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NATCHEZ — District 1 Supervisor Wes Middleton said he is concerned about the county’s liability for continuing to house inmates in the Adams County Jail.

“From a liability standpoint, we have to figure something out,” Middleton said. He said a jail needs assessment presented by consultants on Jan. 29 made plain the deplorable condition of the facility.

“There was a very stern message all of us heard, and we all know, which was that what we have over here (referring to the Adams County Jail) is not working,” Middleton said. “Whether we build a jail or don’t build a jail … if we do build a jail, we are three or four years from doing it.

“It’s time we call a meeting in the next two weeks with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office to figure out what the problems are, what they (CPSO) will take or what they can’t take, and try to move in some direction for the safety of our population, the safety of our inmates and the safety of our employees,” Middleton said. “We want everybody at the table.”

District 4 Supervisor Ricky Gray suggested that the meeting take place at the county’s next regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Feb. 17, at 9 a.m. at the Board of Supervisors headquarters, 314 State St., which was agreed upon by all supervisors.

Middleton and District 2 Supervisor and Board President Kevin Wilson have said in the past that when the county began contracting with the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office in August 2023 to house the county’s inmates in its correctional facility, that move would effectively shut down the Adams County Jail.

However, Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten has said his office has been forced to continue housing inmates who are suffering from mental illness, as well as trusties and those inmates who are being held on misdemeanor charges and are expected to be released from custody quickly.

The census of the Adams County Jail on Monday morning was 24 inmates, Patten said. Of those 24, 11 are trusties, and 4 are lunacy inmates.

“The remainder of those inmates are held in the Adams County Jail for their own safety due to threats put on their lives by other inmates,” Patten said. “Those inmates who remain in the Adams County Jail because of the death threats put on their lives have pending cases and have not been tried yet. We have evidence that their lives are in jeopardy if they are held anywhere else other than in Adams County custody.”

“We keep hearing they won’t house this or they won’t house that. We need to have a discussion. The liability of the current jail was a tremendous concern of the people who did the needs assessment, and it should be a tremendous concern for us,” Middleton said.