Sheriff calls for city partnership on jail

Re-establishing a partnership to share and maintain the county jail will make the city and county a lot stronger, Neshoba County Sheriff Eric Clark told the Mayor and Board of Aldermen last week.

He called for the expansion of the overcrowded facility and described the jail as run down and out of date.

Mayor James A. Young asked if Clark had any plans to renovate and expand and Clark said no but he pleaded for their help.

“My job is to house these inmates,” Clark said. “If you can help me with some expansion and we can get you guys back on we are going to be a lot stronger together.

“This is nothing against the supervisors. I am not here plotting against them. My thing is that we are going to have to start working together. I need some support for this.”

Mayor Young said if some plans developed, he would willing and ready to “move forward.” 

Young said he would make contact with the Board of Supervisors.

“It sounds like we need to form a panel,” said Ward 2 Alderman Jim Fulton. “It needs to be city and county representatives to come up with a plan.

“As of right now, we are going to have to stay where we are, but we need to come up with a plan,” Fulton said.

The current jail was built almost three decades years ago. “Here we are in 2022, and you can walk through the building and it is the same fixtures and furniture. No updates.”

About 45 people — 20 jail employees and about that many SO employees — share a single toilet in the hallway.

The jail was designed as a 66-bed facility and they steadily house between 70 and 100 prisoners. They were at 108 last Monday, Clark said. 

“We have mats for the inmates. We sleep on the floor. We sleep wherever we can. There are not many things in that jail that work besides the running water and toilets and the TVs.”

When Clark took office, he reviewed all of his department’s contracts, including the one with the city from the 1990s to house prisoners. 

He proposed a new contract that would take effect in June 2020 in which the city’s cost would be increased $4,500 per month to a total $12,500 per month. 

In the 1990s, the city had agreed to pay $10,000 a month, but that figure had dropped by the time Clark took office.

The mayor and the past board felt the price was too high when considering the number of prisoners, they said then.

Philadelphia is responsible for a person it arrests until that person is arraigned before a judge. This usually takes three or four days. Afterwards, the inmate belongs to the county.

The city talked to other jurisdictions. Instead of signing a new contract, the board voted to house its prisoners at the Winston County jail for $25 per day per inmate. If someone stays less than six hours, the fee is $10.

There has been some concern voiced by aldermen, past and present, about the time that it takes to transport an inmate from Philadelphia to Louisville. 

Police Chief Eric Lyons has consistently said his department is handling it while maintaining protection.

The city recently purchased a van so they can transport multiple inmates, especially on court day.

Clark called for the re-establishment of the jail partnership between the city and the county.

“Back in the 1990s, the city and the county got together and built the current jail,” Clark said. “There was an agreement and I actually have a copy of it. Philadelphia was going to pitch in and pay $10,000 a month to help with the cost running the jail.

“Now, that jail is on a $1.4 million budget. That’s just to keep the doors open and there have been no improvements. The city’s rate of pay had dropped to $8,000 per month. 

“Now, that is in proportion to $25 per day but it is not in proportion to maintain the jail. If  it housed 75 people, the city was putting half of them in there. We were doing the bond for city. It got to the point to where we had to do something  We were in growing pains and that’s where we are today,” Clark said.

There is room for expansion and improvements to the jail at its current site, Clark said and he called for the city to work with him.

“The only way to move forward is for you guys (and the public) to put some pressure on everybody who is involved whether it is the Board of Supervisors, the County Administrator and the Sheriff,” Clark said. 

“We need to jump out of this 1994 facility and do some expansion, There is talk about building a new jail at a new site, we can’t do that. We need to do something immediately.

“You can go out there now and add an expansion, something with 12 foot ceilings with block walls. On the other end, put some latrines and showers to give a little privacy. There is enough footprint up there to with city water and sewer.”