Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett says the public will likely never see the place where some of the county’s most sensitive evidence is stored – and that’s by design. But on a brisk November morning, he steps inside the new 9,100-square-foot space and explains why the unseen work carried out here matters to every resident.
“Taxpayers expect us to use their dollars wisely,” he says, motioning to the polished floors, gleaming shelving and custom-built lockers. “And our employees deserve a premier workplace to do their jobs. What we’ve built meets both of those expectations.”
The new property and evidence facility – more than twice the size of the sheriff’s current 4,000-square-foot space on Dayton Boulevard – won’t officially open until early next year, when the final HVAC components arrive. But the transformation is largely complete.
On the same property as the Hamilton County Sheriff Office’s new consolidated facility on Preservation Drive – formerly the Chattanooga Gas Company building – the structure was once a dingy, underused warehouse. It has since become a secure, climate-controlled network of vaults, rolling storage racks, drug rooms and firearm bays designed to preserve the integrity of evidence for years, decades or even a full century.
“It’s state of the art,” Garrett says. “There’s nothing like this anywhere around here, certainly not at this scale.”
A dramatic improvement
For the sheriff, the building solves a long-standing problem: It provides the kind of secure, organized system needed to maintain evidence safely – something the old spaces could no longer reliably guarantee. He recalls one incident in particular when water seeped through a failing roof and damaged evidence – a failure he says underscored the urgency of a better system.
“You can’t compromise evidence like that,” he says. “You can’t take that chance.”
But much of the pride he carries into the new facility isn’t tied to the roof or the size – it’s tied to how it was built.
Garrett’s maintenance staff – many of them part-time employees who spent long careers as detectives – handled most of the renovation themselves: painting, constructing interior rooms, installing lockers, polishing floors and building out specialized spaces that would have cost far more if outsourced.
The county spent roughly $600,000 on actual purchases, equipment and specialty contractor work, not including staff labor.
“When you see what employees did here – people who have already given years of their lives to this county – it shows the level of investment they still have,” Garrett says. “It also shows the savings to taxpayers.”
A new home for assets
For Property Assets Supervisor Kaitlyn Shepherd, the new facility is more than a showcase – it’s a relief.
Her workspace, she explains, had been cobbled out of two defunct holding cells on Dayton Boulevard. What was originally built to hold inmates had morphed into cramped storage closets for weapons, vests, cameras, badges and every tool the sheriff’s deputies carry on duty.
“Now we’ve tripled, if not quadrupled, the space we had,” Shepherd says, standing beside what will soon be her service window. “Everything we issue – vests, handguns, long guns, OC spray, badges – will be organized and in one location. It’s absolutely beautiful. I’m excited to move in.”
Behind her, rows of neatly spaced shelving rise toward the ceiling. Along the back wall, newly installed long-gun racks stretch the length of the room, part of a layout designed not only for efficiency but also for safety. The agency armorer, who previously worked elsewhere, will now have his own workstation to repair and maintain weapons on-site.
When Sheriff Garrett needs a replacement item, Shepherd explained, he’ll follow the same process as any deputy: come to the window, trade in what’s broken and have the replacement logged and documented.
“There’s a tracking process for everything we issue,” she says. “This setup is going to make that work so much more efficient.”
Inside the building
Beyond Shepherd’s section lies the largest and most restricted portion of the facility – the evidence rooms, accessible only by key fob, camera monitoring and a written log. Garrett himself does not have the ability to unlock these doors.
“I don’t need it,” he says. “If I come in, I’m accompanied by staff, it’s tracked on camera and I sign the log like anyone else. That’s the level of accountability required here.”
Inside, Property and Evidence Supervisor Heather Parker oversees the systems that carry evidence from an officer’s hands into secure storage. Deputies will deposit items into pass-through lockers accessible from the loading dock only. Once the deputy closes the locker door, it locks automatically and Parker’s team retrieves the package from the other side for inspection, documentation and classification.
Each item receives its own evidence number and is placed in a separate storage location based on type, risk level and security need.
For the first time, Parker’s team will be able to physically separate homicide evidence, sexual assault evidence, firearm evidence and narcotics – instead of wedging everything into tight spaces on Dayton Boulevard.
