how many local vendors were deemed nonresponsive and incomplete during fiscal years 24, 25, and 26? Okay. Number two, what were the five most common reasons local vendors were found non-responsive or incomplete? What percentage of local vendors were deemed non-responsive or incomplete compared to non-local vendors? Are there particular departments or procurement categories where local vendors are disproportionately found non-responsive or incomplete? How many non-responsive or incomplete determinations resulted from missing paperwork versus substantive qualifications deficiencies? Six, what outreach and training programs currently exist for local vendors? And this is the whole point, okay? I'm not trying to ding the purchase department, but I want to find out, as a commissioner, what do we need to do to support local vendors, okay? Number seven, how many local vendors successfully corrected deficiencies and later received county contracts? Number eight, what procurement reforms could increase local vendors' participation without compromising competition or legal compliance? Number nine, does county track local vendor responsive rates over time? And number 10, what measurable goals can be established to improve local vendor participation and responsiveness over the next three fiscal years. And so, again, this is for a matter of record. I'll be sending these to you and copying my commissioners, my colleagues, if you will respond to all of us. And so, thank you. And if you want us to respond to them now, that's fine as well.

James, you're the last administrator of Purchasing. That was a lot. And for one, all the information that you just asked for, as a combination between Purchasing, EOC, And probably legal. That's a lot that the Purchase Department does not keep up with all that and will manage all that. It's a combination of EOC and Purchase.

Okay, so I will sit down to all three. I need you to let me know which is which so I'll know. And then thank you.

Mr. Gloucester, go ahead. Thanks, Chairman. First, I want to say for the record, the purchasing department recommends we do not force a department to use anyone based on our purchasing policies and procedures. It's their budget, their money. They know the technical aspects of the scope. Purchasing does not, so we do not force anyone to use anybody. Secondly, this particular vendor... they met the minimum requirements. So they were not deemed non-responsive and the term incomplete did not come from the purchasing department. So they went all the way through the process. They did not get any responsive. They were the lowest bid, but based on the department and our recommendation, they were the lowest, but not the best because of two things, because they did not bid on all of the information that was in the particular bid. And two, there was a lot of vendor complaints from the constituents and the departments. So all of that together, the decision was made to go with the best, lowest and best, and not just the lowest.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Gloucester.

Commissioner Sugarman, I kind of let you run over, so I think, did you want to speak again? You're in the queue twice, but I think you got caught up, right?

No, but I can get back in the queue.

All right. I want to let Commissioner Brooks go since she hasn't spoken yet. Commissioner Brooks, go ahead.

I need to speak with, uh, director Norville. So Mr. Green, but you remove yourself and let Mr. Norville have a seat, please. Thank you. So Mr. Norville, I need to get it. I just need to get an understanding of this whole tire recycling and what is the other word for, um, and land filling business. So this new company, Liberty, tell me what are they going to do with all of the tires that they collect for Shelby County? Where are they going?

Cliff Norville public works. Um, you may want to ask, uh, Memphis tire recyclers, uh, in terms of their, um, stockpile of inventory. Uh, as far as Liberty tire, uh, is concerned, they remove the tires from Shelby County and they take them to their processing facility, which is in Saltilla, Mississippi, where they shred the tires and then they have, customers that they distribute the recycled material to for various purposes. I don't know all of their customer base, but they have customers that purchase that from them.

Okay, that's what I need to know. I don't need to know about Mr. Mack and his company because they didn't get to be it. So we're dealing with Liberty. So that's who is in front of us now in reference to doing business with Shelby County. My main concern is that we do not end up with a company that decides to store old tires in a black community. So we definitely don't want that. And I agree with Commissioner Sugarman in that one year amendment because we need to find a way to monitor Some of the things that we request companies doing business with Shelby County, we need to monitor compliance. And with these extensions, two-year, three-year, four-years, it doesn't help us because they pile up. And by the time we get to it or look around when they come back in two years, the communities are just decimated like Douglas. And so we can't have another Douglas. But I wanted to ask, and thank you for that. I'm glad they're going to take it to Mississippi. I feel sorry for them over there. But Mr. Mack, is there an order of condemnation about the city of Memphis against your company?

No. So the 2800 Chelsea property, we don't operate in the building. We are a self-contained unit. I mean, everything is mobile. We use generators. We can pick up and leave whenever we want to. Now, that condemnation is for our landlord, and I believe he's currently in environmental court or something like that. But we don't operate anything within that building at all. We only use the footprint outside.

Okay, so the combination order is against Coastal Properties LLC out of St. Louis, Missouri. Yes, ma'am. But you are located on that property, right?

Yes, ma'am.

Oh, okay, okay. So it's quite a bit that we have from the city of Memphis in reference to that company. And I guess you are being a recipient, well, indirectly? Indirectly. It doesn't look good. It doesn't look good. It really doesn't. We do need to move.

Yes, ma'am.

Not just because of this condemnation order, but because of the community and the disparate impact of disease and pollutants and all the other things that's causing concern. So, Mr. Chairman, I'm going to relinquish the rest of my time to Commissioner Sugarman.

Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Brooks. I do have another appearance card. Commissioner Sugarman, do you want to go ahead or do you want to hear from the public? Okay. All right. I've got one more appearance card just popped up to Cora Walker. She'll come forward. Press the red button on the microphone, state your name and zip code, and then you'll have two minutes to speak on this item as well, and then we'll go to Commissioner Sugarman.

Thank you so much. So I'm not going to be two minutes, but I'm new to this. But one of my main questions, since we're knowing that they're getting ready to go, is was there any... Oh, I told you I was new. My name is Takora Walker. 38108. So my question is, were there any terms of agreement or closeout terms and agreements that ensure that this company will be completely gone by the time the contract is over, like the responsibilities for cleanup before July 1st?

I don't believe that was included in the contract, no, ma'am.

I guess who is responsible for that? I guess the county entered into the contract that brought the business to the community, but the responsibility for cleanup is left to the person who got the contract who has not been doing a good job at taken care of or attended to the desires of the community.

I believe it's up to the company. I see Director Norville is raising his finger, so he may have the answer.

Cliff Norville, Public Works. In your question, I believe your question is who's responsible for the site after June 30th? And the issue there is a difficult question to answer because, yes, Shelby County government granted this contract to recycle Shelby County's waste tires, and that's what started their business three years ago. but since that time they have taken on other customers and they're receiving waste tires from other customers and so when their contract ends with Shelby County government that just means Shelby County government waste tires will cease going to their facilities but they have an approval from the state of Tennessee to operate this facility and I believe it's the acrostic is rum puff a recovered material processing facility. And so they have an approval letter from the state of Tennessee to operate, not a permit, it is an approval letter from the state of Tennessee to operate this recovery facility. as long as they have customers and i think it's very important i did bring along a video a picture and is worth a thousand words and i would appreciate the opportunity to show this video uh... memphis tire recycler said that they are planning to move they can pick up and move at any time But the thing that concerns us and the reason why we requested two facets in the solicitation, one was just the recycling function, but the second thing that we asked for, which Memphis Tire Recycling did not provide us, is in the event that they do not get the contract and the site has to be cleaned up, we have had discussions with Tennessee Department of Environmental Affairs environment and conservation. of how we respond to a huge dump site of waste tires. And they said in the event that you do encounter a massive dump site of waste tires, they would agree for us to shred and landfill just to make the dump site go away. That's why we asked for that second component in the bid, which Memphis Tire Recyclers did not respond to. And so if you will allow, we have a video that will show you the facility on Chelsea.

Before we take over Ms. Walker's time, I want to make sure we got Ms. Walker taken care of. Did you have any further comments? Because I think we're going to proceed with the video and then hopefully Commissioner Sugarman and then move to the vote.

It's not particularly to the award of the new contract. I just am so concerned for my community. I think somewhere people have become comfortable with bringing all things wasteful. We have a sales yard. We have Hollywood. We have companies in the community, but nothing for the community to actually thrive or survive. There's no... no dedicated things to take care of the people that are there. And so that's why you're going to see more of me, I guess.

Thank you so much, Ms. Walker. We appreciate you being here. All right, Director Norville, Ms. Thomas, can you show us the video? And then I'm going to go to Commissioner Sugarman and hopefully we can get this wrapped up pretty quickly.

Well, now the story. Past complaints uncovered at the site of this. Towering tires in North Memphis. New tonight at 6, we have learned neighbors around Memphis tire recyclers are taking action to make change. Action News 5's Stephanie Douglas talked to one neighbor filing a petition as the eyesore causes other concerns.

This monstrosity actually starts on Chelsea and goes all the way down to the end of the street with tires piled up at least two stories high.

In effort to solve a persistent problem piling up in the Douglas community, Leondra Taylor is drafting up a plan in motion to remove a recycling facility from their neighborhood.

My goal is to honestly have this organization become accountable for what they've done in the community, get it cleaned up, and possibly move out of here because I don't know how this can be controlled.

The Memphis Tires Recycler Facility is where thousands of discarded and decaying tires are stacked. Taylor says the tires now sits against her family's backyard. She claims it's more than an eyesore. It's a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Don't kill it.

People cannot sit on their porches in peace. They are burning things, buying off, you know, and we know that in Memphis you're going to have mosquitoes, but this is mosquitoes times a thousand.

Taylor says after the recent rainfall, she's concerned that the tires collecting water could amplify the risk of possible West Nile virus in their community. Documents obtained by Action News 5 shows back in April, the Tennessee Department of Environmental and Conservation Division of Solid Waste Management issued a notice of violation for significantly exceeding the value allowed on site. and lacked financial assurance for storage. The records also say when the company's staff was questioned by the inspectors, the facility could not show a record of the quantity of tires stored on site in numbers, weight, or cubic yards. Co-owner of the Memphis Tire Recyclers, David Burgess, declined to interview on camera. However, in a statement, he said in part, quote, the business was open with the goal in mind of deterring the illegal dumping which has plagued this city for countless years. He goes on to say our mission has always been to reduce tire blight and they are working to implement new ways to reduce the number of tires on their property. As far as concerns about mosquitoes, Memphis Tires Recyclers say they've contacted a pest control company to spray around their business as well as offer the same service to neighbors. An attempt Leandra Taylor may appreciate that will clean up Her community.

People have cleaned up whole cities by sweating the small stuff. And so we want our community clean. This is not the only issue that we have, but it's one that we can solve for. And we will move towards doing other things in our community.

In North Memphis, I'm Stephanie Douglas. Action News 5.

I wanted to see the video and I will acknowledge that that video was a news broadcast from this time last year. But we have visited the site and have seen no substantial change in the situation at the site. And so that was certainly a level of concern. As the broadcast mentioned, Memphis Tire Recyclers were cited by TDEC. and their original approval letter allowed them 6,000 cubic yards of storage of waste tires on that site. Following the citation from the state of Tennessee, apparently they worked out a deal such that TDEC increased their storage of on the facility from 6,000 cubic yards to 30,000 cubic yards and it is our assessment along with the City of Memphis Public Works Director that there are more tires than the 30,000 cubic yards on the site. In addition to this, Memphis Tire Recyclers also operates another facility, which is on industrial in district eight. And, uh, uh, Marie, if you have those photos of the industrial site and the Hannah site, That was the change. Here we go. If you could expand those and look at the industrial site and aerial shot, they are amassing a substantial amount of tires on that site. Also, the Havana site is not as large of tires. We don't know what's going on there, but you do see there's an accumulation of tires on that site as well. We have discussed what things do we have at our disposal. I will leave some of those discussions to the Planning and Development Division. uh... in discussions with the director of planning and development there are uh... certain things that are in violation of code and uh... in discussions with our fire chief uh... there are certainly issues that the fire departments would have with these six uh... sites as well and so with all of this factored in that was the reason why we have recommended to go to liberty tire the the uh... desire of this community is to remove waste tires and reduce blight and the liberty tire contract removes the tires from shelby county to takes them to mississippi as i said before where they are processed and delivered to an end user and our recommendation is for liberty tire to have the contract all right thank you director noble we really need to wrap up here commissioner sugarman go ahead

And so my understanding is that this new contract with Liberty, they will recycle and or landfill or just landfill?

Cliff Norville Public Works, Liberty Tire will recycle. And if the need, if there is a large, uh, location that needs to be cleaned up, which exceeds their capacity to recycle, then T deck has given us permission to landfill, but the intent is to recycle and they have a massive, uh, capacity for recycling tires. They have many of the most of the counties in the state of Tennessee as well as in Mississippi and Alabama. So they have a huge capacity for shredding and recycling tires.

Thank you.

Commissioner Brooks.

I know you want to move past this, but this is important. Mr. Norville, I need you to help me to understand what are the options of the community since you said that TDET has issued increased storage for this company. So even though they have the opportunity for increased storage and we have a new contractor to move some of that storage, those tires, it still means that the community will be burdened with some tires if they decide to take TDET up on the increased storage space of tires. Do I understand that correctly?

Cliff Norville, Public Works. Yes, ma'am. You do understand correctly that there will be some issues that we will have to deal with. As I said before, TDEC has not given a permit for this site. TDEC has given an approval letter, and those are different things, and we would have to explore our options from a legal standpoint using those. However, since it is not a permitted site, then we have other tools in our toolbox to potentially address this, and I alluded to planning and development and zoning requirements codes which may be in violation here. I've asked them to visit the site and they have given me some informal response in many violations of existing zoning codes. As I said before, I asked our fire chief to go look at it and he is Shelby County fire chief but he was previously the city of Memphis fire chief and he has found several violations of this site from a fire code as well. So we have some tools in our toolbox to try to address the site.

Okay, so if you'll keep me informed, because I'd like to keep the community informed once we get this new company in, we definitely want to see expeditiously the removal of all of the other stuff that's out there. Okay, appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Brooks. All right, let's take this item to a vote. All right, if all commissioners have had the opportunity to vote, let's tally the results.

We have aye votes from Commissioners Mills, Wright, Brooks, Bradford, and Chairwoman Avant. Commissioner Sugarman has abstained. We have five ayes, one abstained.

Thank you. This item will go down with a favorable recommendation. This concludes Committee No. 2, Public Works. If we could read the first item and only item on Committee No. 5, Land Use, please.

Item 1 is an Ordinance First Reading. Ordinance amending the Memphis and Shelby County Unified Development Code as adopted by Shelby County on August 9, 2010, to approve a zoning district change pursuant to Chapter 9.5 for property in unincorporated Shelby County located at south of the intersection of Houston Levee Road and North Pixar Road, being case number Z2026-003CO. Sponsored by Commissioner David C. Bradford, Jr. PISCA, excuse me.

Thank you. I have moved the item. Looking for a second. It has been seconded by Commissioner Sugarman. I see staff here. I'm going to ask you to be very high and tight on this. I think after talking to Mr. Ragsdale, we're probably going to push this down the road so it gets out of our budget way, but I do want to make sure it gets in front of us, make sure everybody understands what it is briefly, and then we'll make action on it.

Jeffrey Penzis, Zoning Administrator, Division of Planning and Development.

Good morning, I'm Chloe Christian with Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development. This is a rezoning case. The case number is Z2026003CO. And this is a request to rezone 53 acres from the conservation agriculture district to the employment district. And a full presentation will be presented at the full committee hearing for this item.

All right. Thank you. This item, I believe, is in Commissioner Mills' district. I had a brief discussion with Commissioner Mills, and I think she is on board. This item does require three readings, and so I'm going to make a motion today to defer this to the only committee meeting we have in July, which is July 22nd. I think if this walks down through the process the right way, that means the first reading would be on July 27th. Second reading would be on August 10th, and then the third and final reading would be on August 24th. So I'm going to make that motion to defer this to the 22nd so we can hear this later. Second by Commissioner Sugarman. Any objections? Yes, ma'am.

To the presenters, so is this in a residential area area?

This property itself is not residential, but there are residential areas in the near vicinity. Yes.

Okay. So have they been notified about this change?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay. You've had a meeting with them?

So the applicant hosted a neighborhood meeting with the residents in that area.

Okay. So when you come back the next time, could you bring the sign-in sheet, please? Yes, ma'am. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Commissioner Brooks. All right. We have made a motion to delay this to the July 22nd committee meeting with the first reading to follow on the July 27th commission meeting. That was seconded by Commissioner Sugarman. Any other discussion on this? Any objections to that? All right. Hearing none, we will see you all back on July 22nd. Thank you so much. And this concludes the Land Use Planning Committee. I don't see Commissioner Bibbs or Commissioner Thornton, so I will go ahead and call to order Committee Number 6, Education, if we could read the first item.

Item one is an ordinance first reading, joint ordinance of Shelby County Government and the City of Memphis amending ordinance number 573, adopted April 14th, 2025, in furtherance of a program for a high-quality early childhood pre-kindergarten for all, sponsored by Commissioner Erica Sugarman and Commissioner Miska Clay-Bibbs. This item was referred back to committee in June 1st, 2026, commission meeting.

Thank you. I have moved the item. Looking for a second. Second by Commissioner Sugarman. Good morning. Go ahead.

