Knox County Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones announced officials will hold a community forum next week to get more public buy-in for the planned 22-bed jail diversion facility (safety center) .

It would likely be built on property behind the Helen Ross McNabb Center, 201 W. Springdale Ave. [a block off of Central], and run by the administration there. Offenders could stay voluntarily for up to three days to be assessed, get medicine and begin treatment. It could serve about 4,000 people a year.