Ellington

The Hinds County Penal Farm may be down for the count, thanks to a federal court order demanding the facility close its doors. The recent court order allows 120 state inmates to be kept at the farm, but only until Oct. 1, 2006.

The order comes at a time when housing county and city detainees has become a fighting matter between the city and the county, which claims that jail space has become a painful drain upon county resources.

"The county is already having a hard time funding the county jail," said Hinds County Vice President Doug Anderson. "I think the closing of the penal farm is going to certainly strain the system, and then we have to be mindful of where to put these (penal farm inmates)."

The farm, which housed 148 detainees as late as Oct. 29, may be preserved in a new incarnation if the county and city can come together in agreement on financing construction plans for a new facility to be ready Oct. 1, 2007. The city and county will have to put aside differences regarding the funding of the Raymond holding facility, however—which will more than likely remain a hurtful topic despite close relations between Anderson and Jackson Mayor Frank Melton. Both the county and city complain of shrinking budget resources as the tax base flees to bedroom communities in Madison and Rankin counties.

"The Hinds County population has been falling for decades, and the money isn't there to counterbalance the rate of crime," said Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin. "Census information will tell you this much, but because of this, I've been working with a smaller budget for years, and it can't keep going on like this. If you want the jail space, you're just going to have to pay for it."

Tempers remain high regarding the Raymond facility. The county has even filed a lawsuit against the city, trying to recoup money spent for years housing city inmates, which comprise the brunt of the county inmate population.

For almost 10 years, the county has not been taking any pay for keeping city detainees, and some within the city feel the first and last financial obligation the city had to the facility was agreeing to drop its taxes by almost $900,000—and allowing the county to up its own taxes during fiscal years 1993-94 and 1994-95.

Language in the Amended Interlocal Cooperation Agreement between the City of Jackson and Hinds County, signed by then-Mayor Kane Ditto in 1994, says the city's "millage reduction" is "intended to be a continuing obligation of the City in consideration of the County's assumption of responsibility for housing of City prisoners."

"The interlocal agreement has not been amended," said prisoners' rights attorney Ronald Welch. "In my opinion, the county could legally refuse to accept city inmates, but hopefully they won't do that. Hopefully people will say this is a point where we need to start new."

As far as the penal farm is concerned, however, Melton told The Clarion-Ledger that he personally supports building a new one, admitting that "90 percent of the inmates are from Jackson proper, and I think it is in the city's best interest."

Melton's acknowledgement remains unsupported by action, however, such as calls to raise new money to fund the facility. Melton remains a staunch opponent of any tax increase, even withdrawing his own recommendation for a $1 million tax increase the day after it was submitted to the city council on Aug. 15.

Also, the city is fast cutting jobs and closing vacant positions to keep the city budget out of the red. The city seems in no position to aid in the financing, beyond Melton offering to give back to the county $500,000 it gave the city for road repair.

Welch said Melton was considering housing city misdemeanor inmates at a different facility, though Melton could not be reached for comment Nov. 4. Welch, who has urged the city to raise its inmate housing standards for decades, said he could agree with a different facility for penal farm inmates so long as it "is a decent facility."

Welch said that building a new minimum security penal farm would not be as labor and cost intensive as constructing a prison and would not take very long, especially considering the use of inmate labor and the requirements of little more than a perimeter fence.

"It's got to be a facility up to standards, because the one they have now is a disgrace. At this point the trailers are all going downhill, and parts of the penal farm itself are really just an old dungeon," Welch said.