During his report to the Meridian City Council Tuesday morning, Mayor John Robert Smith said the Newton County Board of Supervisors had approved the inter-local agreement between the Newton County Jail and the Meridian Police Department to house prisoners from Meridian.
Smith mentioned the agreement in such a low key manner that if you weren't listening closely you might have missed the announcement.
For many days now the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors and the City of Meridian have been going back and forth over fee amounts for Meridian to house prisoners in the Lauderdale County Adult Detention Facility. Unable to come to a compromise, City of Meridian Chief Administrative Officer Ken Storms said the city began shopping around for alternatives.
"We already had a memorandum of understanding with the Newton County officials in which MPD Chief Benny DuBose and Newton County Sheriff Jackie Knight agreed to the arrangement," said Storms. "To follow up on the Newton County supervisors vote to approve the agreement, the city council here will vote to approve the measure at the next council meeting."
The City of Meridian will be charged $20 per day per prisoner. Lauderdale County supervisors wanted to charge the city $30 per prisoner, per day. Storms said the savings will more than offset the cost of transporting prisoners to and from Decatur.
Knight said all misdemeanor prisoners from Meridian will be housed in the Newton County facility. He in no way wanted to make it seem he was meddling in business from another county.
"Listen, I just wanted to help a fellow law enforcement agency," Knight said. "I'm not out to cut Sheriff Billy Sollie's throat or to get into anyone's business. I'm just trying to help out Chief DuBose. I've done the same with other agencies in other counties. If I'm in the same shape I would hope somebody would come to my aid. We ain't getting rich by no means. We just happen to have the space available."
Currently, Knight said two Meridian prisoners are at his jail.
Sollie, who has been in contact with the State Attorney General's Office, said he has reason to believe the agreement is not legal until the attorney general's office examines it and signs off on it. "But I'm not the one who would get into trouble if there is in fact some sort of violation," Sollie said. "This will be something for the officials at the AG's Office, Newton County and the City of Meridian to deal with."
Attempts to reach an official at the Opinions Division of the attorney general's office Tuesday were unsuccessful.
Local News
MPD to house prisoners in Decatur
Inter-local agreement approved by Newton County supervisors
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City cuts payment to Watkins
The Meridian City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to cut their monthly payment to David Watkins, project developer of Meridian's new police station, by $9,999 until work resumes on the project.
The order, made during the Meridian City Council meeting Tuesday morning, included a mutual agreement between the councilmen and Watkins to reduce the project developer's monthly consultant fee of $10,000 to $1, effective Tuesday. -
Crews work on gasoline pipeline
If you hear a loud, booming sound early today, between 4 a.m.-10 a.m., there is no cause for alarm.
Workers with Plantation Pipeline will be performing maintenance work on their 30-foot gasoline pipeline in the Meridian area to accommodate the widening of Highway 493. The location of the work activity will be at Highway 493 North and Oak Hill Baptist Church, just inside the city limits. -
Team Spirit
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High Honor
The flowers and balloons Crestwood Elementary School Principal Kimberly Kendrick received at school Monday were not an early Valentines' Day gift.
Kendrick has been named Meridian Public School District's 2012 Administrator of the Year – an announcement that both surprised and wowed the 17-year veteran educator when made by MPSD Superintendent Dr. Alvin Taylor. -
Master Dance Class
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Digital system promises better communication
Hopefully in the near future you won't hear someone in the emergency services ask over the radio, "Can you hear me now?"
A digital communications system, one which is being pushed by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), is a few months away and, in some cases, is already in the testing phase in Lauderdale County. -
Inmate escapes custody
Mississippi Department of Corrections officials said Monday afternoon an inmate escaped from custody Friday and is still being sought.
Officials said Johnny Hall Jr. escaped from two Wilkinson County Correctional Facility officers’ custody while being escorted from his father’s wake at the Picayune Funeral Home in Picayune. Preliminary information indicates Hall left the officers and jumped into a waiting black vehicle with a white female driver. -
Citizen’s Police Academy begins today
The work law enforcement conducts on a daily basis is often misunderstood by the general public.
Officials at the Meridian Police Department developed a program to inform and educate citizens on what police do in serving and protecting the population. The program, The Citizen's Police Academy, has been gaining speed for a couple of years since it was first offered. Officials said it shows residents are interested in police work and how it is conducted. - Woman: decongestant brought meth charge in Alabama
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