Lauderdale County supervisors are exploring the possibility of building a new jail away from downtown Meridian.
In a meeting Monday, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution of intent with Benchmark Construction Company. The resolution is a demonstration of interest in moving forward with a new facility but does not commit the county to going further and does not cost anything.
In April, supervisors heard from David Marsh of Benchmark about his company and its process of building new jails. Benchmark has been building detention facilities for more than 47 years, he said, with completed projects including Newton, Pearl River, Madison, Webster, Jefferson Davis, Tate, Copiah and Simpson counties, among others.
Supervisor Josh Todd, who serves as board president, said the county has not committed to anything yet, and there is still a lot of questions to be answered. Todd reiterated the county does not currently have funding for a new jail.
“This is the first step just to get this going,” he said. “We’re not saying this is going to be done in a year or two years or nothing like that, but if we don’t start working towards an end, we’ll never get there.”
The resolution is also broad regarding what the new jail will include. County officials have discussed new space for the E-911 department, as well as tackling the need for a place to house juvenile offenders.
Mississippi has less than a dozen juvenile detention facilities and fewer that accept outside offenders. Costs for housing juveniles can easily top $100 per day and does not include travel expenses.
Supervisor Craig Houston said the county spends a huge amount of money on juvenile offenders and he will be looking for any future jail planning to include a viable solution.
Monday’s action puts the county in a position to move forward when funding for the project becomes available. Todd said doing the groundwork now will help later on.
“I think we need to be ready instead of getting ready,” he said.