Good morning, Commissioners. Thank you so much for having me before you again today. I know we're trying to move things along quickly, so I will be brief. And as this is our second first reading, I think we're all a little bit familiar with the ordinance before us today. I just wanted to give a brief update that since our previous committee meeting, Attorney Smith and I were able to meet with First Aid Memphis. We had a very productive conversation, I felt, and we did bring a recommended amendment from that meeting to the sponsors of this item. I do think we were able to clear up a little bit of the confusion around the contract versus the ordinance. which are two separate issues, but I do just want to remind this body that this ordinance before you is strictly administrative in nature. It is a separate item from the contract and the budget discussions that have been going on in the background. And I'm committed to continuing whatever conversations need to be had to move this forward. Thank you.

Thank you. I don't see any commissioners in the queue on this item. Give everybody a second. All right, see and no, Commissioner Rousseff. Chairwoman Avent, go ahead, Bart.

Thank you, Chair. Just if you could highlight what were the changes that were made. We don't have anything in front of us.

Yes, Chairwoman Avent. The change is on page two, and that is in the definition of fiscal agent, the removal of or entities from that definition. So it would read, the term fiscal agent shall refer to the entity selected by the City of Memphis Mayor and Shelby County Mayor to oversee and administer the funds designed for pre-kindergarten education. Is that the only change? Hannah McCarthy, Mayor's Office. Yes, Commissioner.

Parliamentarian, with this change, are we supposed to get a red line version of this if they are amending this?

This is a proposed amendment for it to be made today.

We can bring it today. We brought it for discussion today, and I had shared that with the sponsors as well. But I can have it for you today or before the next reading.

Yes, ma'am. So the rules do require a track change version if you're going to proffer an amendment or substitute. It also would require not only in track changes to reflect that change, but also a summary sheet that indicates who is making the change or who is requesting that change be made. and the date of the request. So I can forward you that the rule. Otherwise, you would need to request that that rule be suspended.

Is it possible for us to, I guess the other sponsor, for us to refer this to the next committee meeting? To the sponsor?

Repeat.

I wanted to see if you would be amenable to us referring this to the next committee meeting.

That's fine.

And I will say I have shared the track change version with the sponsors.

Point of information, could I just admit it on the floor?

The rules do require a track change version. In the past, we have allowed amendments to be made, you know, just as an oral request to make the amendment. The rules do require that a track change version be proffered. So, at this point... That wasn't the question.

The question is, can I? Can I? Or can I at a commission period?

So I just indicated that the rules required, so we'll require suspension of the rule in order to proffer that amendment orally.

Well, since the chair has already asked to have it moved, I just wanted that information. That's all. Thank you. Okay.

I'm making a motion to refer to the committee meeting on June 24th.

Second.

All right. I've got a motion from Chairwoman Avent to defer this to the meeting on the 24th. I have a second from Commissioner Sugarman. Any objections to that? All right. Before we dismiss this, I do have an appearance card from Melissa Farrar. Melissa, if you would like to come forward, state your name. Supposed to be for the second item? Okay. I will hold this card then, and we'll wait for the second item. All right. This item is, as per just discussion, this has been moved to the June 24th meeting. Seeing nothing further on this item, we can close this one out and move on to the discussion, first eight. So if you will go ahead.

Yes, sir. ITEM TWO IS A DISCUSSION ITEM TO LAST APPROXIMATELY 15 MINUTES, FIRST EIGHT MEMPHIS, 2024 THROUGH 2025 ANNUAL REPORT AND THE 2025 THROUGH 2026 PRE-K Q2 REPORT. DR. CANDICE THOMAS PRESENTING.

GOOD MORNING, DR. THOMAS. YOU HAVE 15 MINUTES ON THE CLOCK. IF YOU CAN BE ANY QUICKER THAN THAT, WE WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT THIS MORNING. THANK YOU.

OKAY. Good morning, Candace Thomas, First State Memphis, 38104. We're gonna start, we have two reports for you per our contract and agreement, but also just for public knowledge. One, our quarter two report for this school year, as well as the annual report for the previous school year. So my colleague, Valencia Stone, will present the quarter two report.

Greetings, Valencia Stone presenting on behalf of First State Memphis for quarter two. You have the printouts in front of you. We'll skip straight to the next slide. There we go. Um, so as you can see this year, just giving another overview of our program where we are in standing of seats as well as operators and our per people investment is 9,483. Um, over 45 operators throughout Shelby County and um, over 4,000 seats are receiving funding in blended embedded funds.

Next slide.

All right, keeping in mind that this quarter two report is for the 25-26 school year in between the operational dates of October 6th to December 19th. And you have the fiscal sheet in front of you showing our actual award for school year 25-26 at the amount of $20 million. It shows our classroom expense, other expenses, and our classroom spend down as of that time and administrative fee. All right. Our actuals as of today are before you in between July 2025 and December 2025. You'll see the total amount at the bottom as of the end of quarter two being $9,997,141. This next slide is a reminder of where we would have been or the impact of any unspent funds not being returned or renewed for us to expand. This amount or this diagram actually shows us what reduction in funding would look like and the impact thereof if we were to be reduced back to our previous fiscal year award. All right, next up, it shows our investment as it relates to direct salaries and teacher and other personnel. You guys have asked in the past how much of those fundings directly go back to the classroom and actually personnel directly serving children. And you'll see that amount before you. It also has the award amount for our quarter two, end of quarter two paid out directly to operators. It breaks down for you a comparison of our per pupil amount of $9,483 and an increase from last year being $9,063. All right. This is a overview of the demographics as it relates to race and ethnicity and the population served throughout Shelby County. You'll see over half of our students are within those five zip codes listed on the bottom, which are 38127, 38109, 38116, 38128, and 38115. All right, we can skip to the next and the next. There we go. Um, here you'll see the, uh, counting commission districts broke up. Next slide. The county commission districts broken down by seats. You have asked in the past to understand the exact number of seats per county commissioner, and so that is shared with you. The next slide shows a cumulative enrollment, so you have a better understanding of what your actual cumulative enrollment is within those districts. All right. As of quarter two, we are excited about the capacity field at 89%. Really excited about where we are in capacity, especially with the growth of seats across Shelby County and the partnerships that we have. The same for attendance. Our attendance rate was impacted a little bit in quarter two. Again, a reminder that those dates are ending in December 19th. And so somewhere around the wintertime, but it's at 86% attendance rate. you'll see the biggest impact with illnesses in transportation. Still wanting to highlight there, there's a huge push for supporting transportation for early childhood as a lot of our providers are unable to provide direct transportation due to cost and also availability of services, but our parents are still getting our babies there. We wanted to highlight our beginning of the year Bergan score, extra excited about the outcomes of our children participating in our early childhood programs and that 55%, they're at the 55 percentile, meaning that they're performing very well and above average as they are entering kindergarten. Next, you've asked about our family engagement outcomes. The question before or brought to us before was around what items or what categories are families actually receiving the most service in and they are requesting services for. You'll see family well-being is the number one request for family engagement personnel support and resources. And the second highest being connection to community. We wanted to share with you the impact of unspent funds from the previous school years and how it supported our early childhood training series program. Those unspent funds went back to supporting stipends for teachers actually participating in professional development and actually receiving professional development credits approved by the state. So this year was our first run of an early childhood training series and we've had an overwhelming impact as far as participation. The next slide is the QR code that you could use to share with your constituents if they are interested in pre-K programs and want to know more about First Aid Memphis. You've asked before about pictures and you love to see them, so we are sharing city, next slide, and county commission photos. You'll see certain districts identified there and the centers that the children are actually being served at. All right. Federal updates. Federal updates were updated as of May 31st. There's a new federal CCDF rule where several childcare and accountability providers are able to sustainably... I'm sorry. providers stability protection put in place. Um, that's where they are allowing providers to actually, um, increase the smart step phones. Um, you'll see the others lift theirs around. Tana is also, um, was put before our legislation asking them to offer summer programs or extra food supports. Glasses here. Let me adjust. And then the rollback of Head Start was a concern as well. On the state side, there was the study completed about public school administration early childhood providers actually being able to place their children in childcare programs. And the other one that I think is big and high on our list is the Promise in Futures Act, where we could use some tax revenues to help support early childhood programs and child care services. All right, jumping into early learning investments in the pre-K budget around Early Head Start, if you guys want to start there. Should we, are we presenting on Early Head Start as well? Just really quickly. Okay. So the review for Early Head Start is actually really quick, jumping through it. The budget there, the reminder that they were still awaiting funds at one point, but they have been received, to my understanding, as of date. And so if you go to the next slide. Next one after that. We can keep going. There we go. We missed that one. Just talking about the overview and the partnership of Early Head Start and Port-A-Leaf, explaining how the funders, providers are all connected and the services being provided. Go to the next one. The budget is before you. Next. Next. Reminding you of the investment as of half of the semester to quarter two is $125,000. The investment per student for Early Head Start is $15,599. It impacts 116 educators. You have before you the map where these sites are located. The enrollment remains consistent in quarter two as of quarter one, the same capacity field at 92% moving into next Memphis moving forward. Um, with the budget for next Memphis, The same here, there's an investment of the end accorded to at the amount of $125,000. It supports 10 administrators. Those administrators and coaches actually help support our local child care providers license and child care facilities and family home child care centers. On the next slide. The one thereafter is an explanation of that tiered support and what that looks like within those child care provider centers. The next slide shares the number of partners established as of quarter two, which is 51. That's 85% of the capacity field for that ability to provide support. Next slide. explanation of the role of Next Memphis and how it is a shared service hub where it provides coaching as well as budget supports and other resources to our local child care provider and again family home day cares. It strengthens small businesses and there is a highlight on the next slide. where the operators receive 99% of the tuition paid because of these supports and coaching around business management as well as service provisions. Next. There's 100% of teachers operating or engaged in instructional coaching. All of the childcare providers that participate in Next Memphis receive coaching support. And that closes out, as we move forward, our quarter two report. CHRIS RODGERS.

Thank you so much. Dr. Thomas, did you have? Go ahead.

Thank you, Valencia. So we also have before you our annual report from the 24-25 school year. I won't go through any slides given we only have two minutes, but I wanted to just share with you some major highlights. For the 24-25 school year, we were at 97% capacity filled for the school year, which is just three percentage points before 100% so that you should be proud of your investment. Also, students attended 80% or more school days. That was 90% of four-year-olds attended this program more than 80% of time. And another amazing metric that you should be proud of, children and families, that school year demonstrated a 62% kindergarten readiness score. That is a more than 25% increase from when this program started in 2019. So you should be incredibly proud of the investments and the improvements that we're seeing across early learning. And per your request, we did bring our attorney here today. It was requested at last week's meeting when I was ill and I wasn't able to attend. So we do have our attorney in the room if there are additional questions about the contract and the ordinance. Thank you.

Thank you so much. I do have a couple of commissioners in the queue. We do have a public comment card on this item, so I'm going to ask Ms. Melissa Farrar to come up now. If you'll state your name again and zip code, I'll give you two minutes to address the body.

Hi, my name is Melissa Farrar. The zip code is 38104. I'm with Hope House in Memphis, and we serve individuals and families who are affected by HIV and poverty. We also have a preschool program that has been supported for several years by First Aid, and we just wanted to thank you for supporting the Pre-K for All Joint Ordinance and allowing us to potentially use leftover funds to increase the number of seats that we're able to have in our community. Hope House has been a first aid partner for several years and has consistently benefited from the high quality oversight, coordination and support provided through this partnership. As an organization serving children and families impacted by HIV and poverty, we rely heavily on strong community partnerships to deliver the highest quality care and services to some of our community's most vulnerable members. Through First Aid's support, Hope House has been able to provide free early childhood education services to children ages three and four, along with critical wraparound services, including counseling and resource navigation. First Aid has also helped ensure that we have access to evidence-based curricula, effective student progress monitoring, and the resources needed to maintain high-quality programming. At Hope House, we have found that consistency is essential to both the delivery of quality care and building trust with families who have often experienced significant discrimination and barriers to support. Maintaining a single fiscal agent provides the stability, coordination, and accountability necessary for all programs like ours to succeed. Conversely, introducing multiple fiscal agents or implementing a system that changes from year to year could undermine the process we have made. create unnecessary disruptions, and weaken the safe, reliable programming that our families depend on. We respectfully urge continued support for a unified fiscal structure that strengthens collaboration, promotes consistency, and allows community partners to remain focused on serving children and families effectively.

Thank you so much.

Thanks.

All right. I'm going to go to the queue now. Commissioner Wright.

Thank you, Mr. Acting Chair. Just wanted to go back. Was it Valencia? I'm sorry. Thank you for the presentation. I just wanted to ask about the so the next Memphis piece of the work is dealing and supporting just child care. So previous to pre-K but just child care organizations, what agencies either local or state or federal provide or oversee those services? Is there an agency that is tasked with ensuring the safety of the children and so forth?

Valencia Stone, First State Memphis. I know Port-A-Leaf oversees the program, and they do receive some other grants and supports that hold them accountable to services and accountability.

Are you speaking to early Head Start?

I'm speaking to Next Memphis. But for those child care providers, TDHS actually oversees those providers. They are all licensed program through the Department of Human Services. So they have to remain in compliance with the child care standards and regulations of the state.

Yeah, that's all. I was just curious about that. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Commissioner Wright. All right. Chairwoman Avett, go ahead.

Thank you. Question about on slide 32, where you all talk about the role of each of the providers, and this is alluding a little bit to what my colleague was asking about the Next, the next eight, is that correct? Is that the name of it? Next Memphis, I'm sorry. Next Memphis. And so in each of these square boxes, who would we assign as the vendor or provider?

Valencia Stone, First Aid Memphis. This slide on page 32 that you're referencing is in relation to Early Head Start, which is a tad bit different. Early Head Start is held accountable through federal regulations of the Early Head Start program.

So First Aid doesn't have any interaction as part of the Early Head Start?

We see.

As our early, first Candace Thomas, First State Memphis 38104, as the early childhood systems organization in the community, we do have oversight for Early Head Start and it is through, the grant is through Port Elite. So we do ask for data, we do want to see improvements in the program, and we also want to see what expenditures look like.

So the Next Memphis provides the supports for coaching and training for both the home daycare centers as well as the Head Start sites?

Next Memphis, you're correct. Madam Chair, Candace Thomas, First State Memphis, 38104. You are correct. Next Memphis does provide coaching to child care centers, both home base and center base. But they also provide business and back office support because that's the greatest need to improve quality for children. There are coaches that are funded through Next Memphis, and some of those coaches do provide coaching services within the Head Start programs. But those coaches, their primary role is to support the Next Memphis classrooms.

Was that contract with Next Memphis worked out? Have they also received fees?

They have. We received an email yesterday from Sean Lee that the $1 million from the county was received by Porterleaf. Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chairwoman Avent. Commissioner Thornton.

Thank you, Chair. Director Thomas, for the contract that was negotiated, can you just talk through, like, that process and just, I guess, what concessions, are y'all able to talk about the contract process that y'all went through? It came up in the budget hearings that it was arranged that you would accept a setback in the funding that you received. Are you able to speak at all about that?

I am Candace Thomas, First State Memphis, 38104. And per your request, our attorney is here this morning. So if Andy Jones would join us up here, that would be great. So as you all may remember, we started the contract process last year this time. It was signed by the city and Mayor Young in September. And we heard from the county administration in November about the contract. At that point we had contract negotiations from November through March with the county administration and pulling in the city of Memphis because it is a joint ordinance and a joint contract. As a part of that, there were several concessions that were made. One, the contract indicated that there is a ratio of funding between the city and the county, and this contract articulates that the county cannot fund pre-K any more than 135% compared to what the city funds. So that means that if the county increases its pre-K investment, there's an expectation via the contract that the city increases its pre-K investment. If the county decreases its pre-K investment, therefore the city has to decrease its pre-K investment.

So I guess my question is really just to, and I want to be respectful, Chair. I don't see my timer going. Okay, as y'all are working through that. So the ratio of funding, was that always a part of what was the understanding when the joint ordinance was passed? When did that become a stipulation of how we proceed with funding universal pre-K?

The ratio had not been in previous contracts. It became a challenge this year. And whose idea was this? That came from the mayor's office and his administration. From which mayor? Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris.

So our mayor puts a stipulation into the contract that now creates a ratio of funding and this year decides to reduce the commitment, which means the city also has to reduce their commitment. Is that what you're saying?

Well, the city just voted yesterday to keep pre-K flat at $8.5 million. So the city is not reducing its commitment this fiscal year. But the ratio does require that the county not pay more than this portion of the total amount.

So our discussions really don't matter if it's the legislative intent for us to be able to advance it when the city is voting in it ahead of us and we have to now keep up with the city. I'm just trying to figure out from your legal team, why would you agree to this ratio of funding if we're seriously looking to push forward to universal pre-K? Because it just doesn't make sense to me today.

