Leaders talk new courthouse, jail improvements

SMITH COUNTY — With a theme of “Breaking Ground,” Smith County leaders met Tuesday to address the ever-growing region at the annual State of the County, according to our news partner KETK. Nearly 500 people gathered at Green Acres Baptist Church for Smith County’s 2024 state of the county, highlighting construction plans and new partnerships like at the county jail.

“We continue to work with entities, we’re working with the city of Tyler and then the other cities within the county so I think this unity that we’re seeing now is going to be nothing but movement forward, and it’s really going to be exciting,” Smith County Judge Neal Franklin said.

“We made great strides we have two people from the Andrews Center in the jail now,” Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said.

Their new relationship with the Andrews Center, a behavioral healthcare system, and with the UT Health Science Center, will ensure inmates get the healthcare they need.

“Hear about some relationships that we’ve formed on the mental health end and on the jail end which is really exciting to me. That’s something that we deal with a lot is mental health within the jail,” said Franklin.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards requires one detention officer per 48 inmates.

“With mental health inmates, we can’t do a 1:48, many times it’s 1 to 1, 1 to 4, 1 to 5. So, it’s great when you can get those moved from the jail and through the criminal justice system,” Smith said.

These are efforts toward helping inmates, especially those who battle mental health issues.

“We used to have a psychologist on the screen. We’re going to have one in person now which is going to be much better than what we had in the past,” Smith said.

The State of the County event included an update and virtual walkthrough of the new Smith County Courthouse. Demolition for the project should begin this fall. The courthouse will have updated security features and a new jury assembly room that can seat roughly 300 jurors, or be used for an additional courtroom if needed. Progress is still underway on the five-story parking garage in downtown Tyler.