Sheriff seeks board approval to buy new tasers for deputies

Sheriff Eric Clark has requested approval from the Board of Supervisors to purchase eight new Axon Enterprise tasers, upgrading from the 12 currently in stock. 

The Sheriff’s Department currently consists of 20 officers, including Clark.

Clark presented his proposal to supervisors on Monday, saying, “Tasers are a great tool and an asset because they give deputies a less-lethal option when dealing with crime in the community.”

Clark said the proposed Axon tasers have advanced features like computerized tracking of use and verbal deterrents for crowd control. Each device comes with 10 cartridges and is widely used by state agencies, according to Clark.

Clark estimated that his deputies use tasers up to five times per month, often in situations where individuals may be at risk of self-inflicted harm. Each use requires deputies to complete a use-of-force form.

The Sheriff’s proposed purchase would include eight new tasers at a total cost of $36,552. For fiscal year 2025, the cost would be $3,655.20, followed by annual payments of $8,224.20 through fiscal year 2029.

Each year, Axon Enterprise would also include along with the tasers, several cartridges, battery packs, targets, practice rounds, holsters, and other essential items needed to maintain functionality.

Supervisors are currently reviewing the request, and a decision is expected soon.

In other business, supervisors voted to:

• Approve the quarterly budget allocation for the Sheriff’s Department for $451,628 and approve the quarterly budget allocation for the county jail at $541,599;

• Approve paying a pre-trial disbursement from the District Attorney’s office at the cost of $500 for the State vs. Joseph Daniel Welborn case;

• Approve giving deputy Noah Pickett a $ 2-an-hour pay raise effective Dec. 30;

• Approve paying Neshoba General $26,278 for December 2024 inmate meals;

• Approve a request from the Central Water Association to place 3,500 ft. of 3-inch water main onto the right of way of Road 729 from Hwy. 491 S.;

• Approve advertising the following for the $3 million reseal project: hot mix asphalt construction, permanent traffic control signage construction, traffic striping, and raised markers construction, providing and delivery of liquid asphalt, and providing of crushed limestone material;

• Approve to advertise for bid on the Road 832 SA50-110 and SA50-111 bridges guardrail repairs;

• Approve the quarterly budget allocation for Tax Assessor/Collector’s office for $135,885;

• Approve the Governor’s writ of election for the Chancery Judge for Sixth Chancery District—Place 1—to be held on Nov. 4 with qualifying by 5 p.m. on Feb. 3;

• Approve hiring Barry Nowell and Andrew Euyoques as full-time telecommunicators effective Dec. 23 at $13 an hour;

• Approve reappointing Sterling Dale Gray as commissioner of North Bend Fire Protection District effective Jan. 1, 2025, for a term ending on Dec. 31, 2029;

• Approve appointing Wade White as board attorney;

• Approve the mileage reimbursement rate at $0.70 a mile effective Jan. 1;

• Approve declaring Jan. 20 as Robert E. Lee/Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday;

• Approve appointing board attorney Wade White to inspect the county jail.