Andy Jones, attorney for First Aid. We did push back. We were told we had to accept that provision. I'm sorry. We were told we had to accept that provision. It wasn't something we could negotiate. And just to correct one thing Dr. Thomas said, if the city increases their funding and the county does not, it does not terminate the program. It only terminates the program if the county increases their funding and the city does not. So the way it works essentially is I'm going to use small dollars because it's easier. The county gives $1.35 for every $1 the city gives. If the county were to give $1.36, the program is terminated. It's the way the contract reads. Completely terminated. You'd have to start over like we did in 2019.

I guess in the 30 seconds that I have, I hate the negotiated terms. So what recourse do we have to go and renegotiate? And I would dare say to whoever's about to be the next mayor of Shelby County, please. I mean, these are horrible terms and we cannot possibly fulfill our commitment to stick to our plan because there is a five-year plan to the public to be able to actually close the gap on universal pre-k and offer it to our three and four year olds and there's no we're going to terminate this contract because the city is deciding making moves that the county has to follow and the county clearly is in position to be able to push the envelope and have the city follow so it's just it's not going to work the terms that you have in this agreement and I'll get back in queue for additional comments.

Thank you. Chairwoman Avon, are you? She's not here. Looks like she's back in the queue. Maybe not. Commissioner Sugarman.

Thank you so much. And so does the opposite also apply? For example, if the city decides to lower the amount that it contributes, then the county will have to follow suit. Is that correct? First question. And the second question, did y'all receive your full, I mean, I know last year during this fiscal year, 2026, there's an issue about y'all receiving your funds. Did y'all ever receive all your funding for 2026? So it's two questions.

Andy Jones, attorney for first aid. Regarding the first question, yeah, if the city were to come back and give 99 cents instead of a dollar, it would terminate the program. It would terminate the county's portion of the program. It's the way it reads. So the city would continue on, but the county's portion would terminate. And because it's a joint ordinance, I assume that means the whole program would terminate.

Okay, follow-up question for the attorney. So if it's a contract that was one-sided, it seems to me, if it's a joint ordinance, that the contract also needs to be approved by the city side. So I don't understand how the county mayor and his administration were able to negotiate the contract without the city also being inclined to agree with those terms.

That provision is literally one sentence in the agreement, and it doesn't impact the city so much. and so they had no comment on it. It doesn't require anything of the city. It doesn't require the city to terminate their portion of the program or anything else. It states it only terminates the county's portion of it. So the city didn't comment.

Okay. So my question, I guess, not the, okay, the whole negotiation process, it seems like there's a joint contract that both mayors would have to come to an agreement to make, to include those terms. Is that not the case?

I can't speak for mayor, mayor young. I'm not sure if he, I'm not sure if he knows that sentence is in there. I'm not sure. I don't know. I didn't, we, our discussion around that sentence was centered to with the county and trying to get it amended.

Okay, again, that doesn't make sense to me. I'm not an attorney. I'm just saying to me, if you have two parties in a contract, you know, that two parties have to also agree to the terms. That's all I'm saying. Okay, I'm not an attorney. It just doesn't make sense to me as a layperson. Okay, can you answer the second question?

Candace Thomas, First State Memphis, 38104. Yes, Commissioner Sugarman, we received funding from the county in March. the full funding in March.

Anything else? All right, back to Commissioner Thornton.

Okay, thank you. So the commitment for fiscal year 26, you received full funding for, correct? And the rationale, I believe in the budget hearing, for us not to move forward with our commitment for fiscal year 27 was because there was underspend. Someone brought up the whole fact that in previous years there was some type of underspend. I don't know if it added up to the figure that we didn't negotiate to, but we have a resolution on the floor to keep it flat. And so I'm not a champion of flat, so I hope you're not counting. my vote to be able to support the flat resolution. But what I am a champion for is the plan that we have rolled out. So I just want to understand how are we deviating from the plan and who do we hold responsible as a public that believes that this is the most proactive investment that Shelby County can be making And as I hear people campaigning on being able to champion this cause, I want to see a voting pattern that supports what people are saying to get into these seats. And so what I hear, FLAT is not what we have been talking about. FLAT just came into the conversation after y'all went into this negotiation. We have been pushing to fund universal pre-K schools. according to a plan, which will require us, I think it's three point some odd million that we would need to put into the budget to be on track for what the county has to do. So my question today is if we keep our commitment, but the city council has already locked in theirs, are you saying that according to the newly negotiated terms that we cannot hit our benchmark to stay on track this budget cycle without terminating the contract?

Andy Jones, attorney for state. It would terminate the county's portion of the program. Unless the mayor's office and legal team are willing to amend the agreement to remove that one sentence, it would terminate the program after the county if you increased your funding and the city did not.

Okay. So this is where I want everyone in the listening public in this minute that I have left to tune in. One, this is a discussion item. We will not hear it on Monday. Two, You have a conflict with your current electives. The mayor, Lee Harris, has put a one-liner in that does not allow us to stay on track to fund universal pre-K. So you are our bosses as the citizens of Shelby County. As you have seen this commission pass resolution after resolution after resolution to make whole law enforcement, I'm asking you today to... reach out to your mayor to be able to renegotiate this line because we cannot as a commission move forward even considering staying on track if this line is going to stop us because of decisions that the city council has made to keep their budget flat. So the commission, I know as a commissioner I was not consulted to be able to add this one line. It would never be my legislative intent to pass an ordinance and then also include this one line because it completely negates what we said as a commission is our body. So this is a separations of power issues to me and we need to be able to address this. So I'm going to ask that you guys come back for the rest of the budget season and that we bring Mayor Lee Harris, Mayor Young, so we can get it all on the table about who stands where and where are the champions this particular budget cycle. That's what I just want to know. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Thornton. All right, seeing no other commissioners in the queue, this was a discussion item. Thank you all for being here. I really appreciate it. And this concludes Committee No. 6, Education. I'll turn it over to Commissioner Wright for Committee No. 4.

All right, thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. Call to order Committee No. 4, Law Enforcement Correction in Courts. Can we read Item 1, please?

Item 1 is a resolution approving a contract between Shelby County Government and Cornerstone Detention Products, Inc. for UPS battery backups for newly installed security electronics touchscreen system for the main jail located at 201 Poplar on behalf of the Shelby County Sheriff's Office in the amount not to exceed $72,770.02. This item requires expenditure of fiscal year 2026 general funds in the amount not to exceed $72,770.02. Sponsored by Commissioner McWright.

Thank you so much. This item has been moved by Commissioner Sugarman, seconded by Commissioner Bradford, Chief Lindsay, and Chief Fields. Good morning. Good to see you.

Good morning. Thank you, Commissioner Wright. The item before you is a resolution that seeks approval of an emergency contract with Cornerstone Detention Products in an amount not to exceed $72,770.02 for the installation of UPS battery backup systems supporting newly installed security electronic touchscreen systems at the Shelby County Jail. That's pretty much all I have to say because I know you guys are trying to catch up on time, but we're happy to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you.

Thank you. I do have a commissioner in the queue, Commissioner Bradford.

Just a quick question. If we're replacing the security system, why did we not include a UPS or battery backups in the original?

Good morning. Kirk Fields, Chief Jailer, Sheppard County Sheriff's Office. This goes back two years when we had the power outage that knocked the doors offline and fried our components. So we're just doing this as a precautionary measure so that we would never have that problem again.

Thank you, Commissioner Bradford. I have no other members. I do have a member in the queue. Commissioner Thornton.

Thank you, Chair. Just to clarify, so this particular item for this newly installed security electronics touchscreen system, that was already a budgeted item for you?

Alicia Lindsay, Chief Administrative Officer, Shelby County Sheriff's Office. We have the funds in our maintenance line within the Shelby County Sheriff's Office budget.

And so I guess I'm just trying to understand when you guys come and you put different buckets that show that you need additional dollars for certain items and then you have this, is this a planned expense or is this like something unexpected?

Alicia Lindsay, Chief Administrative Officer, Shelby County Sheriff's Office. As it relates to maintenance of the Shelby County Jail, we're not sure. We have a plan of what we think may occur during the year, but there are also things that happen throughout the year that are not planned.

And you plan for those contingencies naturally in your budget?

Within the budget, yes, ma'am.

And then just for clarity, this maintenance contingency doesn't come up in other requests for, I guess, reimbursement funds or emergency funding. Like, you know, there are a lot of different pathways. the sheriff's office has to be made whole. And so I've seen you utilize different resolution, I guess, pathways. And so I just want to kind of start to wrap my head around what is duplicative. So is this particular request showing up anywhere else in another resolution request that we have coming to us or currently being decided?

Alicia Lindsay, Chief Administrative Officer, Shelby County Sheriff's Office. No.

Okay, perfect.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Thornton. Commissioner Sugarman?

Thank you. And Chief Lindsay, I just want to say thank you, because every time the commissioners ask a list of questions, you answer within a reasonable time. I just appreciate that. I can't say that for other divisions, because they're like, we can get to, we can get to, but in a budgetary mode, we need these answers. So I'm sending out letters as I'm analyzing the budget. And the chair's department has relatively, budgets remain relatively flat. But I do have some questions. And I'm copying my colleagues as I go along as analyzing the budget. And so if you could just respond to all of us. I know you're going to do it in a timely fashion. I just wanted to put on record I really, really appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Sugarman.

Thank you, Commissioner Sugarman. I'm seeing no one else in the queue. Let's take this to a vote, please.

We have aye votes from Commissioners Caswell, Sugarman, Mills, Wright, Thornton, Morrison, Brooks, and Lowry. We have nine aye votes.

Thank you. That item moves down with a favorable recommendation. Can we read item two, please?

Item two is a resolution to amend the FY2026 grant operating budget to expend supplemental federal grant funds in the amount of $36,968 from the Office of National Drug Control Policy for the purpose of disrupting the commerce of illegal drugs through Shelby County. for a total award in the amount of $113,488. This item requires the appropriation and expenditure of FY2026 federal grant funds in the amount of $36,968, sponsored by Commissioner McWright, and this item does not meet requirements of permanent rules.

All right. Thank you. This item has been moved by Commissioner Sugarman, second by Commissioner Thornton. So we need to entertain a motion to hear the item. Is that right?

And also just to be clear, was it because it didn't complete a legal review?

Jessica Inigaro, Chief Administrative Officer from the DA's office. That's correct. It did not complete legal review because financial review did not exist.

So, Madam Parliamentarian, I guess I would move to suspend the rule about the permanent rule, not meeting the requirements of the permanent rules so that we can hear the item. So I'll make that motion. Is there a second? I heard a second from Commissioner Mills. Can we do that without objection? Hearing none, I'm sorry. Commissioner Brooks?

I need to understand again, I missed part of that conversation, the rationale as to why this item did not meet the permanent rules. What was the issue?

Can I ask Chief Indigar, could you speak to that, please?

Good morning. I'm Jessica Ngaro. I'm the Chief Administrative Officer in the District Attorney's Office. Before resolutions are put into OnBase to be a part of the agenda, we're required to send them to finance for their review, and they then pass it along to legal. In this case, I did email finance in advance on the day of the deadline and did not hear back from them and did not see that it was forwarded to legal. I attempted to follow up with them and also did not receive a response to that. And so I assumed that they would not complete the review and that my only alternative was to not comply with the permanent rules in order to get this on the agenda.

Ms. Chairman, I'd like to hear from legal as to why this happened. Why did they not complete a review?

Jordan Galtelli, County Attorney's Office. If finance does not send us approvals, we cannot review items.

Good morning. Audrey Tipton, Director of Administration and Finance. I think we had discussed this already with the District Attorney's Office that we were not approving it. So not approving it puts it here. So it's not that we did not respond. We told them we were not approving it. Why? Because it is requesting that General Fund fund a position, part of the positions on this grant.

This is number two. This is just a budget transfer.

Well, I don't know. I don't remember seeing this one.

Do you need to amend your comments?

Yes, let me amend my comment. Audrey Tipton, Director of Administration and Finance. I am not sure why this one did not come through. It's from a grant. We did approve this one.

Not to legal. I wish you did.

I have to go back and look at this one.

In light of the fact that finance needs to go back and look at it.

It did not come through OnBase, right? I submitted it through OnBase. This is Jessica Ningaro, the Chief Administrative Officer. And eventually, yes, I'm sorry. Deputy Director Schoenbaum did eventually approve it so that it could be on the agenda, but that was not a review of the resolution.

Okay. Audrey Tipton, Director of Administration Finance. I am confused on this one. I'll have to go back and review it.

Ms. Chairman, I'm not sure what you're comfortable with doing, but I'm not comfortable allowing this to leave committee at this point. because actually the item that we're supposed to be dealing with is not in front of us.

Okay. Are you objecting?

I'm a J. Okay. All right. Yes.

All right. We have an objection from Commissioner Brooks. So do we, do we do discussion on the motion then?

You can, yeah, do, well, it's just on a suspension of the rules. So the discussion will be on the suspension and at committee, it will require a two-thirds vote of those present in voting.

Okay. All right. Is there any commission, are you seeking to speak on the motion before us?

Thank you, Chair. Yes, and that's just to consider the suspension of the rules. So I do support suspending the rules for the sake of discussion. It gives finance the power to kill things. And just seeing what I'm seeing today in lieu of just, I think, the overreach from the executive branch on the legislative body, I would like for us to be able to hear items to decide for ourselves. We always at the end of this can dispose of this item on Monday with a no vote. if through conversations we decide that we just don't support it. So I would like to hear it. And I'm also just curious how these things, people can, who actually put this in own base? So can someone just educate me administratively How did it even get to this point if it didn't pass the other checkpoints? It was always communicated to me that it couldn't even move forward to be put on base if it didn't pass the previous checkpoint. So here it is on the regular agenda, not as an add-on. Can someone administratively just tell me how that happened?

Chief Indigaro, can you speak to that?

Maybe a little bit. This is Jessica Ngara. I'm the Chief Administrative Officer for the DA's office. So the only part I can control and which it is my obligation to do is to put the resolution and the supporting documents into OnBase. And then I advance it to the attorney gatekeeper. From there, it goes to the appropriate people in both finance and legal or anybody else that needs to be on it. For us, it's generally only finance and legal. And so We did get hung up on this particular resolution because I can't remember what the reason was from Director Schoenbaum. Actually, no, I'm sorry, I'm misstating that. For this one, Deputy Director Schoenbaum did advance it in the system and so legal reviewed it, but this was the requirement that I have to say that the item does not meet the requirements of the permanent rules because since finance would not sign off, that means I cannot put an assistant county attorney in the reviewed by line. And so the workaround is the suspension of the rules. And so I can't speak to why in the... You've put it properly.

Thank you. The rules do require that if an item is time sensitive, the chief administrator or his designee may allow such item to remain on the committee agenda and shall include the following statement on the agenda. Item does not meet requirements of permit rules. So we are in compliance.

Okay, and so with that compliance, then our chief administrator would have had to okay it to get to this point, an extension of the commission. So, you know, when we're considering the objection, our team has already said that this is something deserving of our input. So I just want to understand that if the commission goes against that, why is our staff okaying something that the commission wants? does not want to move forward. I just want consistency in this item because I'm seeing things potentially being blocked that I'm trying to get to the commission and I'm just curious about this pathway that we have something on regular agenda and just how it's able to get here. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Thornton. We're still on the motion to suspend Commissioner Brooks.

Thank you. I don't have anything Personal about this item. It's about the rules and we have committee rules So either we're gonna follow the rules or we're not so if we're not just Do away with them for everyone. We won't have double standards here So if we're gonna follow the rules, so we're not gonna follow the rules now You know, we can suspend the rules if you want to, but we should at least have the item, the correct item in front of us with an explanation or comments from finance. So we need to be consistent. We need to be consistent. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Brooks. Commissioner Sugarman?

And this is also on the motion as well. And so, Chair, I just have a question, commentary I hope you can answer, because my understanding as a commissioner, even before we can put anything on base in Granicus, it has to go through finance and through the attorney before we as commissioners can even put it in Granicus, period. The other thing is when we also, I'm seeing commissioners having to do is like a checklist where there's other divisions are not. It seems like we are penalizing ourselves more than we are other divisions to get anything on heard before the commission. And so as my colleague stated, so my question then becomes, number one, what is the procedure? Is it supposed to go through finance and through legal, then send it to Granicus because if that's not the case, then we have been misled as commissioners.

I'll be happy to set up a training opportunity so we can go over some of these rules that keep coming up. But the rule clearly indicates that if an item is time sensitive, the chief administrator or his designee may allow such item to remain on the committee agenda and shall include the following statement on the agenda. Item does not meet requirements of permanent rules. From what was just said, I understood that finance, there was some error, there was some oversight, and so it wasn't reviewed, but that was not an oversight on the part of staff or the commission or county attorney's office. That wasn't the question. Mm-hmm.

