Five months after a submitted bill for half a million dollars and multiple discussions surrounding the county jail housing city inmates, it appears as if an agreement has been reached between city and county officials.
A memorandum of understanding between the Yazoo County Board of Supervisors and Yazoo City’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen has been approved and authorized.
The city of Yazoo City does not have a jail, only a holding facility, at its police department. After 48 hours, municipal inmates should be moved to the Yazoo County Regional Correctional Facility.
According to the city’s proposed contract, which the county board approved, a municipal inmate is considered Yazoo City’s responsibility until they are bound over to the Grand Jury. At that point, the inmate becomes Yazoo County’s responsibility, which includes all housing, medical and other related expenses.
“Once they are bound over, they become county property,” said Mayor David Starling, at a recent county board meeting. “All costs incurred after they are bound over is the responsibility of the county. We are asking to continue what has been in place between Yazoo City and Yazoo County for as long as any of us can remember.”
Lilli Evans-Bass, board attorney for the city of Yazoo City, said the proposed agreement followed “a gentlemen’s agreement” that had been recognized for years.
“For decades, the county has taken the sole financial responsibility of all inmates after they were bound over,” Evans-Bass said. “Doing it any other way would be an extreme hardship to the city to the point of solvency or an extreme raise in taxes to the citizens of the municipality to fund that.”
The suggestion of Yazoo City being responsible for its inmates housed at the Yazoo County Regional Correctional Facility up until the inmates were indicted was considered at one time. But Starling said the city could not handle such a financial burden.
“Our monthly revenue would not support us being able to do that,” Starling said. “If we do have to tap into the general fund or whatever funds, I am afraid Yazoo City would be bankrupt in a number of years.”
The discussion was first brought to the table last summer when the Yazoo City Police Department received a letter from Sheriff Jeremy McCoy and Warden Jacqueline Morton requesting that the city police department reimburse the Yazoo County Regional Correctional Facility for half a million dollars for housing and medical bills on city inmates.
The letter sparked former Police Chief Terry Gann and Assistant Chief Patrick Jaco to appear before the Yazoo County Board of Supervisors for an explanation.
“I was concerned about the letter we received saying that we owed almost a little over half a million dollars in back inmate housing fees,” Gann said, in the earlier county meeting. “From my understanding, for centuries, we have been in an agreement that the county house our inmates. When they are bound over to Grand Jury, they would become county inmates. We are asking for explanation for this bill.”
Those payments requested around last summer to the city included:
* Cost for housing inmates from January 2025-May 2025: $290,225
* Cost for housing inmates from January 2024-December 2024: $209,600
* Medical and pharmacy costs from January 2025-June 2025: $4,224.95
* Medical and pharmacy costs from January 2024-December 2024: $4,803.73
* Total Cost: $508,853.67
Both McCoy and Morton said they did not agree with the county assuming the financial responsibility of those inmates once they were bound over, adding that those municipal inmates should still be considered the city’s responsibility.
That letter, several discussions and a few meetings led to the recent MOU being drafted for approval, after a few revisions.
According to the approved MOU, “for each such municipal prisoner housed, the County shall be compensated by the City at the daily per diem rate of $25 per prisoner per day for days one (1) through thirty (30) of each such prisoner’s housing at the Facility, and $32.71 per prisoner per day for days thirty-one (31) and greater of each such prisoner’s housing at the Facility…”
“It shall be the sole responsibility of the City to provide and pay for any and all medical treatment or supplies, and/or medications or other pharmaceutical items required or requested of any City municipal prisoner housed at the Facility,” the MOU continued.
Evans-Bass said the city did not have any problem following the daily rates and medical expenses until the inmate is bound over; the inmate then becomes the county’s responsibility.
“Upon being bound over, such prisoner shall then be considered to be a County prisoner, whereby the City shall no longer be required to pay the above daily per diem rates for the housing of such prisoner at the Facility, or any other fees or expenses related to said prisoner including medical expenses, hospitalization, and medication or other related expenses as stated herein,” the MOU states.
Supervisor Willie Wright then questioned what happens if court proceedings drag on for months or even years after the inmate is bound over.
“They could be bound over to the Grand Jury at the end of the week, and they may sit in jail for the next two to three years without ever going to trial,” said Jay Barbour, the county board attorney. “My version (of the proposed contract) was that they were city inmates until they were indicted, but it also said the city was responsible for all medical, at all times. The latest version from the city does away with all that and says once they are bound over, the county has full financial responsibility. The city doesn’t pay medical and doesn’t pay the daily rate.”
Evans-Bass said the city’s revised version better suits their financial needs, adding that Yazoo County has a better medical plan to accommodate the inmate’s medical expenses.
“The county has a plan that drastically reduces the medical,” she said. “The county is not paying what is on the medical bills. When the city incurs medical bills, the city is actually paying that full amount. The county is paying a very, very small portion of that amount.”
McCoy added that if the Yazoo City Police Department presents its cases quicker, the inmates would move in and out of the facility more quickly.
“They leave guys over there for three or four years,” McCoy said. “That is a big burden on us because we don’t know what is going on with those cases.”
“That doesn’t solely fall on the city’s investigators,” Evans-Bass replied. “It also falls on the District Attorney’s office as to how quickly a case is presented. The only thing the city can do is require its investigators to get those files over to the District Attorney’s office in a certain amount of time. The city can’t force the District Attorney to present anything.”
The MOU also states that “the City will continue to assist the County, as needed, and based on the availability and manpower of the City, in the transport of prisoners having formerly been municipal prisoners.”
McCoy said city inmate transportation has and remains an issue. Evans-Bass suggested that McCoy let her and Starling know about those issues when they occur so that they can resolve them.
The MOU also stated that any desire to terminate the agreement without cause should be done via written notice with termination possible 90 days after such notice.
