Although the county jail is now in compliance with national standards and has completed its audit, county leaders were shocked as to why the facility was not passing its certification.
From missing files to uncooperative employees, the facility’s audit has been on a standstill for several months. However, with a new program manager in charge, the necessary steps are being put in place to ensure this doesn’t happen in the future.
“We are in compliance with everything, and we need to let them know how we are going to stay in compliance,” said Marilyn Hawthorne, program manager. “This is something that has to be done on a day-to-day basis, meeting the standards at the Yazoo County Regional Correctional Facility.”
The Yazoo County Regional Correctional Facility has not passed its audit set by the American Correctional Association since last November. However, the facility fell into compliance with ACA certification at the beginning of May.
Hawthorne appeared before the Yazoo County Board of Supervisors Monday to discuss the shape of the facility’s procedures in maintaining ACA standards. One supervisor said he even felt the facility was “set-up” in the past when it came to ACA certification.
“They set us up to make us fail,” said Supervisor Willie Wright, in regard to previous jail leadership.
Hawthorne said it is imperative to begin collecting data and filing the proper paperwork daily. She said organization was the downfall of the previous audits.
“ACA is following MDOC (the Mississippi Department of Correction) policies,” Hawthorne said. “When we did not pass the audit, it is because some of the departments did not have their paperwork in order. ACA is all about getting the paperwork and putting it in the file. “
Hawthorne said she is already preparing for the 2018-2020 audit.
“You can’t wait until 2020 and collect the work for 2018, 2019 and 2020,” she said. “That’s what was done this past audit. That is the reason we didn’t pass. We didn’t have the paperwork from some departments.”
Hawthorne said that there are over 60 mandatory files that must be secured and prepared for the ACA. Those files, typically saved in red folders, are required to maintain certification. During the last prison audit, the local facility did not have two of those folders prepared; gun certification and key control.
However, those two folders are now properly prepared and filed.
But Hawthorne said she uncovered something shocking when she announced to the jail staff that the mandatory files would be prepared and maintained correctly for future audits.
“Ten of the folders were sabotaged,” she said. “Ten of the folders came up missing.”
County leaders were speechless at Hawthorne’s discovery. Hawthorne said those important, required files are now secured in her office.
“Why did we fail all of a sudden,” asked Supervisor Jayne Dew. “What is the change from eight years ago…”
Hawthorne said when she joined the facility in 2012, the audit was reviewed and prepared by Irb Benjamin, a former state lawmaker prison consultant.
“He (Benjamin) came in and brought his crew,” Hawthorne said. They would give us (the forms.) I would go through numbers and see what belonged to my department, and then I would turn everything over to him. Once he stopped, none of this was being done.”
Benjamin was sentenced to prison last year for bribes he paid to former MDOC Commission Chris Epps.
Former local warden Gary Edwards then hired a consultant from Issaquena County to conduct a pre-audit at the Yazoo facility. Hawthorne said Edwards’ hire did not meet her standards.
“I knew something wasn’t going to gel right,” Hawthorne said. “So, I took my papers and started working on my own. All of my folders were in compliance.”
Joey Head, chief deputy with the Yazoo County Sheriff’s Department, said he discovered the mishaps “after the fact.” The sheriff’s department oversees the local prison facility.
“Everybody stopped working as a team,” Head said. “Everyone started saying, ‘this ain’t my job.’ It’s all of their jobs. Accreditation is done daily.”
The county board said they were going to dig deeper into the audit and standard procedure of the facility to determine where the issues began to appear.
