Federal choose appoints receiver to handle Mississippi jail

On July 29, Reeves positioned the jail into receivership after citing poor circumstances for prisoners. Reeves mentioned that deficiencies in supervision and staffing result in “a surprising array of assaults, in addition to deaths.” Seven folks died final yr whereas detained on the jail, he mentioned in his July ruling.

Reeves additionally wrote that cell doorways didn’t lock and {that a} lack of lighting in cells made life “depressing for the detainees who reside there and prevents guards from adequately surveilling detainees.” He additionally mentioned guards typically slept as a substitute of monitoring the cameras within the management room.

Hinds County board President Credell Calhoun advised the Mississippi Free Press that native officers will weigh their authorized choices for the way to reply.

Federal and state judges have ordered receiv­er­ships or an analogous trans­fer of management for pris­ons and jails solely about eight occasions, based on Hernandez Stroud, an lawyer on the Brennan Heart for Justice at NYU Faculty of Regulation.

France started transitioning into his position Tuesday, however he won’t have full operational management over the jail till Jan. 1. In line with the phrases of the receivership laid out by Reeves in court docket paperwork, France may have 120 days from the date of his appointment to develop a draft plan reforming the jail’s circumstances.

France was chosen from a discipline of 4 candidates. After conducting interviews, Reeves selected France based mostly on his “various expertise in corrections and felony justice system management,” court docket data present. He might be compensated $16,000 per 30 days.

Along with his expertise as a police officer, France served as deputy secretary of the Maryland Division of Public Security and Correctional Companies, the place he managed a $22 million finances and 400 staff, Reeves mentioned. He has additionally labored as a advisor for the U.S. Division of Justice.

An on-line job profile for France additionally reveals that he’s the president of a consulting agency that gives “skilled witness service to federal, state, municipal authorities companies and personal attorneys.”

Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Related Press/Report for America Statehouse Information Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit nationwide service program that locations journalists in native newsrooms to report on undercovered points. Comply with him on Twitter at twitter.com/mikergoldberg.