The question was the process. And so the process was... And because when I, for example, if I have an item or any other commission that I know, it is time sensitive. And so, again, we're having to do tracking, this, that, and the other, or we have to put in this wording, but even to get it on Granicus, like in the system, we have to go through those. I've just heard, and you misspoke, that you stated that you put it in Granicus and then it was going to go through the other processes. Is that not what you said?

Let me clarify. This is Jessica Indigaro, the chief administrative officer for the DA's office. We have to go through a process twice for approvals. We have to go through an email process with finance and legal, which I sent it to finance. I did not receive a response. So that's why I don't have a county attorney name on this and they didn't officially review it. But then separately, once that has happened or once I have a deadline, in OnBase, and I know you're saying Granicus, and that might be the vendor, but I only see OnBase. I then have to put it into OnBase, and it then has to go through that process again. In that process, Director Schoenbaum, and I mean, we spent Thursday and Friday trying to get this on the agenda, and at a great expense of time, both days, both the district attorney and me, explaining this situation over and over again to staff to explain how we got here. And in that process, finance did advance it, but that was not the same as a review of the document and an approval that would allow us to take this sentence off.

And I just want to say, so as not to belabor this point, the rule does allow for it to appear on the agenda with that language and the remedy is the suspension of the rules. And so that would require a two-thirds vote of those present in voting. If there's an objection on the floor, and I would recommend proceeding to the vote unless there's, but in terms of what your question is, it is in compliance with this particular rule because the language is on there.

Thank you for that clarification. Again, going back to my point, not to the labor, we can't even get our stuff on base, period. And then, so that's the issue. It's like two different systems here. One for commissioners and one for everybody else. That's what I'm seeing. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Sugarman. We're still on the motion. Commissioner Lowry.

Thank you. That's why I was going to ask, where are we right now? Are we on the...

MOTION THAT HAS BEEN AN OBJECTION BY COMMISSIONER BROOKS.

AND I GUESS WHAT I'M GETTING AT, TOO, IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE'S SOME VALID CONCERNS. IT SEEMS LIKE WE NEED A DISCUSSION ITEM MAYBE ON THIS OVERALL TOPIC. BUT FOR THIS ITEM, IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE WAS, QUITE FRANKLY, A MISTAKE, MISUNDERSTANDING. CAN WE NOT JUST GIVE THIS OFFICE AND FINANCE AN OPPORTUNITY TO GO SPEAK ABOUT THIS NOW, MAYBE MOVE IT TO THE HILL? and maybe bring it back up in committee so they can discuss it? Or even other, can we send it down without a recommendation, let them speak about it over the next couple of days, come to us on Monday with the remedy, and then we vote it up or down? It sounds like we're getting into a process discussion right now and not really on the item. So those are my points. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Lowry. Commissioner Morrison?

Commissioner Lowry pretty much summed up what I was going to suggest, to send it down without recommendation, if that would be agreeable. I've got the Exhibit A, which was agreed to by the mayor about this whole program, and this is simply an amendment. To me, it's pretty straightforward and should be passed, but as far as I can tell. So I would recommend what Commissioner Lowry did, send it down with that recommendation.

All right. Thank you, Commissioner Morrison. So we need to have it before us before we can make those motions. So we're still on the motion to suspend Commissioner Thornton.

I just asked my colleagues to support the suspension so that we can send it down without recommendation.

Thank you All right, seeing no one else in the queue on the motion. Let's take the let's take the motion to vote The the motion commissioners is to suspend the rules so we can hear this item I All right, if all commissioners have voted, let's report the tally, please.

We have aye votes from Commissioners Clay Bibbs, Sugarman, Mills, Wright, Thornton, Morrison, and Lowry. Commissioner Brooks has voted no. We have seven ayes and one no.

All right. Thank you so much. That motion passes. So now the item is now on the floor for action. Chief Indigaro, can you give us a brief summary of what this is?

Good morning. I'm Jessica Indigaro. I work in the DA's office. I can't remember my title. Chief something. Hang on with me. Okay, so this, I believe, is a pretty simple matter. There's some extra money left over in a grant that the Sheriff's Office administers. Katie Mack, who is probably the gold standard of grants in Shelby County, let us know that this money was available and asked us if we could use it. She knew that we could because we've already expended what we were budgeted for for overtime related to drug task force functions. So we have additional overtime that we have spent and would have to pay But this grant money is available to do that. So this resolution approves transfers out of two spots in order for the funding to be moved to the district attorney's office so that we then can apply that to overtime that we have already incurred in FY26. It will take us through the end of this fiscal year.

All right. Thank you, Chief Indigaro. Commissioners, I know previously that Commissioner Thornton.

Chair, I would like to make a motion to send this down without recommendation.

All right. There's been a motion to send this down without recommendation. Moved by Commissioner Thornton, seconded by Commissioner Sugarman. Can we do that without objection? Hearing none, so moved. Thank you, Chief. All right. Can we read item three, please?

Item three is a resolution to amend the Shelby County District Attorney General's Office FY2027 Grants Fund Operating Budget in the amount of $182,339 to expend funding made available from the State of Tennessee's Office of Criminal Justice Programs. Amend the Grant Fund Position Control Budget by adding four... .7 FTE positions salary and fringe for the four partial positions totaling $182,339 from the grant and amend the general fund position control budget by adding 4.3 FTE positions salary and fringe for the four partial positions totaling up to $89,041 from existing personnel funding in the general fund. The grant is for the period of July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, sponsored by Commissioner Charlie Caswell, and this item does not meet requirements of the permanent rules.

Thank you so much. This item has been moved by Commissioner Thornton, second by Commissioner Sugarman. I heard the last line again, which means we may need to take up that motion first. I'll go to Commissioner Sugarman. Do you wish to make a motion, or are you in the queue just to speak?

I just want to know why it didn't meet the requirements again. That's all. Point of information.

Let me go to Chief Indigaro on that.

Hi, Jessica Indigaro, the Chief Administrative Officer of the DA's office. And this one is a little bit different than the other one. I understood when I submitted it to finance for their email consideration that that they were likely not going to be in favor of this and that we were going to end up in this exact spot where it does not meet the requirements of the permanent rules. In this particular instance, I did not hear back from finance via email, but I understood that they were likely going to oppose this just like they opposed it last year. And so that means that the county attorney can't review it. And so I don't have a county attorney listed on here. And we submitted it into OnBase. And in OnBase, it originally got denied by Deputy Director Schoenbaum. And we had to work for most of the day on Friday to get it back to her so that she could press the button so that it would make it to the agenda. But again, that was not finance signing off on this resolution. that was for the sake of the agenda.

Commissioner Sugarman.

I would again like to hear from finance to determine why they did not approve this one.

Can we hear from finance?

Good morning. Audrey Tipton, Director of Administration and Finance. I started speaking on this resolution prior to because the original resolution she was talking about we did not deny. But as far as this resolution is concerned, we did deny it because it requires to have a portion of the salary come from the general fund. We do not prefer using general fund dollars on grants because you don't know when the grant is going to end or if it is not going to be reinstated and then the general fund will be responsible for paying the full amount of the salary. So that's why general fund or finance does not prefer, and I think we talked about this last year, but it was approved last year and I thought under the impression that it would not come back this year, but it did come back. So that's why we're denying that.

All right. Okay. Commissioner Sugarman is good. Commissioner Lowry. And again, we're not, we still don't have this before us, but I'm recognizing you next.

Chair, happy to follow the rules. What do we need to do?

So I think we need a motion to suspend the rules to hear the item. So moved. Can I recognize Commissioner Morrison? Commissioner Morrison has made a motion to suspend the rules. Seconded by Commissioner clay bibs. Can we do that without objection? Hearing none so moves.

So let me go back to Commissioner Lowry Thanks chair, and we're getting along the line of question I was going to have for this when it sounds like we're going to be the same boat as last resolution. However Is this grant done annually? because it says it goes through 2027 and Again, it's for salaries for four people. So is this something that continuously, that we get annually, have done in the past? Or going forward, would this be the assumption that this is going to be baked into the budget or going to need to be coming out of the general fund going forward?

Jessica Ngaro, the Chief Administrative Officer for the District Attorney's Office. So I can't speak to how long it will go into the future. And I did not have the same understanding as Director Tipton regarding that it would not come back this year. This particular grant, a version of it, has been in place for at least the last five fiscal years, and I think that that is closer to 10. And this has to do with four victim witness coordinators. It has appeared on the budget in different ways. Previous to the fiscal year we're in right now, it showed as four full positions on the grant budget at 1.0 full-time equivalent positions with an obligation of us to provide matching funds has a connotation, but that we would pay for 25% of it because we knew that the state was only going to pay for 75% of it. So every year we were having to, and my predecessor, the DA's predecessor, were having to find the money in whether that is locally held funds at the trustee or wherever. And they were kind of inconsistent on whether those payments happened. And so for me, coming in, I look at that, I say, okay, .7, .3. If we're going to have to come up with money every year and it's stressful for everybody, stressful for finance as to whether or not the money is going to come in, and they don't want to have a balance on the grant budget, this is the way to do it, and this is just a different way of recognizing what that funding split was. And because we had the funding to do it, That is why this proposal is the way that it is. So last year was a one-year contract with no renewals. This year is also a one-year contract with no renewals. So when there are renewals, we don't come back to the commission. The renewals can just kind of happen. But we are very aware that if we don't have the funding, that we're not talking about keeping people on payroll, and how do we pay for that? We're talking about laying people off, which is where we got very close to last year. And so... This year, the contract came very late. I had to bug OCJP to send it to us. I had to send in all of our deadlines to them so that they would understand how critical this is, that we get this on the agenda before the last meeting of the year. And I still was just in a pickle. And we also, they're requiring, to me, what is an unrealistic signature time frame to get the signature after the resolution is approved, if it were to be approved. And so this is the exact same situation that was approved last year in the fall. And we're asking to do it more timely this year in advance of FY27 so that finance understands that they don't have to worry about the folks that are currently on the payroll because this grant is coming. This is something that I'm just a little bit traumatized by from last year's session. So I will always remember this. And I will always try to get it to you in advance as long as the grant occurs. And for us, it's four critical victim witness coordinators. Two of them work in our special victims unit, which is primarily children and some of the most awful sex crimes there are, as well as vulnerable adults and other special victims. So we're asking to be able to keep these folks on the payroll.

In the meantime, procedurally, I believe that you wanted to proffer a substitute version.

Yes, I do. There were only a couple of minor changes within what is currently before you on the machines. Ms. Thomas has those documents which include both the substitute resolution and a summary sheet with an addition at the bottom that lists the changes. I had a typo. I referenced a .7 position instead of a .3 position in one spot. So legal is not allowed to officially review these documents, but somebody gave me a couple of pointers just to try to clarify what we're trying to do just in case it does advance. And, of course, we're hopeful that it does.

All right, commissioners, something happened with my screen. I had a queue. It went away. Now I have a new queue, and we're in budget and finance suddenly. So apologies. I don't know who originally was next, but we do have a sub. Let me go to Chairwoman Avant.

Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Just a couple of questions. So I'm trying to remember back to also the situation with the grant funds and then what we were asked to pull from general fund in order to offset some of the positions. So, Director Tipton, if you could just refresh my memory. I thought at that time D.A. Mulroy said if he didn't have the money in the budget, he would not come back to this body to assume from our general fund to help pay for positions. Is that correct?

Audrey Tipton, Director of Administration and Finance. Yes, ma'am. That is correct. At the time last year, there was no money there. We had not received the grant funds. And so General Fund was fully funding all four positions until the grant fund money could come in. And at the time, it had not come in. And that is my point exactly. do we know for certain that grant funds are going to always come in? As Ms. Indigaro just indicated, this is an annual renewal, so every year we have to look at this and determine whether or not we're going to have to pay for it. So that is my point. This is a grant. Normally Shelby County is not policy, but we do not like to fund grants. Grants should stand alone. If you have a grant, it should stand alone. And in this case, they're asking that we pay part of the salary for these four positions out of the general fund.

Okay. And so, Ms. Tipton, and I guess my other question is, how are we paying for positions from the general fund for a budget that has not been approved?

Audrey Tipton, Director of Administration and Finance. We do not not pay people. So if payroll comes through that somebody was on payroll and performed a service for the county, we pay it. Whether the budget is there or not, we pay it.

Yes. Thank you. I'm Jessica Ngaro from the District Attorney's Office. I'm the Chief Administrator. When Director Tipton says that the general fund is paying it, what she's saying is that though we have a position control budget, for the grant fund. What she said was that they had not received the money from the state. I believe that that's incorrect. But she said that they had not received the money from the state, so that meant that the general fund was paying for those grant positions. That is a technical finance piece. However, the state, OCJP, we bill them every month. They are timely payers. That's why I think she's incorrect about that particular statement. She is correct about that regarding a different grant fund, but not about this one because the state is a timely payer. But in order to make sure that this can continue, we have to have the resolution and grant in place for next year. That's what we are trying to do right now.

I think my challenge with this is we get into this position where if it's a grant fund and now we've hired these employees and we just assume this in our budget if the grant does not come in. And I just don't think that's a good way to do business in Shelby County.

All right. Thank you, Chairwoman Avant. So we still need to move the substitute. And our parliamentarian is going to strangle me if I don't do that here. So let me move the substitute. Can I get a second on that? Seconded by Commissioner Caswell. Can we do that without objection? Hearing none so moved. I also hear from the Parliamentarian we need to go through suspending the permanent rules again to hear the substitute. So I will make that motion. Seconded by Commissioner Morrison. Can we do that without objection? Hearing none so moved. So now the substitute is before us. Commissioner Sugarman.

Thank you. And so I have a couple of questions. So as far as fund balance policy, it's 20 to 30 percent. Are we under the fund balance policy as of today?

Audrey Tipton, Director of Administration and Finance. No, we are not within our fund policy.

Oh, we're not under the fund balance policy. So in other words, we're over 20 percent?

That question is kind of hard to answer because we're still in this fiscal year. So we're still closing the books. Expenditures are still coming in. We usually measure our fund balance at the very end of the year. So as of last year, 2025, we were not within our policy. So we're still closing the books for this fiscal year. So I really can't 100% say we are within our fund budget. balance policy.

Thank you for that. And so as I'm analyzing our budgets for the past several years, since at least 2022, our fixed costs have been increasing. And I'm looking at what's coming in and it has not grown. And that is a huge issue for me. And so, again, my concerns, it was grants at the federal and state level being canceled. You know, there's no guarantee that we're going to be reimbursed for these funds. And so I agree with the chair that is a concern, especially with a new administration, new commissioners coming on board. We don't want to leave them in a negative situation. I'm very concerned about those fixed costs because as I see more and more people coming on board, we also have been getting raises every year. And to the DAs, we gave thousands of dollars to the DA to write the deficit, because my understanding at that point in time, they're not receiving the same amount as their counterparts. And so I understand that. And so I do sympathize, but also I am fiscally conservative. And we're in a huge situation as not being able to make the payrolls and things of that nature going forward if we continue at this rate of hiring people, giving raises, et cetera, because our fixed costs are increasing. I'm extremely concerned about that. And I cannot justify raising property taxes or any fees or adding fees if we can't get this straight. We've got to be fiscally conservative. And I'm seeing budget coming before me with our FATs. They've got a lot of fat, and I'm going through them, and I'm just appalled. I really am. And so I support what Director Tipton has recommended, and my answer is a no. Thank you.

May I respond?

Go ahead.

Jessica Nangaro from the District Attorney's Office. I'm the CAO. The good news is that I'm not actually asking this commission for any money from Fund Balance or unidentified general fund money. These positions were created last year. The money is there. The same money that is funding them right now on the general fund is going to fund them again next year. And so this is a neutral budgetary request from where I sit. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, Commissioner Sugarman. Commissioner Morrison.

This resolution is more complicated to me than the prior one because of the added positions. I see grant money, and I think Chair Avant and Director Tipton made really good points there because the issue for us, and we've heard about it in our current budget, which has problems, is that Shelby County's had a population loss over the last decade. Meanwhile, our budget's gone slightly up, and our employee count has really significantly increased. And therein lies our rub, why we can't balance it, why it's next to impossible. Is there a way to receive the funds without adding positions? And so we want to take in the grant dollars, but we don't want to be stuck with costs that just increase year over year.

Thank you for that question, Commissioner Morrison. I'm Jessica Indingaro. I'm the Chief Administrative Officer in the District Attorney's Office. Last year, I was told that it was a policy that we could not split positions. That turned out not to be a correct statement. There's not a policy. And Director Tipton has correctly stated that this is a preference of finance. And part of it is that split positions are very difficult to set up. But we went through that process last year, and these positions now exist. If you read further into the resolution, you will find a paragraph in the whereases that says, if it is too administratively burdensome for finance to create the new positions, that the existing positions can just be transferred to the new positions. grant fund position control budget, instead of having to come up with new position numbers, which is what happens when you create a position. And I saw up close the hard work that they did last year to implement this. But specifically, I have left the option in there. legal has not been able to review it. I'm interested in their input and maybe we can hear from them on Monday. But I think that this is a viable solution just to transfer the positions from one grant fund to the other grant fund and still have them linked to the same .3 position on our main position control budget.

