Locked Up and Left Behind: Why Wake County Needs Smart Investments, Not a $200M Jail Expansion

Bishop William Barber often describes a budget as a moral document. It shows where government is investing in people to help improve lives and decrease the desperation of those who are struggling, and it shows where there is under investment. The choices are not easy, and often take political courage, especially in our hyper partisan society.

The latest Wake County budget raises more questions than it answers when it comes to smart investments in public health and public safety. The two go together because the people who are struggling, who are desperate, who need the most help are often the people who end up in our jails, often just waiting for trial. That number is growing, so Wake County is spending over $200 million to build a bigger jail. The number of corrections officers is growing too, assuming they can staff the positions. It's a big trade off when we have trouble funding schools and libraries and teachers.

A broken system

County jails are mostly populated with people awaiting trial. Many in jail are too poor to afford bail, and they are often in need of services related to mental health, homelessness and addiction. Our courts are extremely slow in disposing of cases. The average misdemeanor takes six months to reach either a plea deal or be dismissed. People in jail have to wait and wait and wait. And while they wait, their lives get steadily worse. They often lose their job, their car, their housing, even their family.

Did you know that in NC, 80% of people charged with a crime (often minor) are not found guilty? Why are we paying to detain them in an environment that typically makes their lives much worse when we don't need to?

Jail is a costly and ineffective way of dealing with the underlying problems of poverty and mental health and it is immoral to hold people there for extended periods without trial.

The County budget is silent on funding required to accelerate the judicial timetable. Why? Because the State funds the Courts, or rather, dramatically underfunds them.

Smarter alternatives

However, the Wake budget does give us information about behavioral health and housing services that can help people stay out of jail.

Even as our population grows, the County is providing outpatient behavioral services to fewer people (down 31%). Wouldn't it be smarter to help people stay out of jail by expanding this service rather than paying for more jail beds and more guards?

Similarly, the number of jail based behavioral health assessments has declined 23%. This can often mean people are detained until the assessment can be done. Wouldn't it be smarter to free up jail beds by expanding this service to reduce wait times for people who don't need to be in jail while detaining those who pose a threat to society?

Homelessness in Wake County, a problem we hear a lot about, is increasing, and the length of time people are homeless increased from 526 days (in 2024) to 603 (in 2025). It isn't that Wake County is doing nothing, they are doing a lot through programs like Second Street Drop-in, Oak City Cares, Bridge to Home, Wake Prevent!, and South Wilmington Street Center. The question is, in the face of declining US Federal money, should we be expanding these programs instead of building a bigger jail?

Smarter Investments

Is it just a truism that if you are living on the street your mental health suffers and you become increasingly desperate? Desperate people make bad choices. We should be thinking about investments in support services that get results. We can measure those results and we can make sure our investments are paying for themselves.

The US has a history of imprisoning far more people than any other developed country in the world. It's a legacy of slavery and post reconstruction convict leasing. We are used to it. Maybe it's time to turn the page, admit other people have better solutions, study them and decrease the desperation in our society. It's a moral choice that makes good financial sense.