Carroll County Sheriff Clint Walker said the state’s reaction to the Mississippi Sheriff’s Association request for increased prisoner placements in regional jails has perplexed him since returning from Monday’s meeting at the Capitol with representatives from the Mississippi Department of Corrections and the Mississippi Legislature.
Monday’s meeting was for the sheriffs operating the state’s 15 regional jails to voice their concerns about losing inmates and the fees for housing those inmates to private prisons.
Recently, according to an article in the Clarion Ledger, Corrections Commission Pelicia Hall informed the regional jails that the state planned to reduce state inmates to the number contracted for each facility, which is at 80 percent capacity for state inmates.
Hall blamed the reduction on a deficit of $19.3 million at the Mississippi Department of Corrections. She said the Mississippi Legislature decided not to fully clear the deficit. The Clarion Ledger reported that the Legislature did not provide funding to cover the $3.6 million deficit for regional jails but helped private prisons clear a deficit of $7 million.
In addition, Hall said another factor is that most regional jails house minimum security offenders. She said private prisons house more violent offenders and those with mental health disorders.
“They keep saying they are thinking of the safety of the guards and trying to save money,” Walker said.
Walker said with private prisons costing more than double that of regional jails to house a prisoner for a day, he doesn’t know why the state isn’t taking advantage of the lower cost, all while supporting Mississippi’s counties and the local workforce.
The Clarion Ledger reported that for each inmate included in the number contracted for each facility, a regional jail gets no more than $29.74. If the state houses more than that contracted amount, the cost per day per inmate is $20. Walker said private prisons are making more than $40 per prisoner per day.
“Private prisons are holding 3,500 inmates,” Walker said. “The state would save $60,000 per day if [the regional jails] housed them. That is a savings of $20 million a year.”
Walker said that amount would more than clear any deficit for regional jails, and it would support local economies.
“Over $60 million taxpayer dollars are sent to a Utah-based company that operates private jails in the state,” Walker said. “Many regional jails can barely reach payroll and keep the lights on. Currently at Vaiden, they have pulled us down to the bare minimum.”
Walker said he is frustrated to see the state cut regional jails to the lowest level they can and Mississippi’s inmates are being sent to private facilities.
“Right now, we can save the state $60 million a year,” Walker said. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Walker said at Monday’s meeting, Representative Kevin Horan (R-Grenada), who also serves as attorney for Carroll County, spoke on behalf of regional jails.
“I would like to thank Representative Horan for speaking out for us,” Walker said.
Walker said the Mississippi Sheriff’s Association was given 20 minutes to speak and not given the opportunity to refute any information or ask questions at the end of the meeting.
“The only answer [I have on this situation] is campaign contributions have clouded the minds of the Legislature in Jackson,” Walker said. “The Sheriff’s Association can’t compete with this level of interference, and we pray for the convictions of their hearts.”
Walker said he believes the “hard-earned, blue-collar Mississippi” needs to take a closer look at this situation with regional jails.
“Regional jails are steadily laying people off,” Walker said. “The state came in and asked Montgomery and Carroll counties to go into debt for 20 years to build [the Carroll Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility], and this is the thanks we get,” Walker said.
According to the Clarion Ledger, House Corrections Committee Chairman Bill Kinkade (R-Byhalia) said while the meeting was productive, nothing can be done until the next session of the Mississippi Legislature.
