JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – The City of Jackson is looking into the opportunity of purchasing an unused jail facility.
The Jackson council discussed the option of buying the un-used sheriff department downtown jail.
Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes said that Jackson would greatly benefit from having it own jail instead of having to pay surrounding counties to hold detainees– adding that it’s important the city try not to raise taxes to sustain the facility so neighbors may continue to afford to the live in the city.
He is requesting that the county lower their milage and letting the city increase their milage, so that Jackson will able to afford the acquired facility.
“Let’s give our police officers what they need. Yeah, you can give them a gun a bullet proof vest but they don’t have a jail to lock some one up whose bad. We got to do it and I think this city council is the right one to do it,” said said Councilman Stokes.
“We are in full support of the city operating a facility, the one that’s right behind us. Legal is trying to work through the details of what that looks like. there is a lot at play right now with the DOJ,” said Jackson mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba.
The mayor said he is in agreement with the city’s’ acquisition of the unused facility and having been working on it for months.
Mayor Lumumba also said there are some federal county consent decree matters and repairs that must be addressed before accomplishing this goal.