New jail on bypass would cause tax hike

New jail on bypass would cause tax hike

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A new jail out on the bypass would mean a tax increase, some officials believe.

Sheriff Eric Clark discussed several ongoing issues concerning the Neshoba County Detention Center during Monday’s meeting of the Board of Supervisors.

Any permanent solution is going to be expensive, everyone agreed.

“It has been discussed, but at the end of the day, there is going to have to be a tax increase to build a new facility,” said board President Kevin Cumberland of District 2. “The Sheriff has found a short-term solution by moving inmates to other facilities.

“We purchased some land near the unit building (across from the Neshoba County Coliseum) for potential growth. But it will mean a tax increase to pay for a new jail. That’s why there hasn’t been any immediate movement. It would take a tax increase to retire the debt.”

Clark said overcrowding continues to be a serious problem. In an effort to ease some of the overcrowding, he has begun housing inmates in Winston and Kemper county detention facilities.

“I gave the supervisors an update with the billing report and meal log,” Clark said. “That’s where they see how much it has cost for the month of January.

“This morning, we have 96 on the census in a 66-bed facility. We have another 15 being held in other facilities – eight in Kemper County and seven in Winston County. We did have 26 being held in different facilities due to overcrowding issues.”

The Sheriff said it costs the county around $25 per day to house inmates in other counties.

The census is one of many issues being raised. The last wave of COVID has taken its toll on the jail staff. 

Clark said that most of the jail staff has been sick with COVID or tested positive and had to be quarantined. 

They have used up all of their sick leave. Now, if they miss work, they don’t get paid.

“We asked for five additional COVID sick days for employees,” Clark said. “We have been hit pretty hard. We asked them to look at the policy about additional leave days.”

No action was taken by the board.

Jail Administrator Brad Stuart was on hand to discuss different problems with the building itself. Supervisors were invited to visit and conduct a site inspection.  

Clark advised supervisors of several things going on in his department.

He recommended several pay raises for deputies who have completed training and taken on additional responsibilities.

The sheriff is also deleting several items from his inventory list.

The department is receiving its share of $3,740 in seized funds and $500 from the District Attorney’s pre-trial disbursement program.

In other actions, supervisors:

• Approved advertising of one or two new dump trucks for the Road Department. County administrator Jeff Mayo said the department has several dump trucks that have been in use for 25 years and are no longer repairable. Supervisors also approved the hiring of an employee for the department.

• Approved paying an invoice totaling $22,752 for the final design Of the County Road 236 Small Municipal and Limited Population County Grant Program Project. Supervisors were notified that Lonnie Taylor, P.E., is the new  state aid district engineer.

• Approved paying $209 to Conduent Image Solutions for storage and handling fees for the Chancery Clerk’s Office.

• Approved school bus turnarounds for the Neshoba County and Union Public Schools.

• Approved allowing Neshoba General to advertise for bids for the Nursing Home Renovation Project.

• Approved the appointments of  Curt Pace and Lee Phillips as commissioners of the  Hope Fire Protection District replacing – Nelson White and Bobby Winstead, who resigned.

• Approved the county employee payroll totaling $243,394 and ending January 24.

• Approved the elected officials payroll totaling $41,543 and ending February 1.

• Supervisors considered and agreement with Allen & Hoshall for Professional Services.

• Declared Washington’s Birthday be celebrated as a county holiday on  Monday, February 21.






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