TUTWILER — More than 600 additional maximum security prisoners are being transferred from the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman to the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility (TCCF) here.
Damon Stroud, president of the Tallahatchie County Correctional Authority (TCCA), said Friday morning that the latest transfers will push the total number of Parchman inmates housed at the private prison to 1,000. TCCF is a 2,672-bed maximum security facility.
TCCA is the locally appointed body that serves as the liaison between CoreCivic, the Nashville-based prison management company which owns and operates the Tutwiler lockup, and Tallahatchie County government.
Under terms of a Jan. 8 contract between the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) and CoreCivic, MDOC in the past month has moved 375 maximum security inmates from Parchman's troubled Unit 29 to Tutwiler. The deal was said to be among the steps MDOC is taking to address recent unrest at the state's largest prison.
The contract had an initial term of 90 days, which may be extended for up to two additional 90-day periods.
Stroud said a Friday amendment to last month's agreement provides for the relocation of the additional 600-plus felons.
CoreCivic pays TCCA $1.50 per day for each state inmate housed in Tutwiler and $2.15 per day for each federal prisoner incarcerated there. TCCA is the conduit through which CoreCivic money flows to county government. In 2019 alone, the TCCA passed along to county coffers nearly $1.383 million in per diem payments by CoreCivic.
The prison company has contracts for the Tallahatchie facility with the states of Mississippi, South Carolina, Vermont and Wyoming, as well as the Virgin Islands, according to Amanda Gilchrist, director of public affairs for CoreCivic.
Gilchrist said there are federal contracts for Tutwiler between CoreCivic and the U.S. Marshals Service as well as U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
CoreCivic also contracts with Tallahatchie County to house locally arrested prisoners in a special isolated jail section of the prison.
Due to the influx of new detainees, CoreCivic has been recruiting new staff members for its Tutwiler operation.
IN THE PHOTO: The Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility at Tutwiler is pictured in this photo from May 23, 2018. (Sun-Sentinel file photo by Clay McFerrin)