Well, with that, I would suggest you talk again with finance and I would move to move it down without recommendation for Monday. Okay. if everyone's in agreement with that.

All right. I have a motion from Commissioner Morrison. I had the sponsor in the queue. Let me, is there a second to the motion to move this down with that? So there's a second from Chairwoman Avant. Before I do that, let me recognize Commissioner Caswell.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I got to say that they have to be turning flips in Nashville right now, the way we are talking about sending back grant money. So I think we keep operating from this body from a survival mindset. And so therefore, we're thinking about, there's nothing about how we're moving forward. I hear you loud and clear. I don't know why it's getting colluded like it's about. Because what you're saying today is, Last year you came after the budget situation, so therefore we had to do what we had to do. Then money had to be taken for the budget to be able to pay it, go forward until the grant got done. This time you're trying to get ahead of the budget, get it approved so the money comes in like clockwork and pay for the positions that are being required. We're talking about victims here. We're talking about victims that we are talking about at the same time a DA office that we're saying that criminals who create acts against these victims, we don't even want them to pay $12.50, even though they can pay a lawyer when they commit these acts against a victim. Just totally blows my mind to hear that we're saying we're not going to support victims with what you're saying. I hear you. that you want to get ahead of it, the papers get filed, the process get taken care of, the money goes into the bank, into the budget to be able to pay for victim activists to be able to do their job for the victims in our county. Last year, I understand where this body position was. It was after the fact. We needed the funds because whatever the DA offered, like I said, they didn't get it in on time or what have you, but now you say we saw that. Now, let's get it in before so I can get this paper to the state. The state can then start sending the money down to pay these victim activists, advocates who are going to be working with these individuals in our county. So I don't get it. Like, what are we missing that part at? But we're willing to, again, keep talking about the problems that we have in our county, but I don't see where we're talking about solution. The reason why people are going to continue to leave Shelby County is because we don't take care of the victims in this county. People are victimized, and then we just do nothing because we don't even have people, no resources to do nothing to mitigate people from doing it, and the people who you can show up after we've been victimized, and we're not going to respond to that. And so it blows my mind to hear what I'm hearing because I think that it's being colluded into all the other survival mode mindsets. I don't want to give nothing more. I don't want to do more. But we're going to continue to take and want to fund stuff that not even impacting the lives of people who are going to continue to move out of Shelby County. So I'm blown away. I hear you. It saddens me that they don't. I pray that you and finance can get together to make this clear for the people on Monday to understand how this process works, be able to show where those checks came in to pay those people from last year after this was approved, after the budget was done. Thank you.

All right. I do have a motion on the floor. I have two more commissioners still in the queue, and I see Director Tipton. You're recognized.

Thank you, Audrey Tipton, Director of Administration and Finance. Thank you, Commissioner Caswell, for what you said. There is nothing in finances being saying that we want to send the grant dollars back. What we're asking is that the departments and the electives work within the confines of the grant. We have limited dollars and resources to go around, so we're asking... three positions instead of four. And that's a suggestion. Just work within the confines of the grant. Sometimes you can't achieve what you need to achieve from a grant with the dollars that you're given. And of course everybody wants more and wants to do more. But it's just not always available. So that's why we were asking the DA's office to try to work within the confines of the grant. We are not saying send the grant back. We're not saying don't take care of the people. It's just work within the confines of the grant.

All right. Chairwoman Avam.

Thank you. I... I hear my colleagues plea about making sure we're not sending back funds that could be utilized for some very important work here. But I also think you said it as simply as possible. We would love to be able to do 1,000 different things, but the resources are not unlimited. And so if I'm reading this correctly, we're saying still needing to take money from the general fund in order to accept the grant funds. So if you're saying just work within the confines of the grant rather than adding on positions with benefits that we then would be responsible for and there's no gap to fill those funds, we cannot keep funding county government in this way. We just can't. I mean, there's nothing, I don't know how you get water from a turnip. Like I just don't, the math does not math. So if we're saying that within the confines and you're willing to work with them in order to do that, why wouldn't we just do that? And Ms. Indigaro, please know from the position that I sit and the work that I do on a daily basis, I understand the importance of programs like this. But if you could have the three rather than the four and you could have them within the budget, why would we not just try to work within the confines of the grant? I don't need anyone to respond to that. But I do just think for my colleagues, we just have to think We have to be smarter about how we spend the actual dollars of the county. We just have to be smarter about that because we are looking right now at an unbalanced budget.

All right. Thank you, Chairwoman Avent. I do have a comment card now, and I believe you're also on the agenda for the next item. But Leslie Taylor, if you'll give us your name and zip code, you'll have two minutes.

Leslie Taylor, Memphis Crime Beat 38117. First of all, I want to say I appreciate very much the debate around my taxpayer dollars and using those effectively. Thank you for that. I want to make sure that you understand the importance of these victim witness coordinators. I'm getting ready to talk about cases that are dismissed, charges that are dismissed in our justice system. And one of the things the district attorney's office will explain to us is, look, you know, this case, that charge, we had problems with the witness. And so we could not pursue this case because we didn't have cooperation from the witness. The people that are working in these roles are essential in working with victims and witnesses so that they testify and we can prosecute and convict criminals the way we should. I'm about to show you numbers that will show that Shelby County is behind both Nashville and Knoxville in their ability to convict cases and to prosecute cases. These positions are essential in helping the DA's office do that effectively. In addition, they provide support for people who've been traumatized by crime. We often have victims reach out to us as they struggle with the workings of the justice system and those roles of the victim witness coordinator are essential in helping them navigate their way through the justice system. So I understand it's a budgetary issue. Please find the money somewhere. Surely there's got to be something else we can cut that's less important than these positions. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, Ms. Taylor. Commissioner Castwell, you're good. All right. So there was a motion on the floor to send this down without a recommendation. It's been seconded. Can we do that without objection? Hearing none, so moved. So that item moves down without recommendation. That concludes number three, and we'll pick up, can we read in item four?

Yes, sir. Item four is a discussion item to last approximately 10 minutes. Memphis Crime Beat, Shelby County Justice System Report with Leslie Taylor and Ron Walker presenting.

Thank you so much. Again, if you'd give us your name and zip code, then you will have 10 minutes. Thank you so much.

Leslie Taylor, Memphis Crime Beat 38117.

Ron Walker, Memphis Crime Beat 38119.

Thank y'all for having us back. I want to start off by thanking all of you for your public service. Hugely important to our community that we have quality people passionate about our community, advocating for citizens of our community. So thank you for that. Also, I know y'all... push the CLEAR project through the University of Memphis CCRE through and we very much appreciate that. We're super excited. I believe now the timeline is six months and they should be rolling out that data which will help us better understand how our justice system is working. So thank you. We're going to talk about updated data today. We have new data. We're going to talk about solutions and what our future looks like. I think y'all remember when we were back here in May of 2025, we talked about our crime funnel. And this is our framework for Memphis Crime Beat. We're tracking and aggregate data crimes from the time they're committed through sentencing. When I came and spoke to you in May, all the things that are in black on this slide we presented to you, there's a lot of red, and that is what we have uncovered and published since we last met with you. So we look at crimes reported. Of course, we're down to 90,000 crimes reported in 2025. That's great, great news that all of our citizens benefit from. Moving on to our clearance rate, we started at 17% in 2024. Since then, in 2025, MPD improved its clearance rate to 21%. As a reminder, that's basically arrests that they have made as opposed to outstanding crimes. And we're increasing additionally at a higher rate in 2026 Q1. We're up to 28%. So kudos to our law enforcement. That clearance rate represents a huge amount of work and resources and effort on improving that clearance rate. We reported that about 20% of folks receive ROR bail. Now we have new data for you on how long it is taking to dispose of cases or to litigate cases. In criminal court, the median number of days to litigate a case for felonies is 395, almost 400. It's important to note this does not include how long it takes to go through general sessions and the indictment process. If you can go back, please. Looking at how cases are disposed, we can now tell you that 68% of criminal cases in Shelby County are prosecuted. This goes back to that previous agenda item because we need to have strong coordination with witnesses in order to prosecute cases effectively. We have a 51% conviction rate of charges in prosecuted cases. Of course, that doesn't involve cases where we've dismissed all the charges. When we look at the length of sentence, we don't know yet how long people are serving, but we know that 62% of convictions in our criminal court involve no incarceration. Another thing our justice and law enforcement systems must do is rehabilitate people. We don't have data on that except I'll report to you that the Shelby County Jail reports how many times people have been booked into jail when they come into the jail. So at this point, 80% of inmates booked into jail have been there previously, and 50% of those being booked into jail have been in jail six or more times. That suggests that we're not doing a very good job rehabilitating people. Next. We know that swift legal consequences deter crime. So what are swift legal consequences? Well, the National Council of State Court defined those. That's on the left, meaning that 98% of the cases are litigated within 365 days. Our data on the right shows that we are well outside those model time standards, which are arguably aspirational, but we still should aspire to meet them. We're looking at a median of 400 days to litigate cases just in criminal court. Again, not counting general sessions and time to indictment. Appropriate legal consequences, meaning convictions, deter crime. So when we look at criminal court cases that are disposed as of first quarter 2026, we're seeing that 68% of cases are prosecuted. That means that about a third of cases are not being prosecuted. The chart on the right shows, for quarter one, the original charge versus what the convicted charge is. So the original charge is in blue, the convicted charge is in orange. And you'll notice that for M, A, and B felonies, the blue bar is higher than the orange bar. And for felony C, D, E, and misdemeanors, the orange bar is larger than the blue bar. What that is telling you is that we are pleading down felony M, A, and B charges to felony C, D, E, and misdemeanors. Looking at charge judgments, we broke a few of these out for y'all. The first one is looking at drugs. In our criminal court, 88% of drug charges are being dismissed, 6% plead guilty as charged, and 5% plead guilty to a lesser charge. If you can go back one, please. For weapons charges, which I would argue are very important to our community as we're trying desperately to reduce violent crime, 69% of weapons charges in our criminal court are being dismissed, 19% are pled guilty as charged, and 7% plead to a lesser charge. Assault is another important category for our community because often these folks are repeat offenders and also these crimes lead to more violent and more deadly crimes typically. We are dismissing 55% of assault charges and 23% are pleading guilty as charged with 11% pleading guilty to a lesser charge. One of the things that we're seeing as we're looking through different cases is we see cases where there are multiple charges, two charges, three charges, six charges, or more charges, and many of those charges were dismissed. So we are trying to put aggregate numbers to that. And this is the nature of the chart. So what this chart is showing you, if you look at the two charge case, On the far left in blue, you can see the cases where all the charges were dropped are null prost. And the orange bar shows in a two charge case, one charge being prosecuted. And the green charge shows two charges being prosecuted. So if you go out to the six charge case, you can see the vast majority are being dismissed or null-prost. And while you're having convictions on one, two or three charges, you're not seeing any convictions for charges four, five and six. Then we looked at sentencing and we wanted to know what does our sentencing look like. So the chart on the left breaks down the different forms of sentencing. You can see 30% have a suspended sentence. A suspended sentence is a prison sentence, but the defendant is allowed to serve that prison sentence outside of prison in something similar to probation. So as long as they meet the conditions of their suspended sentence, they serve their time outside of prison. Additional 11% receive judicial diversion. 9% received time served, 18% are incarcerated. So looking at the overall, again, this is just in criminal court, 73% of folks in Q1 2026 received no incarceration and 27% were incarcerated as a result of their conviction. So then we wanted to know, this came up after we published the last set of data is, well, how are we doing relative to other Tennessee judicial districts? And Ron and his data team worked and were able with AOC data to make those comparisons. So if you look at Memphis, We are dismissing cases at a higher rate than Nashville or Knoxville. Chattanooga is an outlier in all of the data we looked at. I could tell you some stories about Chattanooga, but I would leave it at they're probably not the best city for us to compare ourselves to. Looking at the guilty plea mix, If we look at Memphis as compared again to all the cities, we are convicting folks guilty as charged at a lower rate and we are convicting folks to a lesser charge at a higher rate than other cities in Tennessee. Then we looked at how our justice system is performing over time. That's what this chart is showing you. The red line is tracking Memphis with the gray bar Knoxville, the green bar Chattanooga, the orange bar Nashville. You can see again Chattanooga is an outlier in this data. We were tracking kind of on track with Nashville. but since basically middle of, since 2022, we're now outpacing most all the cities in regards to our dismissal rates. This chart is similar, only we're comparing guilty plea to a lesser charge, and you can see since 2022, that rate has increased substantially, and we're now pleading down cases at a higher rate than any of our comparison cities in Tennessee. So what are our conclusions? Well, unfortunately, our statistics suggest that they're favoring the criminals. You have a one in four chance of being arrested, even with the improvements that law enforcement has made. And in our criminal court, we have more than a 70% chance of serving no time if you're convicted. And this includes defendants who are previously convicted criminals and or have committed violent crimes. Cases are taking a long time to litigate and many charges and many cases are being dismissed. So what are we recommending to help solve some of our problems or to address some of the challenges in the justice system? Number one is reduce case litigation time. This helps everyone. It helps the defendant. It importantly helps the victims. It helps the taxpayers by reducing costs. It helps everyone who works in the system. It helps our situation in the jail. We right now have about 745 inmates in our jail who have been in more than 500 days waiting for their case to be resolved. So we need to do whatever we can to reduce case litigation time. We touched on this with agenda item three. We need to improve our rate of victim witness testimony because then we can dismiss fewer cases and I think there are some things we could do in that regard. Again, reducing case litigation time. The longer a case drags on, the victim or witness could move away. God forbid they die. For whatever reason, they decide not to testify and the whole case falls apart. We need to explore the relationship between pretrial incarceration and testimony. One of the things we're wondering is if a defendant is released on bond, are they intimidating the witness and therefore the witness does not want to testify? We need to look at our sentencing. If you're a witness and you're getting ready to testify against a violent offender, You want to be assured that there's going to be some sort of appropriate consequence for that defendant's actions. Otherwise, you're not going to testify. So we need to look at the relationship of sentences and testimony. If we can go back.

And there we go.

And then we need to look at our courtroom environment. Again, I'd invite anyone who hasn't come to court with us to please do. If you go to the General Sessions Court, I think you'll find that the environment down there is not conducive to someone who's been traumatized by a crime submitting testimony in that courtroom. You're sitting about as far away from the perpetrator of that crime as I am from Mr. Walker. It's a loud, chaotic environment. I think we could do some things in the courtroom that would help victims feel more comfortable testifying and then potentially allow that case to be prosecuted. Also, we need to conduct more trials. Prior to COVID-19, we were conducting about 200 trials annually. Obviously, during the pandemic, that number dropped substantially. That's understandable. However, post COVID, we have not gotten back up to that 200 number. We're still conducting around 55 trials a year. Conducting trials is important because it helps litigators negotiate reasonable plea deals. The defendant has to feel like they will go to trial if they don't agree to a reasonable plea deal. And if you're not conducting trials, the threat of going to trial isn't there. So it is very important that we are conducting a reasonable amount of trials. And with that, I rushed through everything because I know we're behind schedule. But if you all have any questions for me or Ron, happy to take them. And thank you very much for having us back to report on what we've been finding.

Thank you so much, Ms. Taylor. I do have a commissioner in the queue, and then I do have a couple of comment cards. So let me go first to you, Commissioner Caswell.

Okay. Thank you, Chair. Just to say first, thank you for your comments a minute ago as well about the victims and the capacity that helps those individuals who need to come to court to be able to testify against these individuals. I think that we have to see their need for investment. I appreciate, too, your comments about the infrastructure problems that we got in our county that need to be addressed. I just want to know, like, with the data that you're getting, because I remember and I appreciate the work that y'all are doing and been doing it for a minute now, continue to build and could pass around that. But how are you getting the data you're getting now? I know that the clear is just being put into place to move some of that. How are you collecting this data? And do it lines up with the district attorney office data.

Yeah. You want to comment on that, Ron?

Yes. Ron Walker, Memphis Crime Beat. Most of the data that we just presented came from the administrative officer of the courts in Nashville. We request this data on a monthly basis to give us all the dispositions that happened in criminal court, and they give original charge, the resulting charge, and the judgment. We then have to look up the sentencing information manually. We do not get assistant feet on that.

And two, you made a comment about some of the gun charges, and I know in some cases just recently individuals were charged with dropping, and the reason they was dropped is because of state law, right? When we talk about anybody can carry guns, carry guns in their homes, but many times these people are being charged, but the state law said that they can carry the gun. So how much of that equation of what you're seeing when you talk about gun charges dropped, that is because of what the state law allows people to do in the state?

Ron Walker, Memphis Crime Beat. Don't have the exact numbers, but the majority of the gun charges that we addressed there are convicted felons in possession of a handgun, yet that case is being dismissed.

