Ellington

Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin said today that he rightfully fired nine county-jail employees.

McMillin fired the Hinds County jail employees, including a supervisor, earlier this month after the beating of inmate Charles Johnson and a subsequent investigationMcMillin fired another eight jail employees last month over an unrelated incident, bringing the total up to 17. McMillin said he reinstated one of the fired guards as the March investigation proceeded.

Johnson is charged with the Feb. 15 shooting death of a Jackson resident.

Speaking at today's Koinonia Coffee House Friday Forum, the sheriff said his department will eventually recover from the negative image resulting from the Johnson beating and the subsequent disciplinary actions, but said he had no choice but to respond harshly.

"I wouldn't be doing this (job) if I couldn't take it," said McMillin, who told reporters earlier this month that the announcement was not the type of statement he "likes to make."

The audience appeared to hold no ill will for the sheriff's response to the investigation, which he said is ongoing.

"He said there was a problem there, and he actively addressed it, and he handled it. Whether it was popular or not, it was something that had to be done," said Boys and Girls Clubs President Billy Redd, one of about 70 audience members at McMillin's one-hour presentation.

The sheriff took a few moments to address overcrowding at the jail, which recently prompted him to request Jackson Police Chief Rebecca Coleman to restrain her officers from making arrests for non-violent or mild offenses.

"I had to call the chief's office yesterday and say, 'How about lightening up on some of these lesser misdemeanors--drunk in public, open container? Because I'm full of who I need to have, and that's felons,'" McMillin said. "If I got a jail full of felons, then I have to make a choice about whether or not I keep this felon for aggravated assault or do I let this guy go for DUI. Will I take Jesus or Barabbas? I've got 576 beds and I can't have one more than that, so I'm going to let him go, whether or not he has a bond."

Chief Coleman did not immediately respond to calls.

The vast majority of the county jail's population consists of pre-trial detainees, McMillin said, adding that his deputies are doing all they can to get cases prepped and ready for court, but that the deputies are just one component of a much bigger justice-system problem.

"We don't think the court's moving quickly enough, that judges aren't handling enough cases, that the district attorney's office is (not) prosecuting enough people," McMillin said. "They could answer that as far as why that is, but I know that we don't have any problem arresting and building a case and getting (perpetrators) ready for indictment. But after that it's somebody else's responsibility."