Jackson Jambalaya

Lee Vance tear the jail down and start over

Spend nearly a million bucks on a sole source contract to replace 73 doors. Only one company is available (in Texas) to provide the doors.

Tear down the jail and start over. . . So you trust the new Hinds County board to build a jail? Ooooooookay. So President Graham, who in December was the lone and vocal vote against a settlement timeline with the Department of Justice, is now the champion of detention matters. Nothing but a crock to cover the stealing. Hello Auditor White, c’mon on down!!

I love how Hinds county spends our money and THEN tells us. Just like the time back in 2016 they gave the developers of the Westin $9,000,000 of our dollars without asking us.

And the federal courthouse has NO public parking, so you have to valet park at the Westin. Follow the money...

Great optics. New board attorney rides in behind a suspicious contract. Wonder how long until fed investigation smoke is in the air?

Dey gots to pay back their benefactors ASAP. Follow the money; business as usual.

The folks have been crooked for a long time; move far away quickly

Anxiously awaiting the name of the "Risk Manager" and his or her qualifications. Seems like another kush job appointment.

$12,287 per door? I call BS. Why were there no bids taken?

11:41, clarification, the county backed a loan between the Westin developer and the bank, up to $9 million. And the state backed a bigger loan, not to mention certain state leaders twisted the county's arm to be involved in the first place. And they developer's family personally guaranteed the note and would be in line to pay before the state and the county took the hit. And everybody in mid-Mississippi knows the name of the Rankin county family backing the project. But sure, short cut all of that and say the county gave them $9 million.

If you had an issue with the previous board, just wait.

Six years under McQuirter and a full four-year term under Sheriff Mason and this did not come up in a meeting at all. If all they needed was doors, the detention center would have been compliant a long time ago. The discussion was ALWAYS staffing and inadequate pay (sound familiar?)

People are about to get PAID in Hinds County. Just not the jailers.

So how many times has the board fixed these doors in the last 12 years?

Fixed? Or spent money? Apparently never fixed.

Read the monitors report. Doors were not the priority of the Feds. Nor the last board. But fixing them using this sole source provider is the priority of the new board. Draw your own conclusions.

15 days in and the new sheriff has it all solved. Just need a million bucks and a contractor nobody heard of.

For a second I thought this was about the airport authority.

So, one meeting into the term, the new board members figured out how to fix the jail....and without the aid of the longstanding board attorney who had all of the interaction with the federal monitors for five years. And they had to call a special meeting? Ok.

Is there an annual jailer's convention in Paris?

@4:26pm

you stated......

"clarification, the county backed a loan between the Westin developer and the bank, up to $9 million. And the state backed a bigger loan, not to mention certain state leaders twisted the county's arm to be involved in the first place. And they developer's family personally guaranteed the note and would be in line to pay before the state and the county took the hit. And everybody in mid-Mississippi knows the name of the Rankin county family backing the project. But sure, short cut all of that and say the county gave them $9 million."

the reality is the State gave the developer $26M to the Simpson Group where the owners filed bankruptcy protection shortly after the Westin opened resulting in the closure of Mint and Julep.

Please state the facts. If these guys were real they would have built parking for this overpriced 200 room hotel. Somebody(s) got paid.