Since 1957, the Attala County Jail has served its citizens well. It’s been maintained as needed to keep it working as designed – to hold convicted lawbreakers or people awaiting trial.
Like any other building, it’s now reached the point that maintenance isn’t all it needs. There are numerous internal problems that can’t be fixed. Plumbing, electrical, concrete walls and ceilings have deteriorated beyond repair. In many cases, parts to make necessary repairs are no longer available due to the structural age.
Changing regulations mandated by the Department of Corrections have made jails like it obsolete, causing some shut downs around the state. The fear now is that the Attala County Jail is next on the list.
Other Mississippi counties have had the state step in and force a shut down or the construction of a new facility. This is something county officials should avoid.
Much like a home, there comes a time to replace the furnace, electrical, plumbing, water heater, siding and other structural parts. In the case of the jail, that has all come at once due to age, changing laws and state requirements.
At this point, it’s more cost-effective to build new. Remodeling and renovation are impossible.
Talks were expected to resume weeks ago on the possibility of building a new jail, but to this day nothing has been presented to the public. The Attala County Board of Supervisors took bids for construction of a new jail twice in 2014, but all bids were rejected due to costs above the original estimate. A new jail is expected to cost approximately $5 million.
The current facility houses 16 state inmates and eight county inmates with a total of 24 beds. Therefore, if the city or county has more than eight prisoners, they must be transported to surrounding counties. Housing county inmates in other jails costs approximately $25 per day per prisoner. A new facility is expected to house approximately 40 inmates, leaving room to house state and county prisoners.
Another factor is that if the jail were to shut down, then the county would lose all its state inmates that provide a labor force to the county. The state inmates help keep the county clean, which is something that would need to be replaced if they are shipped out.
County officials are hesitant to build the jail, wanting to be conscious of county taxpayers.
I agree that county officials should do their best not to raise taxes, but something needs to be done or the county will be without a jail with more jobs and tax dollars going out of the county.
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Joseph Brown is the editor and publisher of The Star-Herald. He can be reached at jbrown@starherald.net.
