NATCHEZ — Even as the Adams County Sheriff’s Office considers building a new jail, Sheriff Chuck Mayfield presented the county supervisors Tuesday with a request for $85,000 in jail repairs that he says are needed right now.

The request came during a special budgeting session as the Adams County Board of Supervisors prepares for fiscal year 2013-2014. Only a day before Mayfield had told the supervisors he would have a fact-finding meeting later in the month to determine if maintenance costs at the jail might ultimately warrant the building of a new facility.

The bulk of the request was for $50,000 to replace a control console that operates all of the doors in the jail.

“The console in the jail has been there my whole career — it was put in place when the building was built,” Mayfield said. “The problem is that control board controls all the doors in the jail. When it malfunctions, it has to be worked on immediately. It could short circuit and open all the doors or short circuit, and we won’t be able to open the doors.”

ACSO Col. Debbie Gee said the company that manufactured the console will no longer service it because that model is no longer manufactured.

After the console, the second biggest request was for $16,736 to renovate and repair two holding cells, which Gee said are used to hold those who have been detained for mental issues while waiting for transport to the Mississippi State Hospital.

The request also included $15,000 for cameras and a DVR system to cover all of the jail area with video surveillance and $550 for a surveillance monitor, and $3,500 for the replacement of jail locks.

The supervisors decided to fund the cell renovations but to have the sheriff’s office absorb the costs for the locks and monitor from its general budget. The board also asked County Administrator Joe Murray to see if the cost of the console and the cameras could be bundled in as part of a lease-purchase agreement the county is negotiating to pay for the replacement of other technology that has already been done this year.

Beyond the jail costs, the board agreed to direct the funds to purchase four new Chevrolet Tahoes for patrol vehicles for the sheriff’s office. Supervisor David Carter said the board had previously agreed to replace a few ACSO vehicles every year so the county did not end up in the position it did last year of having to purchase 12 new vehicles at once.

But when the sheriff asked the board to hire four new deputies — one for each shift — or grant a 5-percent raise to his staff, the board wasn’t willing to commit to it just yet. While the supervisors expressed some support for both ideas, they said they would have to revisit the issue after finishing the county budget to make sure the funds were available. Murray said a 5-percent raise for the ACSO would come to approximately $600,000 in additional annual payroll, while the hire of four new deputies with equipment would cost approximately $300,000 in the initial hiring year.

Mayfield said the raise was intended to boost officer morale in the event the new deputies could not be hired. Increased calls — including 300 within the Natchez city limits between January and June — have forced deputies to work very hard, he said.

“There are four deputies on each shift, and if you have two deputies tied up with a domestic violence situation — and that’s one of the most dangerous calls, you never want just one person to respond — and one deputy out wrangling loose horses on U.S. 84, you’ve only got one deputy to respond to all of the calls in the city or the county,” Gee said.

Along with considering the hire of new deputies, the supervisors decided to budget $10,000 toward the ACSO’s contractual services funds so the county could hire a wrangler for loose livestock on a per-call basis. Mayfield said the sheriff’s office does not currently have a volunteer wrangler and has struggled to keep one. In the past, volunteer wranglers have captured loose livestock and made the owners pay for the animals’ upkeep once the owner was located or sold the animals to pay for the cost after an allotted amount of time.

Carter said he and the sheriff would work together to define what the wrangler contract would require. The market for some livestock — for example, horses — is so poor that a wrangler would not be able to make back costs if they sold the animal, Carter said.

The supervisors also met with road department manager Robbie Dollar, and agreed to purchase a motor grader, wheel loader, backhoe and single-wheel dump truck.

The supervisors also agreed to allow Dollar to hire three new employees in the coming year.

“If you go out to the (county) barn, they have a lawnmower that is parked, a dump truck that is parked, because they have to do something else — they are juggling,” Supervisor Calvin Butler said.

When Dollar asked about possible pay raises, the supervisors told him the same thing they told the sheriff, that the issue would have to be evaluated after the rest of the budgeting process was completed.