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Supervisors approve final
plans for justice center
By Brant Sappington
Staff Writer
Efforts to construct a new regional jail and justice center in Alcorn County took a major step forward Wednesday as supervisors voted to approve the final plans and begin advertising for bids for construction of the facility.
Architect Michael LeBlanc delivered the final plans for the 147,972 square-foot facility Wednesday and said he expects bidding for the project to be very competitive.
The center will be located on South Harper Road between the county's juvenile detention center and the National Guard armory and will house offices for the sheriff's department, Corinth Police Department, Corinth Alcorn County E-911 and the county's emergency management agency, along with a courtroom and offices for Alcorn County Justice Court and Corinth Municipal Court.
The jail portion of the center will be divided into three main segments. The Alcorn County Detention Center will house city and county prisoners with 52 beds for women and 188 for men, along with a trustee dorm area including a total of 50 beds. A Mississippi Department of Corrections Regional Jail connected to the center will house 308 beds for state inmates. A dormitory area for inmates in custody while working to pay restitution for their crimes is also included.
Bids will be opened for the project at 3 p.m. on September 9 in the main courtroom at the Alcorn County Courthouse.
LeBlanc said the project is one of the largest being put out for bids in the state and he expects it to draw a large number of bidders. He said he's already heard from several contractors wanting to know when the bid process would begin.
"We feel very confident that we're going to have a lot of interest and a lot of good bids," he said.
Once bids are opened, LeBlanc's firm will review the low bidder to determine if the company meets all requirements and then return to the board of supervisors with a recommendation for them to accept a bid. LeBlanc said if everything goes well they should be able to break ground in late October or early November. The contractor will have 16 months to complete the project.
Irb Benjamin, a consultant with MCM Jail Development, Management and Consulting who has helped guide the county through the process of developing the center, said at the same time LeBlanc is reviewing the contractor work will be going on to ready the county to issue bonds to finance the facility so the bonds can be sold as soon as they are ready to proceed with the project.
The center will financed through a bond issue to be funded by money generated through the county's contract with MDOC to operate the regional jail, along with funds from a lease agreement between the city and county for use of the city's portion of the center and the housing of city inmates.
Board of Supervisors President Gary Ross said Thursday's action is a significant step toward completing the long-awaited and much needed project and he and his fellow board members are excited to see major progress being made on the effort.
