More inmates are being moved from-- Mississippi's Parchman prison to a nearby private facility. The prison has been rocked by recent violence and is under federal investigation. MPB's Kobee Vance reports.
After weeks of deadly violence in Mississippi prisons, inmates of Unit 29 at Parchman are moving five miles away to Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility. 50 inmates have already been moved, and they began moving 500 more inmates Wednesday morning. Governor Tate Reeves says the transfers are being held to high-security standards.
"These are the prisoners who often have sophisticated gang connections both inside and outside. We cannot compromise the safety of the inmates, nor can we compromise the safety of our staff. We're moving them in small groups over the course of the next several weeks."
Democratic Representative Carl Mickens of Brooksville is the Vice-Chair of the House Corrections Committee. He says -this is a good first step, but there are other issues that the state needs to address.
"Put more money in the Department of Corrections's budget to give employees pay raises. And we gotta get our buildings up to standards so that they will have better working conditions and won't mind working there. And also, all the parole-eligible people, we need to get them out of the institution and back into society."
The Governor says once the transfers are complete--the only part of Unit 29 that will be in operation is death row, which is required by state statute to be in Parchman. At least 18 inmates have died in Mississippi prisons since late December.