DA rebuts supervisor’s charge she’s “soft on crime;” supervisors give themselves pay raise

NATCHEZ, Miss. – District Attorney Shameca Collins refuted Adams County Supervisor Kevin Wilson’s complaint that she’s “soft on crime.”

She met Monday with the Adams County Board of Supervisors to respond to his criticism about her prosecution of accused criminals.

Wilson questioned whether Collins is backed by George Sores – a billionaire liberal political donor who Wilson alleged wants “to ruin the United States” and crooks “not to be prosecuted.” Other supervisors jumped to Collins’ defense and said Wilson’s insinuations are unjustified.

“I’m not going to be a party to any personal attacks,” said Supervisor Ricky Gray.

Wilson – the board’s only member elected as a Republican — maintained he’s not attacking Collins but just questioning whether she’s easing off on prosecuting felons.

However, Collins has “been doing a good job” and is “not putting (criminals) back on the streets,” said Supervisor Angela Hutchins.

The discussions about criminal prosecutions come as public concerns intensify about more violence and thefts in Adams County. In response, the Board of Supervisors is funding the placement of more crime cameras in various locations.

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Adams County supervisors approved pay raises for themselves, justice court judges and county attorneys.

The 3 percent increase for the five supervisors puts their annual salaries at about $46,000 each.

State lawlets county supervisors opt to give the pay raises but in an all-or-none measure. For salary increases to be given to the county’s two justice court judges, the county prosecuting attorney and board attorney, supervisors must be included, said board President Wes Middleton.

The last pay raise for supervisors was approved in 2016, and they’ve put off raising their salaries the past couple of years until they could give all county employees a pay raise, which they recently did for the current budget year.

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Adams County supervisors Monday declined to reimpose a COVID mask mandate in the courthouse and other county-owned building after being told they need to declare the county is in an emergency for such a requirement to be imposed.

Adams County this past month has experienced its worst surge of new COVID cases as the virus expands its airborne reach to more people. Over 1,800 more cases have sprung up since Jan. 1, according to the state Department of Health.

This comes after the numbers of reported COVID cases and deaths had declined significantly in the last months of 2021. For example, only 111 new cases were reported in the four-week period ending Dec. 25 for Adams County.

After no reported COVID deaths since October, eight Adams County residents died in January and this month, according to the state Department of Health.

The county Board of Supervisors last year lifted the countywide mask requirement for all public indoor venues along with a separate directive for county buildings.

County supervisors on Monday discussed bringing back the mandate for county buildings, but opted not to since the county-proclaimed emergency is no longer in place. They also noted many people disregard mask mandates since it’s difficult to enforce them.