From staff reports

The phone system at the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Office was out of order part of Thursday and all day Friday, Sheriff Frank Davis said.

Davis said Friday night that repairmen were working on the system.

For those needing to call the sheriff’s office, an alternate number is 601-437-3834.

Claiborne officials spent $250,000 on a new phone system in 2005. In April, the county spent about $1,500 on equipment to fix the phones when service was disrupted for four days. Last year, the system was disrupted several times, reportedly due to memory card and code programming problems.

In addition, the purchase of system came under investigation when it was revealed that county officials had made the transaction without soliciting bids, and that the decision to purchase the new system was not documented in board meeting minutes.