JACKSON - The Senate has sent the governor a bill that seeks to keep open a private prison in Tallahatchie County that employs nearly 300 people.
The bill would allow Corrections Corporation of America, which runs the prison, to house maximum security inmates in the Tutwiler facility.
The prison is now limited to minimum and medium security.
The bill on Tuesday passed the Senate 44-3, with one senator voting present.
The House had passed the bill on Friday.
Gov. Haley Barbour has said he would support private prison legislation.
Lawmakers wanted to act quickly because the facility could close March 11 after Alabama pulls out its inmates.
"Employees in Tallahatchie County have already received their pink slips," said Sen. Robert "Bunky" Huggins, chairman of the Senate Corrections Committee.
Sen. Ralph Doxey, D-Holly Springs, who argued in favor of the bill, said the change would be a "marketing tool" for CCA as it negotiates contracts with the federal government or with states to house prisoners in Tallahatchie County.
"The main thrust of what we're trying to do is keep this facility open," Doxey said.
Rep. John Mayo, D-Clarksdale, whose chamber passed the bill on Friday, said CCA is in negotiations with another state and the deal was "predicated on the bill's passage."
Lawmakers said 282 people work at the prison. The annual payroll is $6.3 million, and about $572,000 is paid annually in property taxes.
Sen. Willie Simmons, D-Cleveland, unsuccessfully attempted to amend the bill to require all the inmates to go through Mississippi's classification process, essentially a review of the inmate's criminal history.
Simmons said he was concerned about the safety of citizens in the region.
"Tallahatchie County is one of the poorest counties. I cannot argue against it in that regard," Simmons said. "There are many other families who are not working at that facility who will be exposed."
Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood, said three prisons operate in his district, which includes some parts of Tallahatchie County.
Jordan said he doesn't believe citizens would be put at more risk if maximum security inmates were housed at Tutwiler.
"Most frightening of anything is to lose 282 jobs in a rural community that otherwise would have no way to survive," he said.
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