Video: MDOC Cutting Program that Could Hurt City and County Budgets

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Mississippi (WCBI) — Cities and Counties across Mississippi could have to search hundreds of thousands of dollars in their next budget.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections plans to end the Joint State County Work Program by August first.

If you go visit the West Point City cemetery, you can thank these men for keeping it clean.

They are Offenders in the Joint State County Work Program, serving time for nonviolent crimes, needing little supervision.

” The city of West Point uses them, they’re picking up trash,mowing city right – a – ways and also we use them in the counties, they’re a big benefit to us as a whole, ”  says Sheriff Scott.

but they could soon be replaced, as the Mississippi Department of Corrections is cutting the program. This means cities and counties, like Chickasaw and Clay, will have to hire new employees, costing them big bucks.

“Hired 8 people at minimum wage, could be between 190 and 200 thousand dollars. That’s a lot of cost to take on, ”  says Wanda Sweeney, Chickasaw Chancery Clerk.

For that reason, It’s a decision West Point’s Mayor hopes can be reversed.

“It’s gonna have a really strong, strong, negative impact. I just urge them to stop, not to do this and reconsider, ” says West Point Mayor Robbie Robinson.

Brand Huffman, Warden at the Chickasaw County Correctional Facility says shelling out the extra cost is not the only downfall, as the program helps to rehabilitate offenders.

“It is an opportunity for the offenders to transition from being incarcerated to going back out working in the public, ” says Huffman.

Now, City and Counties Leaders are frantically trying to figure out how they’ll fill this big budget gap.