One day after a Warren County supervisor renewed his call for a county jail to be built on industrial land in the eastern part of the county, the grand jury convening this week reminded authorities of the need for a new correctional facility.

As other grand jurors have for more than four years, the group that met Monday through Thursday placed a new jail at the top of its list of recommendations, expressing concern with how long it is taking supervisors to correct conditions at the aging facility. Jurors tour the jail as part of their service.

“This grand jury feels strongly that this issue is of vital importance to our community as it relates to the working conditions of the Warren County Sheriff’s Department as well as the safety of the jailers and prisoners, and we feel that the time has come to begin setting aside funds dedicated to this future structure,” states the report, which was issued after the grand jury completed its review of pending felony cases.

Wednesday, District 1 Supervisor David McDonald told a local civic group that the Ceres Research and Industrial Interplex, off Interstate 20 near Flowers, is the best spot for a new jail.

A 64,000-square-foot “spec building,” constructed in 1995 to lure business to the park, could be outfitted to house a new jail, McDonald believes.

Warren County Port Commissioners, who manage the Ceres industrial park, have disagreed, saying there is still hope the building will bring industrial tenants.

Other recommendations in the grand jury report also echoed those made by past panels, including the addition of another circuit courtroom to the county’s judicial facilities to expedite cases.

Warren County, one of three in Mississippi’s 9th Circuit Court district, has two judges, Isadore Patrick and M. James Chaney, who hear criminal and civil cases in one circuit courtroom at the courthouse across Grove Street from the jail. Cases occasionally are heard at an alternate site several blocks away on Clay Street.

A consultant hired in August 2008 to study needed jail facilities and optimal sites said expediting criminal cases could relieve overcrowding at the jail, which was built in 1906 and renovated in the 1970s. It can house up to 128 inmates and is usually at capacity with pre-trial detainees. City prisoners often are jailed at the Issaquena County Correctional Facility, increasing costs to cover housing and transportation.

This week, grand jurors also met with judges, prosecutors and law enforcement and toured Youth Court and the Warren County Children’s Shelter.

The group’s other recommendations:

• Warren County residents should contact legislators to urge them “to become involved with juvenile justice issues and implement and support substantial reform of the juvenile justice system as a long-term solution toward reducing crime in our community.”

• Supervisors should continue to fully fund the children’s shelter.

• The city and county should fund a firing range for law enforcement qualification examinations.

• Raises for law enforcement staff should be given a high priority.