Mayor George Flaggs Jr. is offering his services to the Warren County Board of Supervisors in its efforts to build a new county jail.

The offer follows a Jan. 31 meeting between the supervisors and the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, during which supervisors’ president Richard George estimated work on a new jail possibly could begin in 2019.

“I would like to offer my assistance at your board’s request to try and expedite that time frame,” he wrote in a letter sent Thursday to George offering his help.

“The city of Vicksburg is in dire need of a jail facility earlier than the 2019 date,” Flaggs continued, adding it has cost the city $1.137 million since 2013 to house city misdemeanor prisoners in jails outside the county in Issaquena, Copiah, Madison and other counties.

“I would be more than happy to use some of my experience as a past chairman of corrections and also banking and finance (committees) in the Mississippi House of Representatives to assist the board of supervisors in developing a course of action in the funding for a new jail,” Flaggs, a former legislator, said.

George said Friday he received the letter, but said, “The biggest assistance we will need is from the Legislature to allow us to choose a site outside the municipality. The Legislature should be able to recognize inside of a municipality sometimes might not be in the most likely spot.”

Under state law, the county is responsible for building the jail, which the law says must be located in the county seat, in this case the city of Vicksburg.

He said the supervisors were expected to discuss Monday what can be done to get the law changed.

George said during the Jan. 31 meeting the law makes it difficult for the county to find the 12 to 15 acres it would need to build a jail inside the city and follow the city’s zoning and historic preservation regulations.

“This is a significant project, but we’re not actually at free choice to purchase land. Before we can purchase, we’ve got to know we can use it for the intended purpose,” he said at the time. “When the public learns you’re limited to site selection by boundary, then automatically your negotiation ability is greatly reduced.”
George said the supervisors “can process this thing a step at a time, but we need to have the latitude. If we’re going to buy it, we at least need to be able to choose where we buy rather than have someone else choose it for us.”

Flaggs said he sent the letter to George “because I think I can help them with how to finance it.”

“If they need me, I’ll help them anyway I can. What I’m trying to do is offer my assistance to help them without interfering with their operation of government,” Flaggs said. “It was just a continuation of the discussion we had (in January) and let them know I’m available if they need me.”