By Dylan Goetz, Ron Fonger
mlive.com
GENESEE COUNTY, Mich. — A former Genesee County Sheriff’s deputy has filed a federal lawsuit claiming she was fired after speaking out about overcrowding and understaffing in the women’s housing unit at the county jail.
The former deputy, Shelby Tribble, claimed she repeatedly alerted supervisors in 2024 that female inmates were being held at nearly double capacity and staffing levels were too low.
She also alleged the sheriff’s office ignored available space in another unit because the relocation would have disrupted the jail’s IGNITE program.
IGNITE, founded by Sheriff Chris Swanson in 2020, is an inmate-education program that aims to reduce recidivism through education and job training.
Swanson provided the following statement on the lawsuit: “Tribble was terminated for just cause. I am convinced the disposition of the lawsuit will affirm the same.”
According to the federal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on March 15, Tribble argues that the sheriff’s office policy restricting employees from publicly criticizing the department is unconstitutional.
She alleges she was wrongly terminated when she was fired for posting about jail conditions on social media in December 2024. Tribble is seeking damages for lost wages, emotional distress and attorney’s fees.
A civil suit on a similar matter is also pending before Judge Chris Christenson in the Genesee County Circuit Court. The federal case raises alleged First Amendment violations that fall under federal jurisdiction.
The Genesee County Jail faced overcrowding issues regularly from 2021 to 2023.
Members of the Genesee County Board of Commissioners have increasingly talked about the need to begin discussions about the future of the current jail because of rising maintenance and repair costs.
In 2024, the county agreed to borrow up to $21.5 million for capital improvement projects, including repairs to the façade of the facility that opened in 1988.
A capital improvement plan approved by commissioners in 2023 projected the jail would require more than $21 million in capital improvements by 2031.
In addition to façade and plumbing improvements planned in the fiscal year that ended Oct. 1, 2025 , the report projected another $7.5 million will be needed in the current fiscal year for interior; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; roofing; and plumbing work.
In the next fiscal year, the jail is expected to require $7.4 million more in work — primarily for ventilation, air conditioning and interior upgrades.
The county jail is expensive to maintain in part because it’s heavily used around the clock and requires constant maintenance.
Built to house 387 inmates, the jail population has periodically swollen to reach a court-ordered limit of no more than 580 inmates.
—
©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit mlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
