photo by Matt Lea
Sheriff Jim Hammond announced the Hamilton County Jail recently participated in a national accreditation audit performed by the American Correctional Association and achieved 100% compliance with all 153 American Correctional Association standards and best practices for jails.
For more than 145 years the American Correctional Association has been the driving force in establishing national correctional policies and advocating safe, humane and effective correctional operations. Today, ACA is the world-wide authority on correctional policies and standards.
The accreditation process requires both effort and commitment from agency staff.
The accreditation process establishes clear goals and objectives critical to the provision of safe, constitutional, effective and humane correctional programs and services. Accreditation addresses services, programs, and operations essential to good correctional practice, including safety, security, order, care, programming, justice, administration and management. Through accreditation, an agency is able to provide an environment that safeguards the life, health, and safety of the public, staff and offenders.
The Hamilton County Jail began their pursuit for accreditation a few years ago and their success can be accredited to their effort and commitment to excellence. The facility will maintain their accreditation by continuously adhering to the expectations of the standards and best practices for jails, submitting annual reports to the Commission on Accreditation, and participating in ACA re-accreditation audits every three years.
HCSO jail administrators attended a panel hearing in August where they were awarded the national accreditation from the American Correctional Association. The Hamilton County Jail is now one of only eight jails in the state of Tennessee to achieve national accreditation from the American Correctional Association.
Sheriff Jim Hammond said, “This is an exceptional accomplishment for a facility over 30 years old and is a testament to the dedication and professionalism of the staff who work at the Hamilton County Jail.” He further noted, “I am very proud of each and every one of our personnel that have contributed their time and efforts to secure this prestigious certification.”