Motorists will want to think twice before dumping their trash along county roads after the Newton County Board of Supervisors, in partnership with the Sheriff’s Department, are moving forward with plans to create a Solid Waste Officer position to help tackle the trash.
In the new position, the Solid Waste Officer would utilize inmates from Newton County Jail to clean up trash along roads throughout the county’s five beats and would have the authority to investigate illegal dumping and ticket offenders.
In a Board of Supervisor meeting Thursday, Supervisors met with Sheriff Joedy Pennington to finalize their plans.
Pennington said he would like to hire current landfill manager Scott Smith to be the county’s Solid Waste officer. Smith, he said, is already MDEQ certified, which is a requirement for investigating illegal dumping.
“He’d be responsible for taking inmates out on state and local highways,” he said.
Using inmates to pick up trash has been an ongoing topic of discussion within the county, and Board President Kenny Harris asked what incentives would be offered to get them to work.
“What would the inmates get,” he said.
Pennington said he was coordinating with the Circuit Court Judges to offer some non-violent offenders the opportunity to serve their time in Newton County Jail instead of in the custody of Mississippi Department of Corrections. Although the specific details would be defined in individual plea agreements, staying in Newton County picking up trash would allow inmates to stay close to home, see their families more often and avoid any turbulent situations in state prisons.
The board has stated it intends to pay for the newly created position with a $19,000 grant from Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. County Administrator Steve Seale explained Newton County receives one non-competitive grant each year for use for Amnesty Day, Solid Waste Enforcement or other waste disposal projects. The county is restricted from using MDEQ funds for more than 50 percent of the Solid Waste officer’s salary.
In addition to the MDEQ funds, Pennington said he had identified a grant from Mississippi Department of Transportation that would provide a van to transport inmates, a trailer, gloves, trash bags and signs to alert motorists when inmates are out working. MDOT will also pay $10 per hour up to 21 hours per week toward the Solid Waste officer’s salary as long as those hours are spent picking up trash along state-maintained roads, which includes state-aid roads.
In total, Seale said, about $18,400 of MDEQ funds would be put toward the Solid Waste officer’s salary. The MDOT grant would cover about $11,400 of the required 50 percent match, leaving $7,000 in cost to the county.
“The cost to the beats would be about $650 per month,” he said.
Although two supervisors were absent from Thursday’s meeting, Harris and Supervisors Charles Godwin and Jacky Johnson said they were comfortable moving forward with the arrangement, especially since the MDOT grant count time spent on state-aid roads.
Pennington told the board he was still waiting on final word from MDOT on the grant, but when it was received Smith could be deputized and put to work. While the process might take a few months to get started, he said he had several inmates ready to work as soon as the paperwork was signed.
