Can one solution solve jail problems in two counties?

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Temporary solutions will not permanently solve the problems at the Harrison and Jackson county jails.

Until they’re able to build a new jail, officials in Jackson County are trying to put up temporary buildings to house some of the inmates now crowded into the old jail. The Board of Supervisors and the sheriff are “under the gun” to improve conditions at the jail because they have been threatened with federal action and scrutiny by their liability insurer.

Harrison County officials are in a similar bind. The lease on their temporary buildings to house inmates will run out in two years, and at $1 million a year, supervisors don’t want to renew it. Yet they also don’t want to spend nearly $800,000 to begin a multimillion-dollar expansion of the jail itself.

“We can’t just keep building jail cells,” says Harrison County Supervisor Windy Swetman. “We’ve got to strive for alternatives in corrections.”

Is a possible alternative a regional approach, with Harrison and Jackson counties working together to solve each of their problems? This suggestion has been ignored in the past, but as conditions worsen in both counties, perhaps now it will receive more favorable consideration, especially in the Legislature, where action must be taken to supersede the state law that dictates the location of county jails.

The editorial above represents the views of the Sun Herald editorial board, which consists of President-Publisher Glen Nardi, Vice President and Executive Editor Stan Tiner, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Flora S. Point, Opinion Page Editor B. Marie Harris and Associate Editor Tony Biffle.