WINONA – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to enter into an agreement with the Carroll-Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility to house male inmates for the next two years.
Since last January, Montgomery County has been taking their male inmates to the Grenada County Jail after an interlocal agreement expired in 2019 between Carroll and Montgomery counties regarding housing prisoners at the jail in Vaiden. A new agreement could not be agreed upon by the two counties, so Montgomery County began taking inmates to Webster County and then Grenada County to house.
According to Deputy County Attorney Alan D. Lancaster, the agreement sets the rate per day per inmate to $30, the same as the county had with Grenada County Jail the past year.
Lancaster said the agreement clarified that only male inmates will be housed and that the jail must give notice to Montgomery County if an inmate requires medical attention. However, if an inmate requires emergency medical attention, the jail does not have to give prior notice.
According to Montgomery County Sheriff Jeff Tompkins, female inmates will continue to be housed at Grenada County Jail and Leflore County Jail.
In other county business:
District 4 Supervisor Ron Wood was elected 2019 board president by his fellow board members, and District 3 Supervisor Willie Earl Townsend, Jr., was elected vice president.
The board also voted unanimously to re-appoint County Attorney Ryan Taylor; County Administrator, Purchasing Clerk, Inventory Clerk, Records Restoration Clerk, and Comptroller Ryan Wood; County Engineer Christian Gardner, County Road Manager Chris Breazeale; County Fire Coordinator, E-911 Director, Emergency Management Agency Director Allan Pratt, Receiving Clerk Catherine Brock, and Justice Court Clerk Karen Carter.
The board voted 4 to 1 to accept the pay increase for supervisors set by the Mississippi Legislature, an increase of $1,011 per year.
“The [Mississippi] Legislature sets your salary,” said Lancaster.
District 1 Supervisor Keith McGee said, “It has been 16 years since [supervisors have had] a pay increase.”
The board voted 4 to 1 to accept the increase, with newly-elected District 5 Supervisor Ronald White casting the lone dissenting vote.
The board also voted 4 to 1 to increase the county attorney’s compensation $1,011 per year, with White also casting the lone dissenting vote.
“The county attorney makes what the supervisors make,” explained Wood.
• With the employer percentage for the Public Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS) increasing from 15.75 percent to 17.4 percent this year, Montgomery County Circuit Clerk Lanelle Martin asked the supervisors to agree to pay a portion of the employer’s contribution to PERS for what she earns in fees each year, which averages $3,900 per year. In the past, the county has paid $2,500 per year in employer’s contribution on her fees, while Martin has made up the remaining contribution out of pocket.
This year, the board voted to pay up to $3,500 in employer contribution for Martin’s fee income, depending on the amount of the contribution, behind a motion by McGee and a second by District 2 Supervisor Edwin Taylor.
• The board voted to enter into an agreement with ES&S to maintain the county’s electronic voting machines for the next year at a cost of $3,557. The funds will come out of the county’s voters fund.
• Martin also returned $226 to the county due to voiding outstanding juror checks that were over one year old.
• The board entered into executive session to discuss personnel matters in the county’s road department.
