The opening of this new facility does not eliminate the amount of work required by this department. In fact, it will mean more work and more responsibility for all who work here due to the increase in jail population. It does provide some great advantages, including a much safer and more stable work environment for staff and those incarcerated here. This is accomplished with a facility that has been constructed to meet federal jail housing standards and through the use of modern technology such as security cameras, electronic door controls, a modern fire alarm and fire suppression system, non-toxic building components, and most importantly a vast superior level of efficiency of employee work.  All these things can give the family of anyone who works here, or the family of anyone who might have the misfortune to be incarcerated here some degree of peace of mind. Mainly, that their family member is being taken good care of.

If you were able to come tour the facility, you may have wondered about some of the office furnishings. Most of those furnishings and furniture in those offices was bought and paid for by the employees themselves or were donated by other employees or private individuals. A great deal of the office furniture such as desks, chairs, file cabinets, and book shelves were already owned by Tishomingo County and merely transferred to this location.

I want to thank everyone who came out during the open house and showing interest in how your Sheriff's department operates and how this new facility will benefit Tishomingo County. Please feel free to give me a call if you have a question or concern about what is going on in the County or if you need help. We truly believe in both parts of the eternal law enforcement motto, "To Protect And Serve".

Below are some figures of how this facility will help pay for itself:

The 75 bed separate building that will house Joint County-State Workers was designed to help pay for the entire facility. This is accomplished by providing funds to the County for housing those inmates at the rate of $20.00 per inmate per day. It costs the county approximately $5.00 per day to feed, clothe, and house these inmates leaving approximately $15.00 per day to go toward the cost of the jail itself and it's operating expenses.

Figures based on 70 Joint County-State Workers:

• $15.00 (per inmate per day net) X 70 (inmates) = $1,050 (per day)
• $1,050 (per day) X 365 (days per year) = $383,000 to be deposited in the county general fund

Work can be done by these 70 workers such as picking up the garbage on all roads in the county, cleaning city parks, cleaning ball fields, helping unload and pack food at food pantrys, and legally helping any non-profit business or any government agency, and lastly one of the most valuable jobs they can do is help when a storm or other disaster hits our county by providing a ready labor force for clean-up. This labor, if given a dollar figure using the current minimum wage:

• $7.25 (per hour) X 8 (hours per day) = $58.00 (per day per inmate)
• $58.00 (per inmate per day) X 70 (inmates) = $4,060.00 (per day)
• $4,060.00 (per day of labor) X 365 (days a year) = $1,481,900.00 per year

Again, if you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me. 

Sheriff John Dennis Daugherty