An investigation continues into missing documents and paperwork from a former correctional facility employee, and Sheriff Jeremy McCoy said charges are pending.
McCoy said an investigation is being conducted surrounding pertinent paperwork and documentation missing from the office of Marilyn C. Hathorne, the Yazoo County Regional Correctional Facility’s former Programs/Accreditation Manager.
“We are investigating to determine if the paperwork and documentation were either removed or destroyed,” McCoy said. “We have interviewed inmates who have told us that they were instructed by Hathorne to destroy the paperwork. This is an ongoing investigation, and charges are pending.”
McCoy said those charges would include destroying government property.
It is an issue that was first brought to the table of the Yazoo County Board of Supervisors earlier this month when Supervisor David Peyton requested a meeting with Jerry Williams, the Yazoo County Regional Correctional Facility consultant, after Peyton said some of his questions and concerns were not fully addressed. He also said that he was concerned with Williams’ response when asked about the local jail passing a possible audit.
“…but when I asked if there was an audit now, would they meet the required standards,” Peyton said, during the June 2 open board meeting. “And he (Williams) said ‘no.’ That is why I am bringing this up.”
Peyton’s commentary and his request for a meeting with jail officials during the open board meeting earlier this month prompted McCoy, Williams and Warden Jacqueline Morton to appear before the county leaders during Monday’s open board meeting. Peyton was not present at this week’s meeting.
“I bring you a copy of our accreditation,” Morton said, holding up the copy. “We are accredited, and we are in compliance. It was stated that we were not in compliance.”
Williams explained why he told Peyton an audit at this present time would not be possible. He said a hindrance in passing an audit rests on missing paperwork and documentation from Hathorne’s office.
“Prior to me coming there, and prior to the sheriff, we dropped accreditation,” Williams said. “Reaccreditation was dropped under your former ACA manager (Hathorne). The facility is accredited. I had a one-on-one with Supervisor Peyton when he questioned whether we would pass accreditation today. And I said ‘no’. When your former ACA manager, Mrs. Hathorne, left, I did an assessment on your files. And documentation was missing from your files. It is nothing that we can’t put back. I don’t know what happened to it. We did an investigation because it was alleged that some of the information was taken out and destroyed by the inmates. But it is nothing that we can’t fix.”
Williams joined the county as a jail consultant in October of 2020. Hathorne resigned from her post last April.
“I’ve got her resignation letter right in front of me,” McCoy told The Herald after the meeting. “All she said in it was, ‘I resign April 10, 2025.’ That’s all it said.”
Morton said she has remained quiet about the situation because it can be resolved. However, she said Hathorne perhaps is attempting to “sabotage” the jail’s operation due to being disgruntled.
“I was quiet about it until all this noise was being made,” Morton said. “(Hathorne) resigned. We did not run her off. She resigned. She left on her own. These are documents that can we get back, but why should we have to go back and do something when she destroyed our stuff. That is illegal. We have to keep those documents for five years. Why sabotage something? You left on your own. (Hathorne) resigned.”
Morton said inmates were interviewed about the missing files.
“They said (Hathorne) told us to take them out,” Morton said. “They knew it wasn’t right. But we are going to fix it and move forward. We were quiet about it. But since all this foolishness, it is what it is. You can’t throw rocks living in a glass house. You destroyed our stuff, and that is illegal.”
McCoy said he is extremely frustrated over the matter because he believes Hathorne is purposely trying to undermine the facility’s currently successful operation.
“(Hathorne) knew we couldn’t pass it at the time because (she) destroyed the paperwork,” McCoy said. “There will be charges filed against her. That is why all of this is being orchestrated. The jail has never run as good as it is now. For whatever reason, she (Hathorne) thinks somebody is going to beg her to come back. If you can’t have it your way, go home. I am not going to beg you to come back. You put in two weeks’ notice. For her to go back and start all this is a waste of everybody’s time. I am sick of it, and it is uncalled for.”
McCoy said he feels Hathorne is disgruntled because she was reprimanded for certain actions that he believes were tolerated in the past. One of those actions was bringing food, which he considers contraband, into the facility for the inmates.
“Contraband is considered anything that is not approved by the sheriff or the warden,” added Williams. “It is not just talking about drugs or introduction of cell phones. If you bring food in that is not approved, it’s contraband. The facility started to crack down. It started a lot of uncomfortable feelings over there.”
Morton said there are two letters that were provided to Hathorne concerning “bringing in extra food for the inmates.”
“I do have where she (Hathorne) had been advised not to bring in extra food for the inmates,” Morton said. “You cannot feed the inmates anything outside of what the state of Mississippi says that they can have. That’s contraband. Charges could have been brought on her for that back then. People get upset, and they get disgruntled. And that is why all this mess is going on.”
Morton also said Hathorne is allegedly calling the Mississippi Department of Corrections under false pretenses.
“It was alleged that she called MDOC on your behalf,” Morton said, to the county board.
“She can’t speak on behalf of this board,” replied Supervisor Joseph Thomas Jr.
Williams said the facility’s next accreditation is being prepared for the process to be completed in April of 2026. But the paperwork and documentation from Hathorne’s office will have to be corrected. McCoy added that he is frustrated because the issue is taking time away from the real work that needs to be done.
“(Hathorne) knew exactly what she did, and that is why she brought it up to Supervisor Peyton, to get all this going,” McCoy said. “Everything is running fine at that jail. I don’t know if she wants his (Williams) job or what, but she can’t do it. Before he came here, she was doing it, and we weren’t accredited. Ever since he’s been there, we’ve been accredited.”
Supervisors David Berry and Lee Moore both agreed that Williams is doing a good job at the local facility.
“I remember the day before Jerry (Williams) got here, it was turmoil,” Berry said. “We were trying to get all this stuff passed, and we were worried about it. Ever since he has come on board, it seems to be a lot better.”
Based on an article in The Herald last year, Williams told the county board that changes were coming to the local facility.
“We got some changes taking place over there you that you will probably have some disgruntled employees,” Williams said in February of 2024. “Things are being shaken up, particularly with the American Correctional Association. We function over there as a compliance unit. When I came on in 2020, the facility had dropped its accreditation. I came here because I am from Yazoo County to make sure we got through the accreditation process.”
Just last year, Williams said “different approaches” were being made at the local jail.
“You got a lot of disgruntled employees,” Williams said in 2024. “The sheriff has come in and made some needed changes. We are probably going to have a lot of people come before the board to introduce some things that they are not used to. But we must maintain compliance. Things we are finding now…it’s kind of bad.”
As far as records requested by Peyton, Williams said he would have to file a public record request to make it legal and to follow proper procedure.
“A lot of things people use to do out there at the jail, they can’t do it anymore,” Morton said. “That’s from the employees to the people on the street. I took an oath, and I am going to stick to it as long as I am here.”
