NATCHEZ, Miss. – Conditions at the problem-plagued Adams County jail could prompt the county board to move inmates elsewhere.
Adams County board President Wes Middleton said Monday he wants negotiations started with officials in Concordia Parish about housing inmates in a detention center there as a short-term solution.
“I think this will alleviate a lot of problems until we figure out where we’re going to go,” Middleton said as Adams County supervisors ponder various long-term alternatives, such as constructing a new jail.
Built in 1975, the Adams County jail is considered substandard with various structural problems that county supervisors have been struggling to fund and fix for several years.
Located on State and Wall streets by the Adams County Courthouse, the facility has the capacity to hold about 100 inmates. Most are pre-trial detainees arrested by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and Natchez Police Department. Natchez has contracted with Adams County to hold those charged with crimes in the city.
Middleton said paying to have them jailed in neighboring Concordia Parish could be the best short-term option contingent on working out an arrangement with Louisiana officials there. “I just want to start the negotiations,” he said.
He said discussions will continue at the Adams County Board of Supervisors’ next meeting.
Supervisors have put off for years a decision on whether to build a new Adams County detention center. They’ve been hampered by its multimillion-dollar costs and uncertainties about how to pay for it.
The jail has been the subject of lawsuits and court orders for improvements to be made. Complications the past decade have included an operable air conditioner, leaky roof, mold, crumbling exterior bricks and electrical defects. Inmates are also tearing up jail fixtures.
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Adams County is waiting for more than $3 million in federal funds it’s due to help recover from the COVID pandemic and recent storm-related disasters.
It got nearly $3 million a year ago from the American Rescue Plan Act, and another $3 million is expected soon, said county Administrator Angie King.
Congress enacted ARPA last year for cities and counties to fund a wide variety of priorities – such as infrastructure upgrades — as the country recovers from the economic distress caused by the pandemic that first struck in 2020.
Adams County Supervisor Ricky Gray said a public hearing should be held for constituents to have a say on how to spend the money. The county board is preparing a budget for the fiscal year that starts in October.
The board is also waiting for overdue funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “That’s a big chunk of the general fund,” said Supervisor Angela Hutchins, who pointed to about $1.6 million due in FEMA funds to reimburse Adams County for storm-recovery expenses. It’s been hit by hurricane and ice-storm disasters the past couple of years.
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