Shelby County Is About to Write Limits on Locking Up Children Alone Into Its Code. The Ordinance Cleared Its Last Committee in Under Three Minutes, With No Questions.

The youth covered by the rules have not been adjudicated. The mayor's office told the committee the point is to set the bar high, because it can only go up from there.

MEMPHIS, August 19, 2026 - An ordinance limiting the seclusion of young people held at the Shelby County Youth Justice and Education Center and establishing restorative practices there passed its third reading in committee, four votes to nothing, after a presentation of roughly 80 seconds and no questions from commissioners.

The ordinance amends Chapter 10, Article VII of the Shelby County Code of Ordinances, revising section 10-373 on definitions and section 10-388 on the temporary housing of children. It is sponsored by Commissioner Erika Sugarmon, Commissioner Charlie A. Caswell, Jr., Commissioner Henri E. Brooks and Commissioner Britney Thornton, and was amended at the August 10, 2026 Commission meeting.

What was said

The deputy chief of staff for the county mayor gave the committee a refresher at the chairman's request. She thanked the commissioners who signed on as sponsors and said the ordinance is about very much limiting seclusion of youth in the Youth Justice and Education Center and establishing restorative justice practices.

She told the committee that what is in the ordinance is, in her view, consistent with the desires and goals of both the community and those operating the center, and encouraged the body to set the bar high on the reasoning that it can only go up from there, not down.

She then made the point that governs who the rules cover. These youth are pre-adjudicated. They have not been adjudicated. They are being held, and so, she said, the county needs to treat them with as much support, dignity and care as it can.

She noted that the director of the Department of Corrections, the executive director of the Youth Justice and Education Center, and community members were present to speak to the ordinance.

None of them spoke. The chairman said he had no one in the queue and moved to a vote.

The vote

Aye votes came from Commissioner Mick Wright, Commissioner Thornton, Commissioner Brooks and Commissioner David C. Bradford, Jr. Four aye votes sent the ordinance forward with a favorable recommendation.

The items that did not appear

Committee 4, Law Enforcement, Corrections and Courts, carried one item on the printed agenda. After the vote, the committee chairman said he had thought there were pending items the sheriff's office had for add-on that day, but that he did not see anyone present to do it and was not sure what was going on there. He then closed the committee.

The agenda packet lists no sheriff's office items for Committee 4. The record does not establish what those items would have been.

What happens next

The full Commission adopted the ordinance on third reading on Monday, August 24, 2026, on 10 aye votes. The parliamentarian told the body the item required a majority of the full Commission, at least seven votes. No commissioner was in the queue and no questions were asked before the vote. The committee chairman had said on August 19 that the meeting concluded Committee 4 for the final time under the outgoing Commission.

Your city. Your money. Your receipts.