Jackson County officials are considering moving the correctional institute out of the state-owned building that once housed the I.W. Davis Detention Center and back to its former location.
The county has over 80 inmates a day that do not get assigned to work crews and it’s costing the county over $3,600 per day to house them without getting any benefits, county manager Kevin Poe stated.
“The main decision we have to make is what is the right number of state inmates the county should house that makes the most sense from a cost/benefit standpoint,” he said. “As the county was getting more inmates from the state, the number of correctional officers was being reduced due to budget constraints, thus creating some of the increase in the number of inmates not going out on work crews. We are also examining how we use the inmates on work crews and what is the best use of the limited skills we get from them.”
Poe said reducing the number of inmates would allow the county to move back into the former location, the building next to the old sheriff’s office facility.
“If we were to reduce the number of inmates, we may be able to move back into the old C.I. and save some operating cost since that facility is not as big as the I.W. Davis facility,” he said. “However, we are having to inspect the county C.I. to determine exactly what it would take to make it operational again.”
The county is paying the state $33,401 to lease the facility, which is in need of some major maintenance work, particularly with the boiler heating system, according to Poe.
“The money we would save by not having to pay the state could cover the cost of getting the old C.I. facility back to good operating condition and then we would be saving that cost in future years,” Poe said. “The county C.I. is roughly the same age as the state facility. We are not looking at any net reduction in county positions, but reallocation of resources to make the operation as effective and efficient as possible.”
Poe said a decision has not been made and there is not a deadline for doing so, although the county contract with the Department of Corrections is up for renewal in July.
“The BOC would have to make a decision before that time if a change is to be made to the contract terms,” Poe said.
