A consultant will be hired by Warren County to begin planning a new Warren County jail, supervisors decided Monday.

The board indicated the move was procedural and site selection alone could be years away, but represents a step toward the process learned at a Department of Justice seminar some county officials attended in Denver nine months ago.

“This is what takes so long, the planning and everything,” District 1 Supervisor David McDonald said after supervisors met Monday.

Several proposals for consulting services have crossed supervisors’ desks since the beginning of the year, mostly through informal pitches from representatives of various criminal justice planning companies.

Supervisors favored advertising the project as a professional services contract before more unsolicited offers came their way, said District 5 Supervisor Richard George, board president.

“I just thought we ought to advertise publicly,” George said, calling the rest of the process from here on out “vital, but costly.”

The board appeared to favor a 12-step plan mapped out by Colorado-based Voorhis/Robertson Justice Services Inc., one used as a guide for Monday’s 4-0 vote. District 4 Supervisor Bill Lauderdale was out.

The process involves naming an advisory committee to which the firm would make recommendations and come up with options via thorough reviews of historic and current statistics on the county’s jail needs, such as 10-, 15- and 20-year capacity requirements of adult offenders. Evaluation workshops would be held regarding each option. Likely tasks also include a “matrix” of alternatives to new construction and a detailed impact statement for each.

Warren County Jail’s 128 beds are continually full, holding only pretrial detainees. Vicksburg officials consistently have bemoaned ferrying prisoners to Issaquena County Jail for the $400,000 transportation costs – a price tag that grew again with the city’s recent purchase of a new full-size van for prison transport.

Talk ramped up in this year’s session of the Legislature about regional jails. Though about 1,500 more beds would be added to the state’s jail space, no authorization was passed by lawmakers.

Financing of a new jail in Warren County is likeliest through a bond issue. Since the seminar, however, no cost has been estimated and no financial plans or timetables have been set. Average planning and construction time for a new jail is three to five years, according to the Department of Justice.

On the agendaMeeting Monday, Warren County supervisors:Approved a request from board attorney Paul Winfield to ask for a dismissal of a title-clearing suit against the county and others by Vicksburg Petroleum Products LLC. The firm has proposed restarting the former Barrett Refining site on Warrenton Road. State environmental permits have been issued and the group has a year to have construction completed.Approved a legal review of a lease on school district-owned 16th Section land at Bovina.Approved 12-hour seasonal operating times for the Kings Point Ferry. The ferry will operate from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.Approved an acceptance letter confirming state funding for the Cairo Drive bridge timber pile repair.Approved an interfund loan from the general fund to the Homeland Security 2006 Grant Fund to pay for a VHF receiver for the sheriff’s department.