NATCHEZ, Miss. — Some Adams County inmates are being housed in Concordia Parish as the Natchez jail continues to endure various structural problems.
County Supervisor Wes Middleton said Concordia Parish officials are “open to the idea” of incarcerating more Adams County prisoners in the Louisiana jail, but there are “a lot of moving parts to make it work.”
Middleton has been leading efforts in recent months to find alternatives for detaining Adams County inmates as the Board of Supervisors and Sheriff Travis Patten struggle with what to do about the Natchez jail. Built in 1975, the jail is considered substandard with various structural defects that county supervisors have been struggling to fix and fund 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.
While plans have been presented to build a new Adams County detention center in recent years, supervisors have been hindered by the multimillion-dollar costs and uncertainties about how to pay for the construction.
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 have also torn up jail fixtures.
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Crews continue to resurface Adams County roads the Board of Supervisors is funding with $8 million borrowed through bonds and have received from the federal government.
Work started late last year for new asphalt being laid on various stretches of roads included on a long list approved by supervisors in 2022. Crews this week have been at work on such roads as State Park, Tate, U.S. 61 and Emerald Mound, said county road manager Robbie Dollar.
The asphalt-laying project is being funded with $7 million in bond revenues the county must repay over time with added interest and $1 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act money. Congress in 2021 allocated the ARPA funds to help state and local governments recover from the economic disruption caused by the COVID pandemic.
A separate multimillion-dollar project is being prepared for improving a one-mile stretch of Morgantown Road, which has been called the most dangerous thoroughfare in Adams County because it’s so narrow and prone to rain-induced flooding. The county board on Tuesday tapped its engineering firm to start developing the detailed plans for the project, which is being funded with local, state and federal funds.
“The sooner we can get started, the better,” county board President Warren Gaines said of the much-discussed and long-delayed roadwork.
The funds for Morgantown Road’s upgrade include $2.4 million appropriated by Congress last year for road improvements and nearly $900,000 in ARPA funds awarded by the state Department of Environmental Quality to correct stormwater problems. The much-traveled byway turns into what’s been called “Morgantown River” after a hard rain.
The road begins inside Natchez off U.S. 16 north and stretches out into the county. The one-mile section to be reconstructed will be widened for safer driving and fixed for better drainage.
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