VAIDEN — The recent announcement that 56 inmates will be transferred from Delta Correctional Facility to Carroll-Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility was “a good Christmas present,” Carroll County Sheriff Jerry Carver says.
On Monday, Carver told the Carroll County Board of Supervisors that the Mississippi Department of Corrections would begin transferring the inmates soon.
Delta Correctional, a 1,174-bed medium-security prison operated by Corrections Corporation of America, is scheduled to be closed by Jan. 15. The move will affect 241 employees.
Last month, when the closing announcement was made, Delta Correctional was reported to have about 900 inmates.
The sheriff said the number of inmates at the regional jail would increase from 224 to 280 — the maximum number allowed. He said as a result of the inmate surge, the regional jail is “probably going to have to hire a few more officers.”
He said the state would be saving funds by maximizing the use of the 15 regional jails throughout the state.
The Conservative, a Carrollton newspaper, reported Thursday that the state has 21,500 inmates and that regional jails are currently holding about 1,000 fewer inmates than their authorized capacity.“It is not just us. They are getting all the regional jails back up,” the sheriff said.
Carver said the state will pay the county $29.74 per day per inmate. That’s considerably less than the $32 per day per inmate at some privately run prisons.
Carroll County officials say the increase in inmate population will also bring in $610,000 in jail revenue, according to the Conservative.
In addition to a likely increase in the number of guards, Carver said, the county will have to buy more items such as bedding.
Carver speculated that a portion of Delta Correctional’s inmates may return to the state prison system.
