CARROLLTON — Arthur Smith has been named deputy warden of the Carroll-Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility, Carroll County Sheriff Jerry Carver says.
Smith has been the warden at the facility since 2008 and has been the subject of controversy within the county’s Board of Supervisors.
Carver asked for a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors last week to discuss the warden’s position. What happened there was confusing, according to Beat 1 Supervisor Terry Herbert.
“When we left there, we didn’t have a warden,” Herbert said. “After that, I heard Carver sent us a letter saying he had appointed Smith deputy warden. I haven’t gotten a copy of the letter.
“We were told we were having a called meeting because Smith wanted to get four months in the position so he could retire,” Herbert said. “I told him I would entertain that idea. Then he and the sheriff went outside and talked, and he came back in and said he was not interested in retiring.
Herbert said he felt they should “go in another direction at the prison because of things that have happened there.”
He said he is confused about the vote taken in the special meeting. “We voted to rescind what we did earlier this month,” he said.
At that January meeting, the board voted 3-2 to let Smith remain as interim warden at the regional facility until a contract could be agreed on making him an independent contractor who would serve as warden, with Herbert and Beat 5 Supervisor Rickie Corley voting no.
That move was rescinded at the called meeting. Herbert said the vote to do so was unanimous after Beat 4 Supervisor Claude Fluker made the motion, seconded by Marvin Coward.
In November, Smith was told his contract would not be renewed. Carver tried to get the board to change that decision in December to no avail. He said he believes the warden has done a good job, based on the excellent rating the prison got in its recent American Corrections Association audit.
Earlier at a December meeting, Smith said he was disappointed in the board’s decisions about his employment.
“I don’t know why,” he said. “I feel I did my job to the best of my ability. I haven’t had any reason for the non-renewal of my contract, which was up Jan. 5.”
Carver has repeatedly insisted he has the right to name the warden, since it comes under his department. By law the Board of Supervisors has the right to advice and consent on the position.
“We haven’t had a deputy warden in three years. He has been doing both jobs,” Carver said. “The way I saw it, it will keep us out of trouble with the Mississippi Department of Corrections and the ACA.”
Smith will go to the ACA conference and receive a certificate of accreditation.
“It is an honor to have the perfect score we had,” Carver said. “Everybody doesn’t have it.”
Herbert said that he does not believe there is money in the budget for two positions and that the contract with the state demands a warden be appointed. He also said he wishes the warden had have taken the temporary four-month position, made improvements at the jail and then explained those to the board.
