Mississippi Jails Are Losing Inmates, And Local Officials Are ‘Devastated’ By The Loss Of Revenue

 County officials across Mississippi are warning of job losses and deep deficits as local jails are being deprived of the state inmates needed to keep them afloat. The culprit, say local officials, is state government and private prisons, which are looking to boost their own revenue as sentencing and drug-policy reforms are sending fewer bodies into the correctional system

In the late 1990s, as the overcrowded Mississippi prison system buckled under the weight of mass incarceration, the state asked local governments to build local correctional institutions to house state prisoners. It was billed as a win-win: The Mississippi Department of Correction would foot the bill for each prisoner, and the counties would get good jobs guarding them. The state guaranteed that the local jails would never be less than 80 percent occupied, and the locals would get a 3 percent boost in compensation each year.

After a few years, say local officials, the state offered a new deal: Instead of the 3 percent bump, they would give the locals more and more prisoners, thus boosting total revenue. Today, the state pays $29.74 per day per prisoner to the regional facilities, a deal that worked for everybody as long as the buildings were stuffed full with bodies.

The state knows it, and now demands that local jails house state convicts who perform labor for free, George County Supervisor Henry Cochran told The Huffington Post. The counties take the deal. “You’re either gonna go up on everybody’s garbage bill, or you’ve gotta house those inmates,” Cochran said. “You’re using that inmate labor, so [taxpayers are] getting a little good out of that inmate for their tax dollars. You either gotta hire a bunch of employees or keep that inmate. It’s like making a deal with the devil.”

At a recent meeting with state officials, Bond said, the state Corrections Department offered to pay off one sheriff’s bond and close the county facility, but he turned down the offer. “No, we don’t want that, we want the jobs,” the sheriff said.

For Strickland, something has to give. “In a way, we were sort of devastated. That revenue needs to be made up,” he said.

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Tr1ll said:

Bruh Texas is wide open with that ****.

Texas Roundup is no joke.

You got warrants. They coming to your house and/or job.

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KingKoopa said:

Im not worried bout them serving warrents, Im scared that they NEED people locked up to make money.

Its no longer a punishment, its damn near human trafficking :x.

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Tr1ll said:

Basically they let you walk around free until Texas Roundup. Texas Roundup is around the time the do the audits for the jails.

So the pack the jails with people with all kinds of minor offenses to run up the check.

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KingKoopa said:

Tr1ll said:

Basically they let you walk around free until Texas Roundup. Texas Roundup is around the time the do the audits for the jails.

So the pack the jails with people with all kinds of minor offenses to run up the check.

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:x

Is this advertised?

Like do they really call it the Texas roundup?

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Osh Kosh Bosh said:

Canadian supreme court just struck down a tough on crime bill with mandatory minimums.


I feel blessed.

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An Armada said:

I don't even have words for how much this **** infuriates me, it always has and it always will 

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NorthOaklandFC said:

Mississippi is a disgusting barbaric state.

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