SUNFLOWER COUNTY, Miss.–Continued maintenance problems at the Sunflower County Jail have some county supervisors worried they could be in trouble were a federal inspection to take place.
One of the problems is broken showers.
“We have plans on remodeling it. But, some of this stuff can’t wait,” said Supervisor Glen Donald at Monday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
“We need to see can our maintenance department fix some of this,” he said.
The jail needs nearly $2 million worth of work, according to an estimate provided by a contractor who did a walk through. Another big issue is the outdated and dilapidated HVAC unit, which left detainees with no air conditioning this summer and is expected to leave them with no heat if not fixed soon.
This summer the county discussed whether they would move forward with a bidding process to have the unit(s) fixed The likelihood is that even patching it up sufficiently would cost too much to just get quotes and move forward. According to state law if the project is expected to cost more than $75,000 the county must request bids.
Donald was insistent, though, that some of the smaller issues could be fixed sooner.
“Ain’t like the building’s falling down. You got some air and heat issues. Fix it. You’ve got some shower issues. Fix it.”
