City to house inmates in Carthage
Philadelphia has signed an agreement with Leake County to house prisoners at the Leake County Regional Correctional Facility.
The contract allows for housing up to 50 city prisoners at any given time at $27 per inmate daily.
“That’s very reasonable,” said Leake County Sheriff Randy Atkinson. “Normally, it ranges from $35 to $50 per day, and I’m trying to be fair to the city of Carthage.”
Atkinson presented the agreement to Philadelphia aldermen three weeks ago, following discussions with Police Chief Eric Lyons over the past year.
“We probably won’t house more than 20 inmates at a time,” Lyons said. “What’s included in the contract — on top of the jail being a little closer — is more beneficial for us.”
Currently, city prisoners are being housed in Winston County, and aldermen have raised concerns about the high costs of transportation and the loss of patrol hours caused by the distance. Carthage is about 10 minutes closer.
Atkinson said that he recently expanded the Leake County Jail by building a new joint state-county facility with $175,000 in COVID relief funds, which added 35 beds.
He said the Leake jail already houses Kosciusko and Attala County inmates.
“I have about 300 inmates on the state side,” Atkinson said. “If this agreement goes through, we’ll reach about 150 on the county side.”
Aldermen unanimously approved the contract at their regular meeting last Tuesday.
In other business, aldermen voted to:
• Approve a motion to place a sign in memory of Amos McClelland on Carver Avenue. The motion was approved unanimously.
• Approve a motion to accept the resignation of Chancelor Greer from the Street Department effective Sept. 24. The motion was unanimously approved.
• Approve a motion to place speed bumps on Wilson Street with the appropriate signage. The motion was unanimously approved.
• Approve a motion to hire Darius Grady with the Street Department at $10 per hour pending drug screen effective Oct. 10. The motion was approved unanimously.
• Approve a motion to approve C Spire road bores along Valley View Drive, Line Street, Wells Place, Wells Street, Wells Cove, State Street, Blount Street, Pleasant Valley Drive, East Lawn Drive, Cumberland Avenue., and East Main Street. The motion was approved unanimously.
• Approve a motion to approve a C Spire fiber box to be placed on Center Avenue on a First Baptist Church lot. Jim Fulton abstained from the vote. The motion was approved.
• Approve a motion to accept the low quote for electrical work on the Booker T community room from Gilmer Electric at $8,998, with the higher quote from Edwards Electric being $9,025, and to proceed with the work. The motion was approved unanimously;
• Approve a motion to hire Deterron Hartdin with the Police Department as staff seargent effective Oct. 2 at $22 per hour. The motion was approved unanimously.
• Approve a motion to hire Dameon McCleon with the Police Department as Patrolman 2nd Class effective Oct. 2 at $19.50 per hour. The motion was approved unanimously.
• Approve a motion to hire Mark Young with the Police Department as a part-time officer effective Oct. 2 at $19.50 per hour. The motion was approved unanimously.
• Approve a motion to transfer one mini CRD and one Starlink to the MS Office of Homeland Security from the Fire Department. The motion was approved unanimously.