Bidding process begins for new Itawamba County Jail

FULTON, Miss. (WCBI) – A new jail for Itawamba County is closer to reality. Bids are now being accepted for the facility and the county is looking at several options for the project.

Itawamba County’s current jail has been outdated and obsolete for years.

“We are in a jail more than 70-years-old, we are beyond the want and into a need,” said Sheriff Chris Dickinson.

Plans call for a new jail to be built on a county-owned parcel of land on Access Road. The new jail would more than double the current inmate capacity, with room to grow.

“We’ve got our architect to draw this jail up, 104 bed facility, we don’t think in years to come that’s going to be big enough, but the exact same size jail we can step that up to 154 bed without having to add any structure, just go back put in some more beds and stuff and still be legal under all stuff jails have to be legal by,” said “Tiny” Hughes, president of the board of supervisors.

The county is now accepting bids for the jail, and supervisors are hopeful they can also include offices for the sheriff and a justice court building, in one project.

Of course, it all depends on the cost.

“We could probably build the jail itself, without a tax increase, but if we could hold it down to just a very minimum tax increase and get our sheriff’s department and justice center all on the same site, maybe a two percent increase, ten dollars on most families in county, on taxes, I think most people would be ok with that to go ahead and build the whole thing on one site, in the long run, it will help us save money,” Hughes said.

The county spends $30,000 each month housing inmates in Tishomingo County because there’s not enough room in the old jail.

Supervisors will open bids in mid-November.  They should have a better idea of the size and scope of the project by the end of the year.