Video: State/County Inmate Work Program

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MONROE COUNTY, Miss.(WCBI)–When it comes to paying for housing state inmates in county prisons, that joint agreement between the state and counties will end August 1st.

At least two county sheriff departments in North Mississippi know what they are going to do about housing inmates in their jail by the deadline date.

“We were previously thought that we were going to send them back to the state. But we thought about how valuable the programs that we have, that they are doing that maybe we would keep them to see what happen on down the road,” said Sheriff Cecil Cantrell/Monroe County.

“The agreement was in the past that the department of corrections would pay us 20 dollars a day to house them. Well that fee is going to be cut out. So we’ll be keeping them basically at no cost. But the department of corrections will still pick up their medical expenses,” said Chief Deputy James Meyers/Chickasaw County.

And thats for both Monroe and Chickasaw Counties.

“When you got 26 people going out and working in different areas of the county, it saves Monroe County money. And if you put the pencil to this in a years time thats over a half million dollars in labor that will be saved,” said Sheriff Cecil Cantrell/Monroe County.

“The cities and the county, there is no way to supplement their budgets enough to hire somebody. Like I say this inmate work program is a great thing. It gives back to the community. All the cities here they benefit from it as well as the county road department,” said Deputy Sheriff James Meyers/Chickasaw County.

And so before the looming deadline, there have been months of phone calls, adjustments on the part of the counties and discussions on the state level.

“The sheriff has signed off on it, as well as the commissioner. So we look for everything to be rolling business as usual August First,” said Chief Deputy James Meyers/Chickasaw County.

The issue of inmates being housed in county jails could once again make it’s way to the state capital in 2016.