Despite some initial hurdles, the decision to house inmates arrested by Natchez city police in the Adams County Jail appears to be working.

We thank city and county leaders for working together to make for a more efficient local government.

Based on the first month of operations, the city’s bill from the county for housing inmates was $4,140.

Previously, the City of Natchez was reportedly spending approximately $250,000 per year to operate the city’s jail, or approximately $20,833 per month.

The apparent savings is significant and should result in a more efficient city police force as well as a more occupied county jail.

Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten’s concerns over possible overcrowding at the jail are valid, if and when that overcrowding begins to occur with frequency.

And differences raised by the sheriff in how the city police handle medical calls from city inmates are also valid.

We believe with continued communication and work, the arrangement will become more streamlined and more normalized.

Eventually, we hope, the systems required to properly book city inmates into the police department’s computer system could either by replicated so county personnel could handle this or merged with the county’s own system to further simplify the process.

Regardless of additional work ahead, the work already done is a step in the right direction and all involved should be thanked for the efforts to date.