Now, that's a real concern. I know you're not here to talk about that, but maybe get the DA office here to talk about it. Why is that the case? Because if it's okay with the chair, if she could speak to that. Because I'd just like to know if it's a felon, how is a felon able to get a charge dropped when they don't supposed to have a gun in the first place? If that's the case.

Good morning. I'm Jessica Nengar. I'm the Chief Administrative Officer in the District Attorney's Office. And I don't have a direct prosecutorial function in the office, though I'm around... office. So there were a couple of questions. So one was how aligned their data is with the district attorney's office and we have not been able to replicate their results. They are dealing with the AOC. We don't really have much to do once we submit our our information to the DA conference and to the AOC and these are some volunteer citizens in the community and they're trying really hard. And so we don't want to try to tamp that impulse down. But specifically related to felons in possession, they often are charged with some other things in addition to the possession itself. They're not pulled over because of possession. They're pulled over because of some other much more significant crime. And so in terms of talking about reasonable plea agreements, Sometimes that is an incentive to result in incarceration on more serious crimes. And so I can't speak to any particular case, certainly not off the top of my head, but I know that that is one avenue with this. Just in general, what I know about statistics is that, and particularly around criminal justice, is that you really have to ask the right question at the beginning. So one of the things that got mentioned was that you have a 70% chance of getting no incarceration. I know that folks in my office have discussed this directly with, I'm not sure if it's these people or some of their other volunteers, but one of the things that they're missing from this is the pretrial incarceration or the incarceration before the plea deal happens. So we have people that are in prison for years and who do not show up as a time served sentence. So it doesn't show up in either what they're asking for or what they're reporting. But we know that that's one of kind of the fatal flaws in how the public discussion goes on these issues. And so where people have already served a long time, whether it shows up as time served or not, that incarceration didn't not happen. So that's just some context I can give you. Thank you for the time.

Yeah, I did get back in. Thank you, Chair. I just got back in the queue that, again, I appreciate that, and I appreciate the work that's been done. Again, all of this awareness needs to be done, and more volunteers and more people need to get involved in, I think, looking at what's happening in our county, especially when you talk about what's happening at the level of victims. I know I'll be asking in the DA office as well, when you look at many of the things that you all have brought up, how do we compare with some of the real numbers? Because I think even the DA spoke to, I know you went back to your seat, about how many cases was charged. More cases were being convicted than even before his time of getting into office. I know that was shared because it was making it look like that he was being a lot leaner than what the prior was. But again, that data is important because I think we cannot have just one side of the coin of the things being spoken to that without having the whole picture. And the right picture being spoken, the facts that's needed. Because she made a great point. And again, you might come back for me real quick. Because one of the things is, and I know I met a young man when I was in this inside circle that was at 201 Poplar. And he was in there for 10 years at 201 Poplar. And I was wondering, that 10 euros he have spent at 201 Poplar, when he's finally convicted, do that show his time, sir? Is that what we're looking at when we talk about cases being dismissed after they spent 10 euros at 201 Poplar? If missing, okay, you can go first. I'm sorry, sure.

Leslie Taylor, Memphis Crime Beat. So our time served category, sorry, our incarcerated category includes both those that are convicted and have a prison sentence and those that receive time served. The issue of pretrial incarceration is a different issue from sentencing. You can't serve a sentence for a crime that you haven't been committed for. So it's not a sentence unless they're given prison time with credit for time served. And in that case, even if they walk out of the court a free person that day, if they're given prison time with credit for time served, they are included in our incarcerated category. When they aren't included in our incarcerated category is if they're given a suspended sentence, because that's a different thing now. If they commit a crime and don't meet the requirements of their suspended sentence and they get in jail, they will be given credit for their time served pretrial at that point. But when their sentence is delivered, they are not being given credit for that time served. So they're not in our incarcerated category.

Not in that number. Okay. You had something to add to that?

I didn't really follow that, so I can't add.

Okay. All right.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you all for this. Thank you, Chair. All right. Thank you, Commissioner Casswell. Let me go to the comment cards. Clerk Sawyer? Can you give us your name and title, please?

Thank you. Good morning. Tammy Sawyer, General Sessions Court Clerk. Just wanted to take a moment first to thank you all again for the approval of the CLEAR platform, which as stated in the presentation will be really great in us being able to have access to the data across the criminal justice system, but also similar to as Chief Indigaro shared, will allow this data to be clear and not data that's used to answer a specific question by any side of the crime debate, but actually everyone can look at the numbers themselves and make their own assessments. I did want to address on the outcomes slide, the summary slide, a few things really quickly for the commission because I do think that Crime Beat brings up some really good points. But I do want to address the part about long-time litigation as well as conducting more trials and the rate of victim, not the rate, but improving the experience of victim testimony. As you all know, 201 Poplar Administration Building is under reconstruction, whereas it should have been finished, I believe, by the end of this year. We are likely not to see that building updated until maybe 2030. And with the administration changes coming, that is gonna be even slower. In the General Sessions Court, our bail hearing room and our order of protection room are very unsafe for victims. as well as our courts that have not been reconstructed. If you go to the criminal court level, those courtrooms also do not have spaces to keep defendants separate from their victims. So pretty much almost any courtroom that you go into in the criminal side, whether it's a General Sessions criminal courtroom, or a criminal court courtroom currently does not have the ability for a victim, especially a victim of violent crime, to feel safe. And that is something that we have seen some of the plans that are... You can see some of the newer courtrooms, but one of the things with constructions, and I wish... Commissioner Bradford were here, one of the things with construction is we build plans 10 years ago to be built 10 years later and now we're learning the things that we need and one of those things that we needed. We actually had to delay a few of the opening of courtrooms because the boxes that hold the defendants weren't built to specifications needed to keep the judges and the courtroom employees safe. And so think about the same with the victims. They are kept in the same hallway currently as some of the defendants. And so 201 can be a very unsafe space. And so I did want to echo that as well. I do also want to say that one of the things, and I'll wrap this up because my time is up. But I do want to say that one of the other things about the time to court that we're facing as well is that with the number of cases that we are seeing constantly on the rise, we are also slammed in both general sessions, criminal and higher criminal, felony criminal, with getting cases even heard for an initial setting. we are the good thing is we'll have two new criminal judges coming you know very soon but additionally even with the number of general sessions judges that we have our dockets sometimes we have employees leaving court at seven o'clock eight o'clock at night just to finish the docket for a day and so what we are experience is once again system that's not able to keep up due to the lack of resources usually personnel And also we probably if we're going to continue to have these many cases We the same step that was taken to get another criminal court judge. We probably need more general sessions court judges.

Thank you Thank you so much clerk Sawyer, let me go to Cardell Oren And again if you give us your name and zip code, please I

There we go.

Thank you. Cardale Oren, Stanford Children's Tennessee 38112. I just wanted to comment and not let this go by. I think I agree with most of the other comments, all the other comments that were made in addition to what Commissioner Caswell said. I think that if we take this presentation in context, it's like the classic we described an elephant and they just gave us the nose, the trunk. the nose, and we might think it's a snake. And so, you know, if we look at our justice system solely through convictions, then the idea is that if we lock up more people and put them in prison, that that makes our community better. That is absolutely not the case, and there's multiple research and case upon cases that would allow that to be proven to be so. So we clearly need to look at all of this in context. Again, I agree with everybody that the clear opportunity is a wonderful opportunity. I should have said, I'm with Justice and Safety Alliance, we might think that the data's gonna say one thing, this crime might think it's gonna say another, but we can get clear data, and we can come up with solutions based on that. I'd also say that as we look at these charges, and even with the data that they're looking at, we know that charges get stacked. And from the policing to the prosecutors, they charge for things that they know aren't gonna get convicted on. And so we need to look at the justice system in that, in addition to what we know are law enforcement challenges in our community that at times, at least the Department of Justice previously said were attacks on people and had great racial disparities and age disparities for young people in terms of how policing was happening. So when we look at drug charges and gun charges, we also need to look through a lens clarity of what's been identified and said about our community. So hopefully we can come back and add more context to this to this discussion. I think we're all on the same page that we want swift and direct court cases and ability for people to process through the justice system but we also want to be clear that we need to keep a safe community and safety is broad. Safety means how people are treated, how they get through the justice system, and their opportunities to thrive and live in our community with a justice system that serves them, not attacks them. Thank you.

Thank you Mr. Oren. Commissioner Sugarman.

Thank you, Chair. And Cordell Oren, thank you for your comments because I was going to go along those lines because my concern with the crime beat, thank you for the work that you do, first of all, but my concern is the rehabilitation component. If you all could look at the programs that are working, I would like to know those as well, not just, you know, the stats on the data on convictions, et cetera, because, you know, as we know, eventually these individuals will be out on the streets. And so we want to make sure that they are receiving some type of programming. And if not, why not? And then, according to the Constitution, everybody is allowed a free and speedy trial. And you said 365 days or more? That is not a free and speedy trial. And so that's a concern. The other concern I'm hearing from Clerk Sawyer is the idea that we have the victims and the defendants, you know, being in the same area. That is a huge concern. And so my question for Clerk Sawyer is you stated that is there a solution to that? And if so, when will it take place? And if you don't mind coming back up to the podium, I'm just curious.

Sorry, I was eating gummy bear.

That's okay. I heard they were entertaining, so.

Tammy Sawyer, General Assessor's Court Clerk. So there is a... plan for the 201 upgrades as you know with the courtrooms and that's being worked currently. There's going to be a shortage because we have added the two courts back and also drug court split its docket into two. Judge Gilbert has split his docket into two and sometimes we use those extra courtrooms and and so we will have to figure out space in the coming months. But there's not a plan built into the current courtroom upgrade plan about victim safety. When we look at the courtroom design for the current courtroom remodel plan, it does not, I mean, there's boxes that you can put someone in if they're coming straight from 201 and there's but those boxes like you've seen the video of the guy who jumped over the counter at the judge up north yes yes so that could happen it's an even lower threshold in the new courtrooms and then additionally victims, you'll just have to come see the courtrooms. I mean, just the way it's all laid out, like, a victim, if they had to come speak to, you know, especially in the lower courtrooms, if they had to come speak to the judge, they're right here. There's no, like, there's no, there's no, like,

So let me ask you this, a follow-up question real quickly. And so is there room for modifications to these designs? I mean, because I know there are modifications that come along the way. And as you stated that these designs were back when, and now they're being built. Is there any opportunity to modify these designs? Yes.

Well, we're on about a five to eight year scope creep, I believe. Yeah, about from when we were supposed to be done to where we are now. And as I mentioned earlier this year, when we opened the first new courtroom, We had to pause because we discovered the microphones were wrong, the size of the defendant boxes were incorrect, other features were missing, which delayed us opening the next three courtrooms. And so there's not a plan. There's not money for a redesign and there's not necessarily a time allotment for these considerations to be added. Because one thing to consider here, and then I'll pause, is that if we were to add barriers, that's an additional cost.

Yes. Thank you. I'll get back in the queue.

All right, Commissioner Caswell. Madam, sorry, if you could just stay there. Again, appreciate you sharing your insights. And as a former commissioner who sits on this side, I know that you served during a time when we had offer dollars and there was a pandemic and things were a lot different. The courtrooms were not being used. And so when I sit here now, though, and I sit here knowing that we came on this body and it had 90 million people I think in reserves and measure that was due because you didn't have to spend because a lot of things were not going on. But when we look at the fact that we're in a county where in 18 years we have had no tax rate increase, but we have inflations and all of these other costs that hits our community. And we wonder why we got to talk about reactive stances of what we got to continue to do. I just wonder, as a clerk now who sit there and a former commissioner that sit here, what would you say to this body when it, because you just said it, no plan, because you can't really have a plan if you ain't got no money. A lot of times we hear people say we got to have big vision, we got to have big plans, we got to have all of these things, but they don't say we're already going to get the money. And I run a business, and I know that if I don't put more into my business, I'm going to go bankrupt, right, and got to invest. And sometimes what I invest in, I don't know I'm going to get a return until I invest in it. And in Sheppard County, I think that we keep looking for a return. but no investments. And so to just, if you can kind of help me to say, what do that look like for you? And I know you are elected in your official capacity, but I think that what I'm saying is we need some investments. What you saying?

Thank you, Reverend Dr. Pastor, Commissioner Charlie Caswell. Well, first, you know, what I do want to say to Ron and Leslie, like They have worked with our office before I came on board, but with me for the last year and a half now. We've made it a year and a half, y'all. But I will say that one of the things about investments is one of the reasons you have folks like Ron and Leslie unpacking data or Just City unpacking data or other groups looking at data and doing it themselves is we don't have the resources As a county government, we should be producing our own data reports and repositories, right? So now we fund it clear, but it is also a data, we hope it will be transparent and unbiased, but it is also housed at the University of Memphis. And so we have not invested in our data. We have not invested in our tech. We are operating dinosaur technology. And so one thing I think that's going to be important for the next administration and this body, once it turns over in a couple months, is to take a real look at the budget. Cut the grants. Fund the government. The government has to do its job before we give other people money to do our job.

Thank you. Thank you, Chair. All right. Thank you, Commissioner Caswell. I have two more commissioners in the queue. I'm going to give you I know you're chomping at the bit to respond to. I'll give you some final a final minute to respond. But Commissioner Thornton.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Rhonda, Leslie, and Commissioner, well, Clark Sawyer, for giving us additional info. Is the Memphis Crime Beat incorporated? Like, are y'all just independent operators, or are you operating within a 501c3 structure?

Yeah, Leslie Taylor. Do I have to say that every time? Memphis Crime Beat. We are a 501c3 structure.

And do you currently receive any county funds?

No, we do not. We would love to.

And so I'm just curious in the work that you, well, thank you for doing the work that you do on funded. We've heard different, I mean, I've seen grant allocations to the Crime Commission. The Downtown Memphis Commission has said that they've received the, I think, 70 plus million dollars from the state related to crime. Are y'all tracking where crime dollars are going at all in the work that you do?

We are not. That's a great question. We are a small volunteer-based organization with a limited framework and scope of work. A lot of the things people said today, we would love to dig into the data to address things that are happening that are driving crime. We just don't have the resources at this point to do that work.

And do you have any formal partnerships or MOUs with any of the crime-funded organizations? So I think, I mean, just seeing just kind of the peer resident-driven nature of this, it would be nice for you to track those dollars to figure out opportunities for you to be a collaborative partner because when we're seeing them come through they have earmarked funds for special things like community outreach or it just seems like they're workable dollars that if you're a 501c3 that you would be able to align your efforts with what they have and I'm seeing dollars actually earmarked towards different entities and So it might just behoove your volunteers to do a little additional research to figure out who's moving the dollars so that y'all can be a part of those conversations and contribute to it. So thank you for just clearing up my understanding and for the work that you do. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Thornton. Commissioner Sugarman.

Thank you. And so the data that you prepared, that was over what, 2026 or what timeframe was that again?

Ron Walker, Memphis Crime Beat. The presentation is mainly focused on Q1 of 2026. The later slides did go back nine or ten years.

Okay. And have you seen an influx since the task force and the National Guard have been here as far as the number of arrests, et cetera?

Definitely the crime figures have come down. Just looking at the May numbers today, we're down 22% over May from last year. So, yeah, crime has come down. We have not yet seen that in the case in the justice system because it does take a while for that to flow through.

And then this is a question for Clerk Sawyer. And so since the task force and national guards have been here, have you seen an influx? I know one of the judges was here last committee meeting, I believe. He said that it's been like a 30% increase. And I was just wondering, do you all keep up with that data?

Good afternoon. Again, Tammy Sawyer, General Assistant Court Clerk. Yes, we do. The administration advised all of our divisions to try to track the data as far as the impact on operations. We have seen an increase since the arrival of the Memphis Safe Task Force in the number of tickets written. specifically those written by of course Highway Patrol because the number of Highway Patrol members in assigned to Shelby County increased and also I think earlier Leslie was speaking to Leslie and Jessica were speaking to layered crimes, and so we've seen a rise in cases where people are pulled over for a driving charge, and then there's another type of charge attached to it, driving with a gun if you have a felony, driving with drugs, things like that. So we have seen an increase in cases, but the highest impact has been our drug court under Judge Lee Wilson and our traffic court under Judge Patrick Dandridge. The city of Memphis has had the same thing with their traffic court as well, but yes, we have had a significant increase.

Okay, follow-up question. Clerk Soria, so with the task force, in particular the state troopers, when they are ticketed, does that money go directly to the state or do we get a percentage back?

Tammy Sawyer, General Assessor's Court Clerk. It depends on who writes the ticket. So, of course, with each different department, so we get a different percentage from the Sheriff's Department. If they write the ticket, we get a different percentage from Highway Patrol. But for Highway Patrol, the majority of the money does go to the state. We have not seen an increase in our income as General Sessions in what we're bringing in significantly that would match the increase in the cost of operations.

And so would you be able to discern the dollar amount?

