NATCHEZ — The governor has signed three bills that impact Adams County this week.

The first bill will allow the Adams County Board of Supervisors to buy out the state retirement system’s claim in the former Natchez Regional Medical Center’s 2014 bankruptcy. The move clears the way for long-delayed employee retirement benefits to be posted.

The Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS) has been holding the retirement benefits since the hospital skipped paying the 15-percent employer match to the benefit system from December 2013 to February 2014, declaring bankruptcy in March 2014.

PERS has taken the stance that a partial payment cannot be posted even though employees paid their portion of the benefits.

The bill will allow the county to pay up to $418,160.48 to PERS to settle the claim, though county officials have said they hope to whittle it down by deducting the payments for those who have already cashed out their plans or who weren’t vested at the time of the bankruptcy.

In return for making the upfront payment, the county will receive the payment that would have been due to PERS from the hospital’s accounts receivable and when the hospitals’ escrow funds are released to the bankruptcy at the end of a two-year clawback period for Medicaid and Medicare.

The second bill allows the continued existence of Natchez Inc. in its current form as a public-private partnership.

The bill allows the City of Natchez and Adams County to contribute funds to Natchez Inc., the area’s economic development group. Natchez NOW, a private-sector group composed of local business leaders, also funds Natchez Inc.The bill authorizes the city and county to fund Natchez Inc., with a cap of $100,000 on the city’s annual contribution and a $165,000 cap for the county.

Natchez NOW contributes approximately $140,000 a year including special requests.

Natchez Inc. was first formed in 2010.

The third bill signed will allow Adams County to build a new jail outside the Natchez city limits.

While county officials have been quick to emphasize that they don’t plan to build a new jail soon, they said the request to the Legislature was made to be ready for when the time comes that a new jail is needed.

Adams County’s circuit court judges issued an order in 2014 that the county evaluate the jail facility to make sure it meets and can maintain correctional standards.

Previous law required that the jail be built inside the city limits.