Knox County Board Chairman Jared Hawkinson said the indefinite closure of the Mary Davis Juvenile Detention Center on March 21 will provide financial relief to local taxpayers after years of unsustainable costs.
Hawkinson explained that the facility — operated under the authority of Ninth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Raymond A. Cavanaugh — has long created an imbalance: Knox County owns the building, handles maintenance, capital improvements, insurance, employee benefits, and most programming costs, while the state reimburses wages for only 30 of 34 employees and often pays months in arrears.
“The county has zero authority over its daily operation,” Hawkinson said. “Meanwhile, Knox County and its citizens are on the full hook for … all the liability of having an employee, unemployment insurance, benefits, vacations, all that stuff.”
He noted the county approved up to $500,000 in bridge funding at its Wednesday meeting to cover invoices and salaries until state reimbursements arrive — a routine step similar to one in October 2025 — but said funds at the facility were no longer sufficient to bridge the gap without county intervention.
Discussions about the facility’s future have occurred off and on for years and months, Hawkinson said, driven by changing state mandates for juvenile care, education, and mental health treatment that increased the burden. “The chief judge finally made the decision, and the county board supports that decision,” he added.
Hawkinson confirmed no plans exist to reopen the center, as the structural imbalances make it unsustainable without major changes from the state.
Long term, the county retains ownership and maintenance responsibility for the building, but ceasing operations will lift employee-related liabilities. “It’ll be a financial relief at some point,” Hawkinson said.
The closure follows Chief Judge Cavanaugh’s Thursday press release, which cited the financial burden on Knox County taxpayers and the Ninth Judicial Circuit as not economically sustainable and better managed by larger municipalities or the state.