Inmates from Graves County will now be housed at the Christian County Jail for the foreseeable future under an agreement announced last week.
Graves County’s jail – which was attached to the county courthouse – was destroyed during the December 2021 tornado outbreak. Since then, inmates from the far western Kentucky county have been housed at different facilities across the Commonwealth. Graves officials have said they are continuing to seek money from state and federal sources to rebuild the facility, but no government dollars have been earmarked for the project.
Under the new agreement, Graves deputies, through the agreement, will send new arrests to the McCracken County Detention Center. Christian County staff will then transport the new arrests to their county’s facilities.
Graves County Jailer Kelli Elliott said the new plan will save her department thousands of dollars annually by lowering transport and staffing needs and reducing long-distance trips.
“We should be able to provide [inmates] with safe and secure detention here in our county, but because we do not have our own facility we are unable to do that,” Elliott said.
Christian County Jailer Adam Smith said the new partnership assists a county he said has been put in a difficult position.
“They've been put in a really bad situation due to the tornado [in December 2021],” Smith said. “In working with Jailer Elliott,... I know that she would much rather all their inmates be in one space because it would be easier on them logistically.”
The original Graves County jail, which was built in 1946, contained 64 beds. However, under current state statute any new jail facility would be required to contain at least 150 beds. The Graves County Fiscal Court estimates this new facility could cost up to $54 million to create.
Republican state Rep. Kim Holloway, whose district includes Graves County, filed a bill in the 2025 legislative session that would have allocated over $22 million in state funds to Graves County for rebuilding a jail. However, that bill was unsuccessful. Discussions involving a new regional jail for Graves and its adjoining counties have also been floated by state leadership, according to the Graves County Fiscal Court.
