Leflore County is negotiating a contract with the Mississippi Department of Corrections in hopes of reviving the mothballed portion of the former Delta Correctional Facility.
Consultant Ed Hargett, who’s working with the county on the contract, said corrections facilities around the country are anticipating an increase in the number of beds needed for inmates as a result of President Donald Trump’s clampdown on illegal immigrants.
Supervisor Sam Abraham said the county is looking to create a substantial income stream to cover the $20,000-per-month cost of upkeep on the facility that also houses the Leflore County Jail.
A resolution approved by supervisors last week has already been sent to acting Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall, Hargett said. An update by Hargett on the contract is on today’s Board of Supervisors’ meeting agenda.
The complex was previously operated as a private prison by Corrections Corporation of America, now named CoreCivic, and housed state inmates. The facility, which is owned by the state, was closed in January 2012 because of a statewide surplus of prison beds.
The facility comprises around 1,000 unused beds that the county hopes to lease to the U.S. Marshals Service to house federal inmates, possibly including undocumented workers detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Proposals to authorize placing state inmates in the vacant facility died in the Legislature in 2015.
Abraham said the recommendation for looking into the idea of leasing room to the federal government came from Hargett, an executive with Magnolia Correctional Management of Charleston.
Several weeks ago, Hargett presented an evaluation of the county jail facility to supervisors that showed the jail is in need of significant upgrades.
Supervisors at that time discussed the need for incoming revenue to cover the cost of utilities and upkeep on the partially used complex.
It’s unclear how much the county would have to pay the state to lease the unused portion of the facility.
Abraham said the county, if it is allowed to lease space to the federal government, would be dealing through a third party. He did not name the third party.
“Once there’s a contract, Mr. Hargett might be the up-front person dealing with the company that’s contracting with the federal government,” Abraham said. “Once they tell us how many inmates and how much they’re going to pay per inmate, whether they’re ICE inmates, whatever it is, they will pay the company, and the company will pay us.”
Both Hargett and Abraham cited the arrangement as a revenue producer for the county that would increase the number of jobs at the facility.
Hargett has been providing jail consulting services to the county for several years. He is paid $4,000 per month for his services.
Last August, the Obama administration ordered that the use of private prisons to hold federal inmates be phased out. Trump has reversed that policy, signing an executive order that authorizes the use of private contractors “to construct, operate or control facilities” in a move to expand immigrant detention facilities.
According to the Los Angeles Times, stocks in private prison companies have risen consistently since the presidential election, after losing value after the Obama order was issued.
• Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
