The new Noxubee County trash crew helps cleanup the county

NOXUBEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – A state grant has helped make Noxubee County a cleaner place.

The grant allowed Noxubee County to have a trash detail that’s made up of a sheriff’s deputy and inmates.

The state-funded program allowed inmates to pick up trash across the county and on the sides of highways.

“Styrofoam plates, cups, drink cans, bottles, it’s all kinds and then, we pick up a lot of the recaps that come off of the big truck tires, especially on Highway 45,” said Noxubee County Sheriff’s Deputy JP Wilkinson.

That’s what Sheriff Terry Grassaree sees every day as he patrols the roads in Noxubee County.

Now, thanks to state grant money he was able to do something about it.

“This is the first time we have had anything of this nature. It was just the fact that I see so much trash out there and I know that they need help.”

The grant allowed Grassaree to take a crew of county inmates out to keep Noxubee County clean.

It also provided the county a trailer that can carry up to 25 bags of trash at a time.

It’s a long day for the inmates. They head out at 9 a.m. and wrap up at 3 p.m., sometimes, walking up to four miles a day, but it has its upside.

“That gets them out. Then, they can catch some sun because other than that, you stay in those cells all day other than going out on yard call, but the ones that are trustworthy get a chance to come out and participate.”

The goal is to reach every corner of the county.

“We’ve got signs that we set out that say ‘shoulder work’ just to let people know we’re there and to slow down a little bit, but once we finish 1-45 we will move, I don’t know where we will go next, but they said something about Highway 21 from Shuqualak, out to the county line and then we work Highway 45 some days, 388 some days, Highway 14, we’re just all over.”

Besides cleaner roads, the grant has brought an added bonus.

“It was a big benefit to us, the fact that like I say, it can bring two more jobs then, I can bring them in through the sheriff’s department and I can help the people at the same time, so it was a great impact. The people wanted it because I’ve seen that some people used to get out there on the side or pay other folks to do it.”

The trash detail hit the road last month.

They said they can tell a difference, but there’s still a lot of trash left to pick up.