State owes Lauderdale County for holding inmates

By By Chris Allen Baker / staff writer
March 19, 2002
Lauderdale County Sheriff Billy Sollie said it's time the county collects more than $365,000 from the state for housing Mississippi prisoners in the county jail.
Sollie told county supervisors Monday night that the state hasn't reimbursed the county for expenses of housing prisoners from September through January.
Officials with the Mississippi Department of Corrections could not be reached for comment today. County supervisors took no action on the issue Monday; they could discuss it again next week.
The state Department of Corrections is supposed to pay Lauderdale County $20 a day for each state inmate in the county jail. The state also is expected to pay inmates' medical costs.
Sollie said the state owes the county $273,780 for housing inmates and $91,738 for their medical costs. Once figures are added for the month of February, Sollie said, the total could reach close to $400,000.
Calvin Hardy, a booking officer with the Lauderdale County Detention Facility, said the jail had 225 total prisoners this morning including 74 state inmates.
Rex Hiatt, county administrator, said Lauderdale County plans its annual budget with the expectation of receiving the $20 a day for each state inmate housed in the county jail.
Sollie said an alternative could include sending state inmates' medical bills directly to the state.