Mississippi jails are working hard to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among inmates

MISSISSIPPI (WCBI) – An area sheriff says Mississippi jails are working hard to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among inmates.

Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott says his jail is following strict CDC and Mississippi Department of Correction Procedures.

The new policy mandates that all booked incoming inmates must be screened and then quarantined before allowed around the general population.

Outgoing and sentenced inmates scheduled for transfer to state prisons must quarantine and be tested before their transfer.

Any inmate scheduled for transfer to state prison who test positive remains in the county jail until they test negative.

Scott says while the department has had to make many major adjustments in housing inmates, violent offenders are not being left on the street.

“We tell our deputies for example out there if it’s something that you can write a ticket for fine, write a ticket and give them a summons to come to court instead of bringing them into jail and potentially you know bringing covid in here. But we don’t want criminals to think the jail is closed because that’s not the case if an inmate in an individual out there we dealing with got to come to jail they coming to the jail,” said Scott.

Scott says since January, six inmates have tested positive for COVID-19.