County Pays Ex-Lawmaker Thousands for Jail Work

BY EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. – A northeast Mississippi county is paying $114,000 a year to a private prison company owned by a former state lawmaker who used to represent the area but now lives more than 200 miles away.

Alcorn County has two contracts totaling $9,500 a month with Irb Benjamin, who’s president and lobbyist for Mississippi Correctional Management Inc.

Under one contract, for $5,000 a month, Benjamin’s company handles accreditation for the Alcorn County Regional Correctional Facility.

Under another, for $4,500 a month, Benjamin is warden of the jail. He has told supervisors he’s leaving that job Monday so they can hire someone else after the recent escape of two inmates, one of whom had broken out of the jail for the second time since June.

“When that happens, it’s time to put some better eyes, some different eyes, on the operation,” Benjamin told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday.

Benjamin represented Alcorn County as a Democrat in the state House from 1976-80 and the state Senate 1984-92, then he worked on the staff of Republican Lt. Gov. Eddie Briggs. Benjamin formed the private prison company in 1996, about the time the state Department of Corrections and counties started hiring private contractors to operate prisons and smaller regional jails.

Benjamin now lives in the Jackson suburb of Madison. He said that as warden, he spent time in Alcorn County every week but relied on the security chief to oversee daily jail operations.

“I don’t guess I missed a week of being there,” said Benjamin, 69. “It’s not an easy job to do.”

The jail’s security chief, Capt. Roger Settlemires, said Tuesday that Benjamin was at the jail at least once a week.

“I could call Mr. Benjamin day or night. He would always answer the phone,” Settlemires said.

The Alcorn County Board of Supervisors’ attorney, Bill Davis, said the supervisors were not required to seek bids before giving Benjamin the contract as warden because it was a contract for services and those are exempt from bid laws.

Benjamin said his company has operated the Grenada County jail for several years, but he has given notice that he will end that service Feb. 28.

He said the company also has jail accreditation contracts worth $4,000 or $5,000 a month with several other counties, including Hancock, Holmes, Marion, Pearl River, Washington and Yazoo. The jails are accredited by the American Correctional Association.

In the past, Benjamin has also worked as a $3,000-a-month jail consultant for DeSoto County. The minutes for the June 13, 2008, DeSoto County Board of Supervisors meeting show supervisors approved the contract 4-1 and: “Mr. Benjamin was recommended by Commissioner Epps at the state level.”

Benjamin said Tuesday that he was not aware of the recommendation from Chris Epps, who was state corrections commissioner for 12 years.

A day after Epps left the state Department of Corrections, federal prosecutors unveiled a 49-count federal indictment charging Epps and former state Rep. Cecil McCrory in a bribery scheme. They have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled for trial in January.

Epps was president of the American Correctional Association until he left his job as commissioner.