NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors talked Monday about completely emptying the dilapidated county jail of the few inmates it holds and moving them to the Concordia Parish prison, where most county inmates are already.
As the Board of Supervisors continues struggling to find ways to build a new jail, the existing 50-year-old facility has worsened to the point it should be shuttered, said board President Kevin Wilson.
The county jail holds a daily average of about 20 inmates while about 70 Adams County prisoners are detained daily in Concordia Parish, according to numbers provided by Sheriff Travis Patten.
Adams County pays neighboring Concordia Parish to detain long-term inmates, but some are considered by the Louisiana jailers too dangerous or difficult to take, Wilson said. However, he said discussions with Concordia Parish Sheriff David Hedrick will take place about his facility accepting all Adams County inmates.
The Concordia Parish Correctional Facility – located on state Highway 15 near Ferriday about 15 miles from Natchez – also incarcerates inmates arrested by the Natchez Police Department.
The Adams County Jail, built in 1975, has been deemed unsustainable, unsafe and largely uninhabitable as it has endured various structural and mechanical problems over the years. It’s become a major liability the county must rid itself of, Wilson said. “We can’t keep putting it off,” he said.
County supervisors have had several studies, plans and cost estimates presented to them in recent years for a new jail, with the most recent being a proposition using recycled modular structures from the private prison located near Natchez. The head of a Texas-based prison construction company told supervisors in March he’ll draw up specific plans and cost estimates for what he said is a less-expensive, cost-efficient alternative for building a new jail.
A report prepared by jail experts in January for county supervisors and Patten detailed the need for a new jail with various projections and alternatives on how many inmates it should be built for. A “best-case scenario” has a jail built to hold 99 inmates. A “worst-case scenario” has 188 inmates. Capacity is driven largely by inmates’ average length of stays, which has increased in recent years to 30 days but could be reduced by taking various steps, according to the report prepared by the consultants at Justice Planners and Detention Operations.
Supervisors on Monday closed the public out of part of their discussions with Patten about closing the old jail, but – after they reopened the meeting – the sheriff did express concerns about how this would impact his staff. “I can’t afford to lose more personnel,” said Patten, who noted he has four jailers with two per shift.
Even if the jail is vacated of inmates, sheriff’s deputies will still be needed to securely transport inmates to Concordia Parish.
“I know it’s going to be a logistical nightmare,” Wilson said.
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