By By Sheila Blackmon/The Meridian Star
June 19, 2001
Sollie told Lauderdale County supervisors Monday a letter received from Attorney General Mike Moore indicates he will not lose trusties to the states private and regional prisons.
Last week, Sollie explained to county supervisors at a work session that Lauderdale County could stand to lose many of the low-security inmates providing free labor.
Sollie's announcement came after Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson proposed removing 500 state inmates from county work programs to satisfy an order from legislators to increase the number of inmates in regional and private facilities.
The transfers had a June 30 deadline which was not enough time to classify inmates, transfer them to Rankin County, then disburse them to regional and private facilities. Trusties were to be transferred because they are already classified and so, could be transferred by the deadline.
Sollie said Monday there is now enough time to transfer inmates of non-trusty status because officials discovered the minimum number of beds that must be filled in regional and private prisons is "less than we originally thought."
Sollie also gave supervisors an update on the inmate work farm program. Inmates are harvesting their crops from the one-acre patch of land behind the Hilltop Home for Boys and have done well, Sollie said.
He told supervisors one inmate brought an additional 50 pounds of squash in since last week, when the first of the crops were harvested.
Sheila Blackmon is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. Call her at 693-1551, ext. 3275, or e-mail her at sblackmon@themeridianstar.com.