I actually asked for that last night from my team because I was going to piggyback off my friend, Chief Alicia Lindsay, and ask y'all for $18 million because we needed to. And our operations have increased. I was just going to ask for 1.8, but I knew y'all would tell me. No, but our operations have increased and we also, even though we are not considered a public safety per se, when you think about it, General Sessions is the entry point for the criminal justice operations. Everyone who gets arrested in Shelby County enters into the General Sessions system. We process all bail, bond, and release. And that requires a 24-hour, 365-day, no-day-off, no-holiday operation. And because of that, with the Memphis Safe Task Force almost coming up on a year now, our operations have increased significantly. I have to take my interns to lunch, so I've got to go. And thank you, Shelby County Commissioners, for our interns. We're loving it. They're here listening to y'all today. But before I leave, I would like to ask for a 5% raise for Shelby County civil service people. I know I'm off topic, but I won't be here to ask for that on the next item. Thank you. Bye.

All right. Thank you, Clark Sawyer. Thank you, Commissioner Sugarman. Commissioner Brooks.

Thank you. My attention was drawn to these numbers, and as I was sitting out there in the back listening to your presentation, I knew I had to come back and get some more information about you and your packet here. So you are a nonprofit organization, and you do this. Why do you do this?

That is a great question. Why do we do this? Basically, we do it because nobody else is doing it. I got started doing this after... No one is collecting crime data? No one... Well, the AOC is collecting this data, but have you ever seen a publication from the AOC about...

So the Crime Commission is not collecting crime data?

They're collecting data. The clerk's offices are collecting data, but they're not publishing that data for the public.

Well, you know, respectfully, I have received some thick reports from General Gibbons and Clerk Sawyer, so.

The Crime Commission does publish public data. Sorry, the court clerks do not publish public data reports.

Well, I've gotten information. If I may add to that one more. Excuse me.

I'm sorry.

I've gotten information from Clerk Sawyer. Well, let me just go on to why I wanted to talk. You drew my attention because when you started talking about data, then you set a precedent and you send messages. So many false messages have been sent. That's why we got the safe task force here in Memphis along with some other reasons. But one of the things I need to understand is how did you gather this information, this crime statistics, what lens did you use? Did you look through? Did you apply a racial lens to this?

Ron Walker, Memphis crime beat. Uh, the direction we take is not with the lens, uh, the approach.

So you did not look through a racial lens. You excluded the racial lens.

I'm not looking at the racial lens. Okay.

So let me, let me, let me just finish this. My time is short. In fact, I got 44 minutes. Arrest data highlights targeted policing rather than actual offenses. When we look at data, through a racial lens, we understand and remember that systemic disparities in policing, prosecution, and the justice system is unfair or has a disparate impact on racial groups. So if you're not going to look, if you're just going to look at data as if there are no racial groups, it's going to be skewed because you have socioeconomic factors to consider also. You have to also consider the inherent unintentional or intentional bias of human beings that work in the judicial system. When we have data, you can't just have a flat land, a flat surface that you are working from, it has to be multilayered because this is a multilayered society. It's a multilayered judicial system. So if you're going to apply a one-size-fits-all, then it's going to definitely be skewed because we're not all white middle-class folks. Okay. Thank you.

All right, thank you, Commissioner Brooks. I'm going to give you all just a minute or so to wrap up if you have any closing remarks, but I don't have any other commissioners in the queue. I just wanted to say one or two brief things. One is that I would share your remarks and several others that mentioned that we're looking forward to the clear data, having more data available on what's happening in our justice system. We're looking forward to having that and just a better view of what's happening in the county. The county holds the majority of what happens in the justice system, but I feel like a lot of times we're flying blind because we don't get this kind of reporting. For instance, we had the discussion earlier from First Aid Memphis, so we get regular reporting from them with lots of data and metrics about what's happening in pre-K classrooms. Maybe to a lesser extent, we get that sometimes from the school district, but when it comes to our justice system and to the sheriff's office and to the DA's office, there's a lot of different key stakeholders involved, and I don't know that anyone's giving us that sort of overall presentation of how the system is functioning, how long it's taking. So just with that said, that's why I'm appreciative of you all doing what you do and giving us some metrics so we can understand how long cases are taking and what's exactly happening. So that's why I'm appreciative of you presenting these reports and the volunteer work that you do. So any closing remarks?

Ron Walker, Memphis Crime Beat. A few closing remarks. I do appreciate y'all's time. I'll try to be brief. But one reason I got into this as a citizen, we have no criminal background knowledge of how the system works, how the courts work. And as a citizen, I'm asking these questions. And the deeper I dig into the data, I'm just shocked at what I'm finding. And maybe we're not asking the right questions, but nobody's presenting these reports. There's a lot of reporting on crime. You get all that from MPD or TBI, Crime Commission, whoever wants to report that. But very few, if any, are reporting what's going on in the justice system, and that's where our work is focused. We're looking at the dispositions. So, no, we're not yet seeing the task force come through because we're looking at the cases of being disposed. Those have not filtered through the system yet. Think back to the crime funnel that we looked at the slide. The amount of red that we had on that slide, that's the improvement that we've made since we presented this time last year. So, yes, hopefully we will get into rehabilitation efforts. I would love to see reporting on that. I sit on the joint office meetings, and I'm just encouraged by the passion that these nonprofits have, both pre-crime and post-crime, what these folks are trying to do to improve Memphis. So that encourages me, and I'm just invigorated every meeting I go to. That's where we want our reporting to go to as well. That's it for me. Thank you.

I echo all of Ron's comments. Thank you all for having us. We started down this road of aggregate data because when we sent our volunteers to court, the one thing they always reported after their first day was, gosh, I feel like nothing happened today. Everything was just reset. Everybody has to come back to court again another day. What did we accomplish today? And that really started us looking at, okay, how long is it taking to dispose of cases. We looked at how often cases are reset. We see cases that are reset 65, 100 times in the justice system. Each one of those times, in theory, the defendant and the victim are showing up at court. They're taking off work. We have people who talk to us who are traveling from other states to attend court. And when nothing happens on that court day, it affects everyone in the system. We began there, but then we realized We can't just track how long it's taking to dispose of cases because there are ways to dispose of cases that aren't ideal, and I'm not suggesting our DA's office would ever do something like that. But if we're only measuring one metric, how long it takes to dispose of cases, and we're overlooking conviction rates and other metrics within the system, we could be creating more problems, which we don't want to do. Finally, I just want to add, there's been a lot of talk today about budgets, and I completely understand that as a taxpayer. I want my dollars used effectively, which is another reason we're looking at the aggregate data. I just want to give you one example. Cedric Owens was in jail for 10 years while his case was being litigated in our justice system. He had mental health issues. The absolute worst case of someone sitting in our jail for ten years as a person who already has mental health issues Setting aside the human factor of that man who had to sit in 201 Poplar for 10 years waiting for his case to be resolved in addition to the victim who didn't get justice for all that time, there is a dollar figure associated with that incarceration which we estimate was $250,000 just to cover his three meals a day and probably a horrible place to sleep at 201 Poplar. Now, If we can reduce how long it is taking to litigate cases, we can reduce the taxpayer money that we're spending to keep people in abhorrent conditions while their cases are being litigated. We could use that money on more effective programs and systems to improve our justice system. So I would, in summary, say the conversation we're having today, in my opinion, for what we're trying to accomplish with Memphis Crime Beat, is a gigantic success. We looked at our data today, we identified some problems, and now all of us are talking about, hey, what can we do to solve these problems? What can we do to encourage victims and witnesses to testify in cases so we can have more successful prosecutions? How can we organize our courtrooms, etc., etc.? That is exactly what what we want to accomplish by having our volunteers in court and then exploring the aggregate data in our justice system. So again, thank you all so much. We appreciate being invited back and we hope we'll be invited back again.

All right. Thank you so much, Mr. Walker, Ms. Taylor. Appreciate you. That will conclude committee number four.

We will now convene Committee 11, Core City Neighborhoods and Housing. Madam Parliamentarian, first item.

Yes, ma'am. Item 1 is a resolution approving the sale of 23 county-owned delinquent tax parcels acquired by Shelby County from various Shelby County tax sales to identified purchasers at various prices collectively totaling $146,300 pursuant to Tennessee Code annotated Section 67-5-2507, and authorizing the Shelby County Mayor to execute reclaimed deeds, sponsored by Commissioner Henry Brooks.

Thank you. This item has been moved by Commissioner Sugarman and seconded by myself, Ms. Esther Sykes-Wood. You're recognized.

Thank you. Esther Sykes-Wood, Land Bank Administrator. This is a sale of 23 properties. Seventeen were sold for less than back taxes at a total of $181,589.18 for a negative collection of back taxes of $126,889.18. Six properties were sold to two out-of-town purchasers. And over, we sold the properties at $8,100 over asking price. And this excludes District 7. Okay.

Seeing no members on the queue, we will move to the vote. Madam Clerk. Every member voted. Please cast your vote. May we have a talent, please?

We have aye votes from commissioners Clay Bibbs, Sugarman, and Brooks.

We have three aye votes. Thank you, Madam Clerk. This item goes down with a favorable recommendation. Madam Parliamentarian, item number two, please.

Item two.

It's been moved by myself. Second. Oh, I'm sorry. There we go.

Okay. Item two is a resolution approving the sale of 21 county-owned delinquent tax parcels acquired by Shelby County from various Shelby County tax sales to identified purchasers at various prices collectively totaling $66,306.25 pursuant to Tennessee Code annotated Section 67-5-2507 and authorizing the Shelby County Mayor to execute the claim deed sponsored by Commissioner Henry E. Brooks.

Thank you, Madam Parliamentarian. This item has been moved by Commissioner Sugarman and seconded by myself. Ms. Sykes-Wood, you're recognized.

Thank you. Esther Sykes-Wood, Land Bank Administrator. We sold 21 parcels. 16 were sold for less than back taxes for a negative back tax collection of $119,940.66. There were six out-of-town purchasers. They purchased seven parcels, and the total sales were $700 over asking price, and this excludes District 7.

Thank you. Seeing no members in the queue, we'll move to the vote. Madam Clerk, prepare the screen. Every member cast your vote. Every member voted. May we have a talent.

We have aye votes from Commissioners Clay Bibbs, Sugarman, and Brooks.

We have three aye votes. Thank you, Madam Clerk. This item goes down with a favorable recommendation. Item number three.

Item 3 is a resolution correcting the resolution approving the sale of 24 county-owned delinquent tax parcels acquired by Shelby County from various Shelby County tax sales to identified purchasers at various prices collectively totaling $136,904.75 pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated Section 67-5-2507 and authorizing the Shelby County Mayor to execute reclaimed deeds adopted February 4th, 2026 in Item 9 by approving the sale of one delinquent tax parcel acquired by Shelby County from Shelby County Tax Sale 703 to identify a purchaser for the total purchase price of $843.75, correcting the purchaser's name shown on the Exhibit A pursuant to Tenancy Code annotated Section 67-5-2507 and authorizing the Shelby County Mayor to execute a quit claim deed sponsored by Commissioner Henry E. Brooks.

Thank you, Madam Parliamentarian. This item has been moved by Commissioner Sugarman, second by myself. Seeing no members in the queue, I'm sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself. Ms. Sykes-Wood.

Esther Sykes-Wood, Land Bank Administrator. The co-applicant's name was left off of the exhibit in this, so we just need to add that back into the exhibit so we can go ahead and finish closing out this sale. Okay.

Now we can say there are no members in the queue.

We'll move to the vote.

Madam Clerk? Please prepare the screen so that every member may cast their vote. Every member voted. Maybe have a talent. Please.

We have aye votes from Commissioners Clay Bibbs, Sugarman, Brooks, and Chairwoman Avant. We have four aye votes.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. That item goes down with a favorable recommendation, and this concludes Core City Neighborhoods and Housing. We will now convene Committee Number 10, General Government. Madam Parliamentarian, please read the first item.

Item 1 is a resolution approving the election of notaries public for appointment and or reappointment for Shelby County, Tennessee, sponsored by Commissioner Henry E. Brooks.

Thank you, Madam Parliamentarian. Can we get a report from the attorneys, please?

Jordan Galtele, County Attorney's Office. There are no conflicts to report.

Oh, I need to back up. I didn't get this properly before us. We have a sponsor, Commissioner Sugarman, so I need to second it. Right, Madam Parliamentarian?

Yes, ma'am. Okay. Okay.

Okay. So we do have it properly before us. Moved by Commissioner Sugarman, second by Commissioner Avant. All right. Chairwoman Avant, excuse me. Seeing the members in the queue, we move to the vote. Madam Clerk, please prepare the screen. Every member cast a vote. Every member voted. May we have a tally?

We have aye votes from Commissioners Klebibs, Sugarman, Brooks and Chairwoman Avant, we have four aye votes.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. This item goes down with a favorable recommendation. Madam Parliamentarian, item number two.

Item two is a resolution approving the County Mayor's nomination of Laura Mee Wheeler, Susan Neely Barnes, William Frazier, and Anthony Coleman for appointment of the Citizen Law Enforcement Review Committee, sponsored by Commissioner Henry E. Brooks.

Okay. Well, thank you so much. And for the record, as chair of general government, I am obligated as chair to sponsor the items on general government. And I always follow the rules. All right, so Mr. Massey, you're recognized. Oh, I always get that for some reason. I guess I'm just trying to move forward real fast. It's been moved by Commissioner Sugarman and seconded by Chairwoman Avant. Mr. Massey, you're recognized.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and good afternoon, and good afternoon, Commissioners. Corey Massey, Shelby County Mayor's Office. Today I'm here to present the Mayor's nomination of Loramie Wheeler, Susan Neely Barnes, William Frazier, and Anthony Coleman for appointment to the Citizens Law Enforcement Review Committee. This committee serves as an independent citizen oversight body established to promote transparency, accountability, and public trust between the community and law enforcement. The committee reviews citizens' concerns regarding law enforcement conduct, provides independent recommendations, and ensures that community perspectives are represented in matters involving fairness, professionalism, and accountability and policing. Lower me wheeler. Position to my left, if you don't mind. Raise your hands for the commissioners. is a justice reform professional and community advocate who currently serves as the bail fund and advocacy coordinator for Just City and participates in the Justice and Safety Alliance. Wheeler brings extensive knowledge of criminal justice systems, court processes, and community-based solutions. Their work in conflict resolution, human rights advocacy, and building trust between residents and institutions provide valuable insight into promoting equitable and transparent law enforcement practices. Dr. Susan Neely Barnes, is a distinguished professor of social work at the University of Memphis with more than 25 years of experience in social work practice, research, and education. She previously serves in the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Human Rights Committee for West Tennessee and has extensive expertise in behavioral health, vulnerable populations, and systems of care. Her experience evaluating human service systems and advocating for individual rights will be a tremendous asset to the committee's work. Anthony Coleman, situated to my left, is a seasoned educator and community servant with over 25 years of experience in education, instructional leadership, and student development. He has served as an instructional advisor, curriculum coach, and classroom educator with Memphis Shelby County School System. Additionally, his background as a therapeutic recreation specialist and work with individuals facing social, emotional, and substance use challenges provides a compassionate and balanced perspective on community relations and public accountability. William Frazier, situated to my right. is an experienced financial service professional and civic leader with strong record of community involvement and organizational governance. He currently serves as the president of the Greater Whitehaven Economic Redevelopment Corporation. And his experience in leadership, policy compliance, contract oversight, and community advocacy equips him with the skills necessary to provide thoughtful and responsible oversight on the committee. Collectively, these four nominees represent a broad cross-section of professional expertise in justice reform, social work, education, business, and community leadership. Their combined experiences will strengthen the Citizens Law Enforcement Review Committee ability to foster accountability, transparency, and meaningful engagement between Shelby County residents and law enforcement agencies. That was a lot, right? Madam Chair, may I present the nominees to the commission to answer any questions that you may have.

Okay. So you have an opportunity to to speak for a couple of minutes. Just let us know just other than that introduction maybe why you want to serve in this role and then we'll go to the queue.

I'm Susan Neely Barnes. As Carl Ray said, I am a professor of social work at the University of Memphis. I've also been a volunteer advocate with MICA and I have been looking for a way to make a difference. Since the time that I put my name forward, we've seen another death at 201 Poplar. And so I'm hoping that we can work towards solutions to the problems that we're hearing there about not only the deaths, but the other human rights violations. And so I'm just really excited that, and I'm really honored to be considered, and I hope that we can work towards solutions. Thank you. You recognize?

Give us your name. Anthony Coleman, Memphis, Tennessee, 38109. As Mr. Massey has stated, a career educator dealing with conflict resolution, and I think that I would be a positive influence in making decisions regarding citizens here in Memphis and Shelby County.

Thank you so much. Ms. Frazier?

