JACKSON - A proposal to remove 500 state inmates from county work programs has some Mississippi sheriffs fretting about losing the free labor.
Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson said he is considering the shuffle because legislators told his department it must increase the number of inmates it keeps in regional jails and private prisons. The move could come in early July.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie uses state inmates to cook jail meals and pick up roadside litter. He said taking away the free labor could hurt his county.
"It appears there's a big political fight in Jackson and the citizens of the state of Mississippi are the ones that's going to be impacted," Sollie said Monday.
Johnson sent a letter to sheriffs last week saying they could lose trusties - low-security inmates who help sheriffs with grass mowing, litter cleanup and other duties. Many sheriffs were at their state convention late last week and first saw the letter on Monday.
Don Grant, warden of the Delta Correctional Facility in Leflore County, said no state officials had contacted him about possible plans to shift inmates from county work programs to the private facility on Baldwin Road.
The medium-security prison currently has 262 empty beds, he said. Its capacity is 1,016 inmates.
Like county facilities from which prisoners may be relocated, the private prison enrolls some of its prisoners in work programs, Grant said. The prison is operated by Corrections Corp. of America.
"We have a prison industry that employs 50 people and up," the warden said. "Under our Habitat for Humanity program, we do all the framing and rafters here on site. We number them, and then they assemble them at the location."
Grant said inmates not labeled as restricted also do work outside the prison under the supervision of armed guards. He said inmates are responsible for care of a local graveyard and restored the old firehouse in downtown Greenwood.
Other programs for inmates include GED studies, therapeutic and alcohol/drug programs, brick masonry, carpentry, computer science, horticultural training and industrial floor care.
Johnson said he had fielded calls from sheriffs who weren't pleased about the possibility of inmates being moved out of county work programs.
"I'm not either, because I recognize the value that these inmates provide to the counties," Johnson said.
Johnson said he will decide later this month whether to move the trusties.
In Hinds and Harrison counties, trusties work for nonprofit community groups.
In Grenada County, Sheriff Alton Strider said state prisoners perform a host of duties, from filling city potholes to repairing city and county vehicles.
If inmates are removed, "it's going to make a serious impact on our work programs," Strider said.
A dispute over the placement of inmates erupted in March, during the final days of the 2001 legislative session.
Lawmakers wanted to increase the number of state inmates going to 10 regional jails and privately run prisons in Marshall County and Leflore County. The private prisons and regional jails have provided jobs in many legislators' districts in recent years.
Johnson said it's cheaper to keep inmates in state prisons or county jails than in private prisons or regional jails. He also said the state could end up with "ghost inmates" by paying private or regional facilities for unfilled beds.
Lawmakers mandated the increases to regional jails and private prisons over the objections of Johnson and Gov. Ronnie Musgrove.
In his letter to sheriffs, Johnson quoted a March 28 letter Attorney General Mike Moore had sent him.
"It makes no financial sense to pay $20 a day to house these inmates in county jails and also pay for 'ghost inmates' at a much higher rate for no service at all," Moore had written to Johnson.
Moore on Monday said Johnson only quoted one sentence from a two-page letter. He said he was surprised Johnson had told sheriffs that Moore had suggested moving inmates out of work programs. Moore said he made no such suggestion.
He said Johnson's letter to sheriffs is "disingenuous and misleading."
"There's no reason for the commissioner to go and take the trusties," Moore said.
The attorney general said county jails Monday were holding 403 state inmates who weren't part of work programs, and those inmates could be moved to regional jails or private prisons.
Johnson said those inmates are being processed into the prison system. He said it's normal to have 350-400 state inmates in county jails while their paperwork is processed, and those inmates are moved quickly.
