The taxpayers of Sunflower County and the majority of its municipalities deserve better than what they’ve gotten in terms of leadership over the past few weeks.
A remark made by Sunflower County Sheriff James Haywood at a March meeting of the Board of Supervisors about municipalities sending prisoners to other counties has sparked a lot of controversy, but if our elected and appointed leaders step up to the plate, a lot of good can come out of this.
The entire situation speaks to the confusion and potential legal issues that can arise when issues that concern the public are not handled in public.
Moorhead Police Chief Bobby Walker was the only municipal official to present a legal interlocal agreement between his city and the board of supervisors of Leflore County, a body whose jail has become the destination for prisoners from multiple Sunflower County municipalities over the last few years.
This agreement dates back to 2010, and no one in Sunflower County, other than the City of Moorhead, knew about it.
Also during this week’s board meeting, there was a question of whether Walker could set cash bonds. Walker insisted that he could, but he has his doubters.
One of which is Haywood, who contends that Moorhead does not handle its cash bond policy correctly, and that led the city to seek other places to hold its prisoners.
Walker contends that in the past, he would send prisoners to the Sunflower County Jail, with a cash bond, and these prisoners would be back out, and he said he would not even be notified the prisoners had been freed.
Eight years have passed, and no one has sought an attorney general’s opinion on whether Moorhead is in compliance with the law when it comes to cash bonds.
Board Attorney Johnny McWilliams, among others, said he was sure that whatever the issues are between the county and these municipalities, they can be worked out.
I agree.
Now that we’re talking about these issues, in public meetings, it’s time to work all of this out once and for all.
Some of the conversations will likely get heated, and some of what is said will most definitely be uncomfortable, but all of these grownups have had many years to sit down in private and work out their differences.
With the help of folks like McWilliams and Attorney General Jim Hood, all of the legalities in question should be easily hammered out over the next few weeks.
The City of Indianola, along with the other municipalities in the county, already have an existing contract with the board of supervisors.
Indianola must decide whether it wants to return to operating under that contract or it must enter into a legal-binding interlocal agreement between the city and the Leflore County Board of Supervisors (if that is the city’s final jail of choice).
The City of Ruleville must decide whether it wants to do business in Sunflower County or get in compliance with statute and enter into a legal-binding interlocal agreement with the Bolivar County Board of Supervisors (Ruleville has been sending its prisoners to Bolivar County without an agreement for some time).
The most disappointing thing about the rift between Indianola and the county is that I know the two men heading the respective law enforcement agencies are good men.
Last week’s multi-jurisdictional task force bust of five drug dealers throughout the county demonstrates the potential they have in stamping out crime in this county and our cities if only these agencies would get on the same page 365 days out of the year.
If we can’t do something as simple as get our law enforcement agencies on the same frequency, multiple industrial and business prospects will scoff at the idea of locating in Indianola.
As uncomfortable as it might be, this conversation needs to continue until this is worked out.
