GEORGE COUNTY — A contract dispute over who pays for Lucedale inmates housed at the George County Regional Correctional Facility has led the police department to transport detainees to neighboring counties. According to the police department, the extra travel has pulled officers off city streets, leaving fewer patrols available to respond when residents call for help. 

Sheriff Mitchell Mixon said the county has shouldered the city’s jail costs for years, and with expenses to operate the jail rising, the county needed to revisit the agreement. 

The negotiations, which started in 2024, stem from a legal gray area highlighted by opinions from the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office. Those question whether counties are required to cover city inmate costs once the case moves to state court.  

For years, most Mississippi counties took on those expenses without question, but the opinions prompted a few, including George County, to reconsider who is responsible for the bill. 

The gray area 

When someone is arrested in a city and charged with a crime, the case begins in municipal court — often called ‘city court.’ If a judge finds enough evidence of guilt during a preliminary hearing, the case is “bound over” to a state court, where it waits for a grand jury review. That wait can last weeks or even months.

During that time, inmates still need to be housed, fed and supervised — costs that Mixon said add up quickly. 

In April 2024, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch released an opinion that said her office was not aware of any law requiring counties to cover those costs. 

The opinion reads, “We are not aware of any statutory authority or case law stating that a city prisoner becomes a county prisoner upon being bound over to the county grand jury.” 

In August, the Attorney General’s Office released a second statement citing opinions dating back to 1982 that said counties are responsible for costs after bind-over.  

However, the AG’s office can only interpret the law — not enforce it — and the 2025 opinion reiterated contract terms between cities and counties remain outside its authority, meaning local government must still negotiate how to divide expenses. 

Talks break down 

Mixon said the 2024 opinion prompted him to review Lucedale’s jail agreement. He entered negotiations with the city that year but said talks stalled by early 2025. 

Without a new contract in place, he stopped accepting city inmates on April 1, 2025.

“When I was elected, some of the supervisors told me, said, ‘The jail needs some work.’ They said, ‘You’ve got to run that thing like a business.’ And that’s exactly what you have to do,” he said. 

Mixon pointed to one inmate as an example of how quickly expenses build up. 

“The city has an inmate in the jail that was booked in on October the 12th, 2024,” he said. “As of (August 26), for that inmate, you’re looking at $10,172.81.” 

Despite those costs, Mixon said the county has opted not to seek back pay for any inmates arrested before April 1, the date the new jail policy took effect. 

“Everybody gets upset when their free ride is taken away,” Mixon said. 

Strain on police patrols 

Since the cutoff, Lucedale police have been transporting detainees to Greene and Stone counties under temporary agreements that cost the city $32.73 per inmate per day— the state-mandated maximum rate. 

Chief Kellum Fairley said the longer drives add additional expenses for the department and take officers away from the city. 

“We’re already short on officers, so we have to either get someone to come in or either we got to take a man off patrol and send him up there. That leaves one to patrol the whole city,” Fairley said. “It’s 30 minutes to Greene County — about 45 minutes to Stone County … It’s putting a huge burden on the city.” 

Fairley said using out-of-county facilities has changed how the department handles minor arrests.  

“If we arrest somebody that — let’s say they got a $2,000 fine and they haven’t paid it, and we get a bench warrant for their arrest for failure to pay. Well, then we’re going to have to take into consideration letting this person stay out and put them on a new time payment agreement, which will never get paid for.” 

Fairley said the stalemate between city and county leadership could give the wrong impression to residents. 

“The negative effect is criminals see that there’s division between the two departments — and it shouldn’t be,” he said. 

Still, both Fairley and Mixon said on-the-ground cooperation remains intact, and both agencies continue to work together during emergencies and major incidents. 

Statewide impacts 

The debate in George County is part of a wider conversation happening across Mississippi as more counties revisit jail agreements with their cities. Mixon said he knows of at least two counties that adopted similar “up until indictment” policies without pushback.  

The Mississippi Sheriffs’ Association, Mississippi Police Chiefs Association, Mississippi Municipal League and Mississippi Association of Supervisors are all reviewing how the attorney general opinions may shape future contracts, but with no binding law on the books, state leaders said much of the issue remains unresolved. 

“If they come up with a law or something that says we have to abide a different direction, we will,” Mixon said. 

Until then, both departments said public safety is taking a hit — and taxpayers are picking up the bill.