Consultants present jail needs assessment, but supervisors say they can’t pay for new jail

Published 3:57 pm Wednesday, January 29, 2025

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NATCHEZ — Most Adams County supervisors acknowledged the need for a new county jail, but all seem doubtful one will be built anytime soon because of a lack of funding.

A consulting firm hired by the Adams County Board of Supervisors presented its findings Wednesday morning to the supervisors and a group of approximately 50 appointed and elected county and city officials, law officers and other interested community members gathered at the Natchez Grand Hotel.

The current Adams County Jail, which also houses the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, the county’s Emergency Management Agency and the county-city joint E-911 Dispatch, is 50 years old and was built in 1975. For the last 20 years, each Adams County sheriff has complained about the condition of the antiquated facility and discussed building a new one, but made little headway with county supervisors.

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In late July 2023, after a series of incidents during which inmates damaged the building and equipment in it, Sheriff Travis Patten shut down the jail, saying it was no longer safe to house inmates or staff. In addition to the facility not being adequate to house inmates safely, water and sewage leaks created an unhealthy situation for inmates, jail staff and others who work in the building.

Supervisors contracted with the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office to house the county’s inmates in its jail facility.

The county and city together pay the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s office between $800,000 and $1 million annually to house its pre-trial inmates. None of the inmates sent to Concordia Parish have been convicted for the crimes for which they are being held. Some have not been indicted for those crimes. They are all awaiting court proceedings, some waiting as much as two years or more.

Detention Operations LLC, owned by Kathryn A. Bryan, was hired by the county to conduct a needs analysis. The Detention Operations team studied data such as the average number of daily inmates housed in the jail and the average length of stay over the years beginning in 2018, as well as population forecasts for Adams County to determine a range of beds the county realistically needs in a jail.

Research Statistician Patrick Jablonski said according to the Center for Population Studies at the University of Mississippi, the county currently has a population of 30,486. The center predicts the county’s population will remain steady for the next 25 years, forecasting the county’s population to have declined slightly by 2050 to 30,186.

Data showed that the average daily population of the Adams County Jail has increased steadily from 65 inmates in 2018 to 97.3 in 2024.

Jablonski said the average length of stay for the pre-trial inmates in the Adams County Jail is more concerning than expected. The average length of stay for inmates in 2024 was 31.3 days. If that trend line continues, the average length of stay will increase to 46.5 days.

Bryan said while gathering information in Adams County, she was told about a number of issues that are contributing to the increased length of stays of pre-trial inmates, such as:

• Crime lab delays.
• Delays in competency evaluations and mental health restoration beds.
• A shortage of mental health and substance abuse treatment resources in the community.
• Overburdened and under-resourced public defenders.
• Lack of sufficient spaces for attorneys to meet with clients.
• Duplication of efforts with the existing two courts, municipal and justice court.
• The District Attorney’s staff not being able to run criminal histories and criminal histories being inaccurate.
• The need to formally and intentionally manage cases to strict guidelines.

According to 2024 data, Jablonski said the county and city need a jail with 146 beds.

With the status quo forecast, the county needs a facility with 214 beds.

In the best-case scenario, the county could reduce the average length of inmate stay to 28 days, and the need for beds decreases to 129. If the worst-case scenario prevails, the county would need a facility with 243 beds.

Alan Richardson of Justice Planners, who was part of the jail needs assessment, discussed the next steps in the process. He said those involved, including the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, which Debbie Germany oversees, should make a decision on the size of the facility needed.

“What I would suggest is that a next step after you determine total capacity is to get with a detention facility planner to come in and sit down and work with you to develop a program for the space. How much square footage are you going to need for your facility? How do you want to operate your jail, from intake to medical to housing to space for programs. How do you want traffic to flow through your facility?” Richardson asked.

However, responses from supervisors put a damper on what should happen next.

District 4 Supervisor Ricky Gray said the county is facing unfunded mandates from the state Legislature, and those, combined with the county’s current tight budget situation, make planning for a new jail difficult.

Gray suggested having a town hall meeting to get input from citizens on a new jail.

District 5 Supervisor Warren Gaines said the supervisors are being criticized for inaction on the county jail issue, “but this is not just an Adams County problem.”

Gaines said supervisors have much to consider before deciding on a new county jail. He suggested exploring federal funding options.

Supervisor Wes Middleton said the county operates on a $34 million budget and “the largest percent of that now lies within the sheriff’s department. There is only one way to increase that $34 million and that is to raise taxes. Our citizens cannot stand another tax increase.

“I think taking these steps and doing the homework is the right thing to do. But this is going to have to be a decision that’s made by our residents,” Middleton said.