For the 15th time in the past four years, a new jail topped the list of recommendations made by the Warren County grand jury.

The grand jury meets four times a year — January, May, July and October — and a new jail has been one of several recommendations for at least a decade and the top recommendation since at least 2008.

This term, the grand jury copied verbatim a recommendation by the May grand jury calling for less talk and more action.

“We recommend that more aggressive action be taken to pursue the funding needed,” grand jurors wrote both in May and July.

The Warren County Jail was built in 1906 and renovated in the 1970s. It can house up to 128 inmates and is regularly at capacity with pre-trial detainees. City prisoners often are jailed at the Issaquena County Correctional Facility, increasing costs to cover housing and transportation.

In 2009, the Warren County Board of Supervicors hired a consultant to study the county’s jail needs and recommend a potential site for a new jail. Guidelines said 20 to 50 acres would be needed to build a jail capable of housing at least 350 inmates

The grand jury recommended seeking a site near the Warren County Courthouse for the jail. The current jail at Cherry and Grove streets is across the street from the courthouse, which houses courtrooms for the 9th Judicial District Circuit Court, Chancery Court and Warren County Court, as well as offices of the county’s circuit and chancery clerks and the tax assessor and collector.

The grand jury was selected and sworn in Monday by presiding Circuit Judge M. James Chaney. They completed their duties Friday, reviewing evidence in criminal cases, issuing indictments against defendants or no-bills where they found insufficient evidence to go to trial. They reviewed 100 cases involving 118 defendants, returning indictments in 98 cases and six no bills.