Own 20 acres or more that might be suitable for the new jail the Warren County Board of Supervisors is planning to build? Supervisors are getting ready to entertain offers, said District 1 Supervisor David McDonald Thursday morning.

Without pinning down a date, McDonald, who has been the supervisors’ designated lead person on jail matters, told Port City Kiwanis members that ads for formal land proposals will be sought in the “near future.”

Finding a site will be the first concrete step in a careful, years-long planning process expected to lead to an expandable 350-bed, $20 million to $30 million detention complex. The new jail will immediately almost triple the capacity of the existing jail buildings at Grove and Cherry streets across from the courthouse.

Because an attorney general’s opinion says the state constitution requires the jail be located within the city limits, McDonald said supervisors have been discussing with Vicksburg officials the option of purchasing land just outside the city limits and annexing it.

“A minimum of 20 acres is needed, and there are very few places you can find 20 acres in the municipal limits,” he said, adding any annexation by the city solely for the jail wouldn’t generate additional taxes as taxes are not paid by government facilities.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said Thursday he’s not keen on the idea of placing the jail outside the city limits.

“My feeling all along has been that it should be as close to downtown Vicksburg as possible,” the sheriff said. “For the courthouses downtown that we transport prisoners to and from, for the logistical convenience of the public when it comes to bonding people out and so on and for the safety logistics of officers who transport prisoners, I feel very strongly it needs to be downtown.”

Since Colorado-based Voorhis/Robertson Justice Services delivered a 16-month study on the new jail in April, supervisors have had little discussion about the project. McDonald said it’s been on the back burner for one reason: money. In the study, Voorhis/Robertson urged the board to locate a 20-50 acre site for the jail by August and have it purchased by November.

The 128-bed Warren County Jail is perpetually filled with pre-trial detainees and was deemed poorly staffed and inadequate for remodeling or expansion in the study. The Vicksburg Police Department anticipates spending about $275,000 in the coming fiscal year to transport prisoners to and from jail facilities outside the county. McDonald said the county spends about $100,000 to do the same.

When asked what kind of tax hike residents might see, McDonald estimated 7 to 9 mills, depending on bond interest rates, for construction. The new jail, to be built allowing expansion to as many as 650 beds, also will be far more expensive to operate. A 2-mill increase for operations seemed likely.

“The effect on the average homeowner will probably be $100 to a couple hundred dollars,” each year for at least 20 years, he said.

County Administrator John Smith said Thursday supervisors have not yet discussed what the potential tax hike would be, but said McDonald’s estimate was on the high end. He estimated the hike will be closer to 4 mills, but stressed that will be a board decision.

Supervisors and the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen have said they don’t anticipate a tax hike for the coming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Both boards are in the midst of compiling the new budgets, which will be adopted by mid-September. Current tax rates equal 40.53 mills in the county, 46.2 for schools and 35.88 inside the city, totaling 122.61 mills. The millage rate is multiplied by the rate of assessment and the assessed value to determine property taxes due each January. The rate also applies to car tags.