A new contract between Leflore County and Corrections Corporation of America outlines plans for tighter security at the Leflore County Jail.
The Board of Supervisors renewed the agreement Monday after Willie Perkins, its attorney, said he is comfortable with the contract.
Three stipulations accompany the inmate housing agreement, which covers Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2006.
The contract calls for upgrading the jail's security system, building management walls between each cell block and extending the deadline for American Corrections Association accreditation.
The county and the private prison company will pay $75,000 each for the renovations.
Chancery Clerk Sam Abraham, county administrator, said the money would be taken from a $5.9 million bond issue for the planned Leflore County Justice Center.
The 20-year bond was issued last year for the proposed $3 million building.
"It won't hurt the budget," Abraham said.
The issue over accreditation was largely responsible for the delay in contract renewal.
Accreditation means the jail would meet national criteria for safely operating a jail. The corrections company will pay the annual $15,000 fee, but it ultimately cost the county with other increases.
In the earlier, one-year contract, the county asked for accreditation, "within a reasonable amount of time." The correctional association argued accreditation for a small jail would be a waste of taxpayer's money.
Monday's contract redefined a reasonable time as five years.
The management walls and the security system update will be needed for accreditation, Jeb Beasley, a representative of the Corrections Association, said.
Warden Jerry Parker explained Monday that the jail already has separate facilities for men and women. But the new walls will reinforce this separation, Parker said.
New equipment will replace the 12-year-old lock system at the jail.
"This one we have is so old it's hard to get parts for it," the warden said.