“It’s a huge improvement,” she says.
A transparent firearms system
Locked behind tall wire fencing, the firearms space is among the most technically advanced areas in the new facility. Long-guns will be stored in massive roller shelving that can hold up to 800 rifles and shotguns, each accessible without the risk of straps tangling or weapons falling.
Firearms remain in custody for years – sometimes decades – depending on the case, and are held until court proceedings end, rightful ownership is established or, in homicide cases, until 100 years have passed or the defendant has died.
Disposal is equally complex. Parker detailed the lengthy process of researching ownership, submitting information to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for tracing, preparing documentation for a judge and auctioning eligible firearms through a licensed dealer. Proceeds are routed back into the county’s general fund or drug fund – not to the sheriff’s office.
“There’s a misconception that we benefit from selling these guns,” Parker says. “We don’t. Our first priority is always to try to return them to the rightful owner – if we can find them.”
Every semi-automatic weapon booked into evidence is also test-fired and entered into the national IBIS/NIBIN database, allowing investigators nationwide to match shell casings to other crimes.
A safer, larger drug vault
The narcotics vault mirrors the firearms room in complexity. The new design separates active drug evidence from cases marked for disposal, allowing auditors from the county to more quickly review, seal and escort materials to TBI’s incinerator for destruction.
“Our current vault is extremely small,” Parker says. “The new one gives us several times more room, plus rolling shelves that triple our storage. It’s going to save us an incredible amount of time.”
Homicide evidence room
At the top of a stairwell and end of a metal walkway overlooking the rest of the facility, Parker steps into what she calls the agency’s “very, very long-term storage.” The homicide evidence room is built for cases that might never close, and for that reason, its design focuses on durability, climate control and security.
“We don’t handle homicide evidence as frequently as other items because once it comes in here, it’s usually going to stay for a very long time,” Parker says. “If it’s an unsolved case or a cold case, it’s held indefinitely. If there’s a known defendant, we keep that evidence for 100 years or until the defendant is deceased – whichever comes first.”
The room is still awaiting its dedicated climate-control components, part of the HVAC installation the county is finalizing before the facility can open. Biological evidence related to deaths – items that might contain tissue or fluids – must be stored within a specific temperature range. Nothing can be moved in until those systems are in place.
Because the room must accommodate everything from small, boxed samples to full pieces of furniture, the team built multiple access points, including a shortened double door for forklift entry. Once operations begin, the space will fill with shelving for both boxed and bulk items, though Parker expects the layout to evolve over time.
“Just like when you move into a new house, you don’t always know what flows best until you start working in it,” she explains. “We have a plan, but we’ll probably rearrange some things as we go. We want everything to be easy to reach and organized in a way that makes sense for long-term storage.”
Despite its low beams and tight vertical clearance – a legacy of the building’s original structure – Parker says the room is a major upgrade from the cramped shelves and improvised aisles at the current site.
“We outgrew the space where we are now years ago. We sometimes have to move multiple things just to get to the thing we need,” she says. “Up here, everything will have its place, and we won’t be digging three rows deep just to find something.”
Sexual assault evidence room
At the other end of the walkway lies the sexual assault evidence room. Slightly smaller but designed with the same security requirements, it will house some of the most sensitive evidence the county collects.
Four cold-storage units will hold evidence ranging from sexual assault kits and blood samples to tissue-bearing items.
Sexual assault evidence is also subject to lengthy retention rules. Anonymous kits must be kept for at least 10 years, giving survivors the option to identify their attacker at a later date. Kits involving juveniles require even longer holds – often measured from the time the victim turns 18.
“Having a separate room for [sexual assault evidence] is huge,” Parker says. “Right now it’s mixed in with homicide evidence simply because we don’t have anywhere else to put it.”
Backed by county leadership
Outside the building sits the new impound lot, another improvement Garrett says will streamline operations by keeping seized vehicles and evidence under the same roof for the first time.
“This didn’t happen in a vacuum,” he says. “It happened because the county mayor and the commission supported it. They see the work our people do every day.”
Garrett pauses before turning back toward the building.
“Our employees deserve excellence. The public deserves it, too,” he says. “That’s what this facility is about.”