Williamson County Leaders Break Ground on New Adult Detention Center in Franklin
Williamson County officials broke ground Tuesday, June 9, 2026, on the new Williamson County Adult Detention Center in Franklin, TN, marking a major step in the county’s long-term plan to expand its justice and public safety infrastructure.
According to BELL Construction, the planned facility will include 596 beds, 18 housing pods, 260 prefabricated metal cells, and a 70,000-square-foot parking garage with 156 secure parking stalls. It will be built on the Century Court campus and is part of a larger jail, justice, and juvenile campus plan. County leaders said the project is intended to modernize detention operations, strengthen safety and security, expand medical and mental health infrastructure, and provide more functional space for sheriff’s office staff and detention personnel.
The ceremony brought together Williamson County leaders, representatives from the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, BELL Construction, Gresham Smith, Treanor Architecture, Oversite, and other partners involved in the planning, design, and construction of the project.
Part of a Larger Justice Campus Plan
The Adult Detention Center is one piece of Williamson County’s future jail, justice, and juvenile campus. Chris Koon, studio design leader with Gresham Smith, said the county initiated the master plan process in 2018 in response to projected growth and a goal of bringing the county’s justice system into alignment with best practices.
The Adult Detention Center follows the groundbreaking earlier this year for the Juvenile Justice Center, another major component of the campus.
According to Koon, the full campus plan includes seven buildings: the Adult Detention Center, the Juvenile Justice Center, the existing Special Operations Building, a future sheriff’s office, two smaller sheriff’s office support facilities, and the Alternative Learning Center.
The new Adult Detention Center is being built on the Century Court campus, where the existing facility will remain in use while construction moves forward. Koon said the existing facility is expected to eventually be demolished as new campus buildings come online.
“As you can imagine, the sequencing and phasing of all of this is no small feat,” Koon said.
County Leaders Point to Growth and Public Safety Needs
Williamson County Mayor Rogers Anderson said the project has been years in the making and reflects a long-term need for the county. During the ceremony, Anderson noted that the current jail facility is more than 30 years old and said the county needed to move forward with a modern detention center.
“We started this project about eight years ago, or longer,” Anderson said. “This is something we need for our community. We’ll make it a safer community for all of us. At the end of the day, it’s the right thing to do.”
Williamson County Sheriff Jeff Hughes said the groundbreaking represented more than the start of a new building.
“Today, we are not simply breaking ground for a new building,” Hughes said. “We are investing in the safety, security, and long-term needs of a county that continues to grow and prosper.”
Hughes said the project reflects the county’s obligation to prepare for changing public safety needs.
“As Williamson County has expanded over the years, the demands placed upon our public safety infrastructure have grown as well,” Hughes said. “It is our responsibility, as leaders, to ensure that we are prepared not only for today’s needs, but for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”
Hughes said the detention facility is a critical part of the county’s public safety system and must provide a safe, secure, and professionally managed environment for people in custody, while also supporting correctional staff, law enforcement personnel, and the citizens of Williamson County.
He said the project reflects “thoughtful planning, responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources, and a commitment to providing our sheriff’s office with the tools necessary to serve this community for generations to come.”
Design Focuses on Safety, Functionality, and Humane Conditions
John Eisenlau, principal at Treanor, said the design approach required balancing security, operations, and the human experience inside the building.
“It was always our philosophical goal to create a facility that was very simply safe and humane,” Eisenlau said. “I know that sounds relatively simplistic, but those are very difficult things to balance as an architect.”
Eisenlau said the center is being designed to serve the public, staff, and detainees, with a focus on health, safety, welfare, security, and long-term functionality.
“It’s very important to remember that the staff is involved in this equation,” he said. “They live in this building 24/7.”
The new Adult Detention Center is planned with housing units compartmentalized for men and women in custody with varying security levels, including high, medium, and low security. Eisenlau said the arrangement will allow the sheriff’s office to classify individuals appropriately and provide services based on need.
The building will also include medical and mental health areas, food service, training rooms, classrooms, and other support spaces tied to daily detention operations and programming.
“There’s significant medical and mental health infrastructure in this new facility,” Eisenlau said. “We’re proud of that.”
Spaces for Staff Support and Programming
In addition to security and operations, Eisenlau said the design includes spaces intended to give people in custody access to programming while detained. Classrooms and other program areas are meant to provide “a sense of purpose, dignity,” and encourage people to return to society as contributing members, he said.
Staff support was also a major part of the design. The facility is planned with dining, fitness, locker rooms, and training areas intended to help the sheriff’s office retain and hire staff as needed.
Eisenlau said one design decision moved staff spaces to an exterior wall, giving those areas access to natural light and making them more pleasant places to work.
“The health and safety of the staff is very important,” Eisenlau said.
BELL Construction Highlights Community Commitment
BELL Construction Director of Justice Rick Bruining said that once construction is fully underway, around 500 people could be working on the site daily.
“To our neighbors in the community, we recognize the significance of this project, and we’re committed to bringing a respectful, professional, safe presence here throughout the duration of the build,” Bruining said.
Bruining said BELL Construction looks forward to delivering a detention center that reflects Williamson County’s standards and serves the community well.
The groundbreaking marks a major milestone in Williamson County’s long-term plan for the Century Court campus. Once complete, the Adult Detention Center is expected to support the sheriff’s office, correctional staff, law enforcement personnel, and the broader Williamson County community for decades to come.