Yes, good morning, Commissioners. Will Frazier. It's just an honor and a privilege to be a nominee to this commission of this board. Servitude is what I do in every capacity of community, and I'm just glad to be a nominee to this board. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

Hi, Laramie Wheeler, 38107. I work for Just City. I actually just moved to communications and advocacy management, so I get to be in the community more. And I feel very honored to be recommended for this. I know maybe sometimes you all get tired of seeing me on Mondays. But I'm very passionate about the people inside of the jail. I'm very passionate about the community and solutions that don't just benefit one group of people but benefit everybody. And like you said earlier, Commissioner Brooks, it's not a one size fits all. And I'm just really honored to be able to use what I've learned from people's jail experiences and my passion for bringing a voice to the people who have been lost inside of the jail into this committee and it's going to be a great team and I'm very excited. So am I. Commissioner Sugarman.

Yes, I just want to thank you all for volunteering. As you all know, we have a lot going on at Tulane Poplar and continue Wheeler, bring us those reports because these individuals unfortunately have encountered some situations where they have been unalived and we need to put forth the best effort to protect those who are in at 201 Poplar. Um, also the fact that we have a third of individuals who have mental health issues, um, and also the fact that we have now more individuals who are being incarcerated because of task force, et cetera, et cetera. So you all have a lot of work and so thank you for volunteering. Uh, we do have another half of the board that's going to be coming forth and I just want to say this for the record, This, you know, initiated a couple years back, and, you know, the government moves very, very slow, and I'm hopeful that you all will come and move quickly because the people at Toowon cannot wait. They've been waiting for a long time. And so I look forward to your reporting. I also look forward to your recommendations. And if anybody on the commission can give you any more support, please reach out to any of us. And the last thing I just want to say real quickly is that we do have, you all have to, it's required that you all have a class, a safety class through the Sheriff's Department. And so I would like for, Massey, if you could extend the invitation to the commissioners, because I would also like to take part of the class when we go through the process. I believe the next one is in September. Okay. Just keep us in mind. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. I just have one question. Maybe I should know this, but I don't. I have two questions. Number one, did you all have subpoena powers?

Corey Massey, Secretary of the County Mayor's Office. Thank you, Commissioner Brooks. No, ma'am.

Was that a failure in the writing of the resolution, or was that a rejection by the powers that be?

According to the state laws, they have limitations on what they can and what they can't do. So I can also provide you a list of those state regulations that this committee abides by.

Does it strictly name subpoena powers as exclusionary?

I believe that it does, but I can double back and check with you. Check and provide you with that information.

Okay. One more question. So when you prepare your reports, where do they go? Who do you send them to?

I can also provide that information to you as well. They do are required to report every year, February 1st of each year, and I can provide you with that information of who they report to you.

Okay, and I ask this because, you know, this is starting to really bear on me, having been here almost four years now. Well, I've been here longer than that, but we get these people who are supposed to report, but as you all know, there is no entity or oversight agency that could be the receptacle for these important reports. And so it seems like just yesterday I was asking a question. So where's the report going? Who's getting the reports? Because I'm not getting the reports I'm interested in. And I know whenever I need something regarding pilots or tips, I've got to, you know, interrupt the trustee. But they're supposed to send reports. But where do they go? So we've got to figure out.

Can I answer that?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay. Yeah, because according to the way the ordinance is written, we passed a resolution to hire three people. One's an administrator, one's an investigator, and one's a clerk. So we'll go to the administrator. Those individuals, I think the chair can answer, have not been hired yet, but in the process of being hired. And so then they'll go to the administrator. They're FTEs.

Okay. So the report from the organization, the group, so it will come before us, yes.

Okay.

So their annual reports or monthly, whatever, it will come to the Shelby County Board of Commissioners.

Correct.

Okay. Is that in the resolution?

It's in the resolution. We funded it and it took, what, a year or two to fund it?

Okay. That's great. Okay. At least we know that's one report I can get. Okay. Thank you so much.

And I'll defer any other questions to the chair.

Okay. Okay. Did you all want to have something else to say? Well, we're glad you're aboard. Thank you so much for your service. Thank you, Mr. Masick. Seeing no other members in the queue, we'll move to the next item.

Take it to a vote.

Oh, we... I was wondering why you kept sitting there. You're dismissed. Excuse me. Madam Clerk, every member designed to vote, please cast your vote. Every member voted? May we have a tally?

We have aye votes from Commissioners Clay Bibbs, Sugarman, Brooks, and Chairwoman Avent. We have four aye votes.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. That item goes down with a favorable recommendation. Thank you, Mr. Massey. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Sugarman. Thank you, Madam Commissioner Brooks and fellow commissioners. I will make sure you get that information, Commissioner.

Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Madam Parliamentarian, item number three, please.

Item three is a resolution urging the Shelby County Election Commission to disseminate updated congressional district information to ensure the education of Shelby County voters on changes to congressional districting across Tennessee. Sponsored by Chairwoman Shante K. Avant.

All right. This item has been moved by Commissioner Sugarman and seconded by Commissioner Klaibitz. And we do have Chairwoman Abrams in the queue. We have a card.

Thank you, ma'am. Chair Brooks, I think Linda Phillips is here, if I could have her to come up. Okay.

Ms. Phillips, come on up. my podcast partner.

So, commissioners, this item that I bring before you is an attempt for us to have some voter registration voter education that is provided to the citizens of Shelby County. There may be an amendment to this with a dollar amount on Monday. I think Ms. Phillips was trying to gather some data to really get a handle on the number of voters that would be needing to be notified as a part of this process. So I just wanted to give you an opportunity to share.

Thank you. I have a short PowerPoint if you'd like to see it. That'd be great.

Commissioner Brooks, Chair Brooks, is that possible?

Absolutely. Do we have an emphasis? Yeah, I gave it to Audrey.

If we could have staff from the PowerPoint loaded. Thank you, Chair Hooks. I'll turn it back over to you.

Okay, thank you. I'm Linda Phillips. I'm the Administrator of Elections for Shelby County. Next slide. As you're all aware, we received the order to redistrict in mid-May. It was doable. I mean, I prefer to have three to four months to do a redistricting, but because this did not require any precinct level changes, it was doable. If I'd had to change precinct boundaries, we probably wouldn't have gotten it done. Next slide. But we do have a comprehensive plan for educating our voters. Roughly half of the voters in District 8 moved to other districts. Roughly most of the voters in District 9 remained the same. So we're not talking about magnitude of voter movement that I thought we were initially. But we have revised maps and I have copies here for your office if you'd like them. Our district lookup tool is being updated. by GIS and should be functional by the end of the week. I guess that's tomorrow or Friday. Obviously, we did have a new qualifying deadline for candidates. Those candidates have filed their petitions and been certified. No precinct locations have changed. No polling places have changed as a result of redistricting. We do have one polling place that's going to change for other reasons, but had nothing to do with redistricting. Obviously, there's no change in the election dates or times. We did bring on some additional staff, and we're doing mailers to the voters whose districts changed. This isn't mandatory, but I think it's an important part of making sure that voters are up to date. Next slide. The cost of this is approximately $350,000 for the mailing, the additional staffing, our vendor charged rush fees. We had printing of the cards. But all of those costs are being covered by the state. This is not a county expense. Next slide. We are doing communication. We're doing media outreach. I had a press conference when this happened. It's on our website. You can watch it there if you haven't seen it. We've been responding to statements from both local and national media. And we're going to be doing a media tour in July so that everybody gets the correct information. Well, we're doing digital, social media and digital ads about key dates and information. And we're doing a video campaign featuring election commissioners and other leaders about the upcoming key dates and changes. And that will happen in July. We're also doing our usual election digital toolkit, which includes web banners, digital flyers, and short info videos with key dates. And those will come out in July. And these are emailed to our faith-based and nonprofit organizations that partner with us. Our new website is already up. And we have mailers and billboards coming out. So any questions?

Commissioner Sugarman. Thank you and welcome. And so I sent you an email with lots of questions. Yes. Okay. Because your budget is out the chain as far as there's a lot of fatty to it. And so we're not going to be, at least as I'm concerned, giving you additional funds until we've gotten these answered. The concern is the additional staffing, the additional costs. And I understand you made a comment that's because of three elections which Other, you know, counties are experienced as well. And so it still does not explain that. And so I do want those answers, especially if you're coming to us for additional funding, which I will not support because you've got it in your budget already. But the one thing that you can answer quickly is the election commission projected to receive $2.2 million from the state. And so there should be a pass-through, correct? If not, what was that for? And that was one of the questions.

The $2.2 million that was budgeted in fiscal 26, the state made a one-time offer, essentially, to pay for the primary election that was in March. I'm sorry, May. And because they are requiring... Most, we're unusual in Shelby County in that we have a primary election. Most of the counties, except for the very large ones, nominate their people by caucus. The state passed a law that said that they now need to nominate by primary election. and they paid for it, for this. I don't know if that's going to be an ongoing thing. It was a one-time thing for the primary election.

Is there reimbursement to us, the county government?

It goes straight to general fund.

Okay, because I recall asking about that, and they have not received it.

Well, we haven't submitted it. Okay. But the election just happened, and we're just now collecting all the rest of the bills.

Okay, so we'll make sure that's passed through and passed back to our general fund.

It gets passed back to the general fund.

Okay, all right. And then there are other questions. And going back to the... the website and getting complaints about that is not being user friendly One thing that you all had on the user tab, for example, when you look for your district, you have to hit a little black button, and that is, you know, most search buttons are a lot larger, and so that's one issue, the search button, and that's been an ongoing issue. The other thing I'm hearing is the last website had, for example, going starting with the president of the United States all the way down to city council, the dates they were elected and the dates that... Their term is up. People are not finding that. Is that there still?

It is there.

And where is that located?

If you go under, I don't know what to call it. It's three little lines at the top of it.

Mm-hmm.

If you click on that, you will find a tab called Helpful Resources, and then one of the options is Elected Officials, and it starts, as I said, with the top and goes all the way down.

Okay, and then the other thing I would appreciate, you know, since you have such an abundance of staff, if they can get these answers.

What gives you the idea I have an abundance of staff?

Because of the budget.

Okay, I have 17 people on my staff. Nashville, which is two-thirds our size, has 32 full-time employees. I do not have an abundance of staff. What you're seeing is a budgeting issue. about we hire early vote workers and they're in a pool called super temps but they can only the rest of the money that we need for early voting goes into that that line item and then they pull it out as they need it but that is not my I'm comparing I'm doing the analysis and

Per voter, we spend, as a county, $21 versus Davidson, which spends a lot less. And so, again, I will send you the information, and I do like some answers. And, again, I do not support any additional budgeting until we get some answers. At least I'm not, because we are right now in a situation where we have fixed costs that are increasing. And so I will get with you if you want me to. We can sit down and go through it together, but we need these answers. And I will provide also a comparison analysis of not only how much we spend per voter, but other like counties. And we spend a lot more than they do.

Well, I think you do need to realize that, yes, we do spend more. This is largely at your request that we not reduce our early voting. Nashville opens two early voting sites on day one, and then they don't open the rest of them until just the week before the election. That has never been acceptable to previous commissions. If it's okay with you now, we'll do it.

Okay. Those are kind of the answers we need. Okay. And so if you can go through them and just, you know, that's the answer. You just did it off the cuff. And so it should not take that long, but I would do what we do like the explanation because I'm comparing not just this year, but fiscal year, but going back to 2022. So again, I'd appreciate that. Thank you.

Okay. Before we move forward, uh, Ms. Phillips, I do need to be clear. about your statement in reference to District 8 and 9 remaining primarily the same? You didn't say that, did you? Well, okay.

In voters who were previously in District 9, 84,442 of them moved to District 5. Okay. But 89,000 of them stayed in the same place. They're still, they started in District 9, they're still in District 9. And then in District 8, 126, 112,000 voters did not change. They're still in District 8. And 120,000 voters moved to District 9. And those are rough numbers. I'm not, you know, I'm That's just my first look at this. I only got this yesterday, so.

Yeah, I got a couple of maps the other day, and I saw where, like, Binghamton, a part of our district, District 7, Commission District 7, also District 9, some of them are in 9 and some are in 5. So I guess it must be, I didn't count the precincts, but I guess it must be for you to have these kinds of numbers. you must have to have a small number of precincts that are shifted over to 589 out of each district.

They did not move. Sometimes they moved entire precincts and sometimes they got bound to census block level. So it's not quite as simple. And we're just starting to get our hands wrapped around it. It's a complex change. We had to add some precinct splits. We were able to eliminate a few policing splits, but it's going to take some getting used to.

Okay. Chairwoman Alamp.

Thank you. Thank you for the presentation and sharing how your initial efforts of communicating with voters would be implemented by your office. I guess my question is for additional outreach that I've seen just a few people host town hall meetings in order to share and give information about the redistricting. Is there pamphlets or information that could also be handed out as people are, you know, really making an effort to get out and have conversations with constituents and stakeholders who are impacted by this? Those didn't seem like small numbers to me. So I think it's important to have information that also could be utilized for community meetings and town hall meetings.

Okay, I'll see if I can get my graphic designer to come up with something understandable. The changes they made are kind of hard to explain.

And understandably so. I just think I have a... I'm hesitant because of the age of most registered voters who are actively voting. We only had 16% who participated in this past election. But the age group may not be as tech savvy to go to the website to try to figure out where they're new. So I think it's important for us and this body who manages the election commission to be more forthcoming with that information and how we're sending it not only to all registered voters, whether or not they're impacted or not. I think all registered voters should receive this information and then there should be information that we can print out and leave at the community centers and the senior centers and neighborhood associations so that people are aware. I don't think, I think it would behoove us to be as forthcoming and educational as possible to let people know what this change means.

We will do everything we can. One of our big constraints is that the state money has to be spent by June 30th. So there is a limit to what I can accomplish with an election 57 days away and trying to get, you know, we're going to mail to the voters that changed.

And why would we not mail to all registered voters? Because if the way the narrative in the news, it makes it seem like there's more people who are being changed than not. And so even if I am in the same district, I think it's important for me to know that I'm still in the same congressional district, right? So I think it's important for everyone, all registered voters, to be informed about what congressional district that they are in. And if you've got money now until June 30th, that's an expenditure that I think is an easier one than when you have to come back to us maybe in the new fiscal year saying, in order for us to get more, you know, materials or pamphlets out, we might, you know, this is a budget request. But if you have funds now, it seems like it makes more sense just to inform all registered voters.

Let me check with the state because I did get some guidelines on what I could spend it on. Let me see if that's acceptable to them. If it is, we can see if it's feasible to get the rest of them out. So I will check on that, and we'll send you an email when I have a little more detail.

I'll get back in queue.

Okay, Ms. Phillips, just a couple of questions. The $350,000, are you going to use all of that for just mailers or your entire voter engagement?

That's the entire. Well, that's all of the activities that were related to the redistricting. So that's paying the vendors that helped us. That's paying the overtime of my staff. It's paying. We brought in some additional people. It's paying for people that I would not have brought in this early.

So that's not paying for voter engagement because it's not mandatory. It's not in the bill.

Well, it's not mandatory. They did provide funding to notify the voters whose districts changed. I'm not sure that extends to just voters whose districts didn't change. I'll have to find that out.

It's not mandatory. Okay, so I guess just to maybe piggyback on... the voter engagement question to make it real simple and particularly for individuals my age or senior citizens who don't use computers a lot, it may be a great idea to develop a simple flyer. And I'm not sure if you're employing a social media management. We do. Okay. And that would be a way to get that, you know, to notify people about those splits. those changes or any whatever you want to put on it and send it to churches and nonprofits, particularly those senior senators and all of that who do not particularly enjoy using computers and walk around with them stuck to their ear.

Could I ask you a quick question? I was just sitting here trying to convey, trying to think of ways to convey to voters that their districts didn't change. Would a map of the areas that remain the same be useful?

I have one, and it's not. But, and I wasn't, you know, what I was looking for was a way to tell my constituents Like in Behampton where you have part of it in nine, part of it in eight. But I didn't see where it was split down to the census block.

Well, it wouldn't be on the maps that you see. Okay. We use that information internally to create precinct splits, which is a part of a precinct that is a specific district.

Okay.

So you would not see that.

Well, if it's not anything that we're going to see, then I think the most important thing would be to put on the flyer And send it to, well, you'll have to have different flyers. Send it to the area where there was a 9 that changed to 8 or changed to 5 or moved to 5, whatever, something like that.

Okay. Let me get with my people and see how we can come up with something to do that.

And one last thing. I know we have some people waiting, but. We have 175,000, or maybe 143,000 heard this morning. Last night it was 175. This morning it's 143,000 people who are registered but didn't vote. So they are on the inactive voters list, right? Correct. OK. So how are you all going to handle that? Because I have that list as well.

Well, that's a number that changes every day. We are not going to be mailing to inactive voters because we have already mailed two pieces of first-class mail to them, and they've been returned as undeliverable. So there's really no point in chasing people who don't live at that address. Now, I am hearing from a lot of people in the community that there's tremendous push to register people to vote. And that's important. And, you know, the organizations that work on that, it's helpful. But what I'm hearing from a lot of community organizations right now is that they are going to make more of an effort to get people to vote.