Parchman prison Unit 29 deemed unsafe. Where will 625 Mississippi inmates go?

Cell 72 need(s) light bulb, complaining of rats and roaches

Cell 81 no power, no water at lavatory sink

Cell 82 black mold in shower, no power, no water at lavatory sink

A health inspector's tersely worded report details grim conditions he found inside Unit 29 during a June 2019 inspection of the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

Unit 29 holds about 1,000 of the state's most violent inmates, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections. It's where much of the deadly violence that broke out in prisons across the state recently has been concentrated.

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Over the course of a week in late December and early January, five inmates were killed, including three at Parchman. Around that same time, two men escaped from Parchman, and later were recaptured.

Now, MDOC has deemed Unit 29 unsafe, due to "age and general deterioration." Officials are searching for an alternative place to house inmates while asking state lawmakers for $22.5 million to fix the unit.

MDOC has found temporary cells in a private prison for 375 Parchman inmates. Last week, the agency entered into a 90-day contract with CoreCivic, which runs the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, at a cost of more than $2 million.

That leaves 625 Unit 29 inmates remaining. A news release from MDOC said the officials must find a place to house them, but did not offer any ideas on where that could be.

Responding to a Clarion Ledger request for comment, MDOC spokeswoman Grace Fisher said there is no additional information to add about the housing search.

MDOC asks for money

On Aug. 30, MDOC Commissioner Pelicia Hall wrote a letter to lawmakers.

“This facility, originally constructed in 1980 and renovated in 1996, has become unsafe for staff and inmates due to age and general deterioration," Hall said in her letter, according to the release.

The agency is requesting an allocation of more than $419 million for fiscal year 2021, which amounts to a 23% increase, release said.

In addition to the $22.5 million MDOC wants to set aside for renovating Unit 29, the agency is also asking for the following:

$8.3 million to raise the current starting salary for correctional officers from $25,650.41 to $30,369.82, based on the average hiring salary in neighboring states

$35.5 million to fill 800 vacant positions at three prisons

"The agency is experiencing critical understaffing at its three state prisons and needs at least 1,000 more officers for its current facilities," the release stated. "The number of officers has continued to dwindle as the agency’s pay has not kept pace with industry salaries and other professions."

On July 1, correctional officers — along with many other public employees — saw a 3% pay increase. Despite that, Hall said in a statement, Mississippi's salaries are still the lowest in the country.

Mississippi has the third-highest incarceration rate in the country. MDOC currently has about 19,000 people in custody, the release stated.

Empty prison not an option, MDOC says

A prison in Leake County, the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility, sits empty.

In 2016, MDOC closed the prison, which was privately run, citing budget cuts and a declining number of inmates. The decision devastated the local community, the Walnut Grove mayor said.

Last year, a consultant for Walnut Grove told the Clarion Ledger the facility could be fully operational with about $1 million worth of improvements. Reopening the Walnut Grove prison could save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and create hundreds of jobs in central Mississippi, he said.

However, MDOC officials say the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility is not an option because of a staffing and resource shortage.

"The department lacks the staff and resources to operate the former private prison," MDOC's release stated.

More: Walnut Grove prison sits empty

Last week, some Unit 29 inmates were moved to Unit 32 — a notorious maximum security unit inside Parchman that had been closed a decade prior after MDOC was sued over its inhumane conditions and inadequate physical and mental health care.

Inmates and jail watchdogs reported Unit 32 had mold problems, no electricity and malfunctioning plumbing.

MDOC officials said Unit 32 was serving as a temporary housing location "to separate rival security threat groups, or rival gang members, from further acts of violence." The unit is "structurally sound and not condemned," MDOC said.

All inmates have since been moved out of Unit 32, Fisher indicated Tuesday.

'Close Parchman forever,' advocate organization says

Meanwhile, one prisoner rights advocacy group is calling for the state to close Parchman permanently because of the conditions inside and to end what it calls the prison's "legacy of despair."

In 1901, the state of Mississippi purchased land in Sunflower County for what would become known as "Parchman Farm."

In a system that resembled slavery, inmates labored on the plantation and worked other dangerous jobs for free for 10 hours a day, six days a week and slept in buildings called "cages," all the while making a profit for the state.

A whip, nicknamed "Black Annie," was used to punish people. Guards relied on inmates, called "trusty shooters," to keep other convicts in line.

“Parchman’s horrendous reputation goes back more than a century — it’s a place of hopelessness,” said Kevin Ring, president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums in a statement. "This recent spate of deaths is sadly nothing new in the prison’s legacy of despair. The time has come to end that legacy, and close Parchman forever.”

In addition to closing Parchman, the release from Families Against Mandatory Minimums encouraged state leaders to address the growing prison population and understaffing problem and create an independent oversight body.

Mississippi Dreams Prisoner Family Support Director Amanda Hamilton said in a statement, "Our loved ones deserve to live in a safe, humane environment — not one with walls crumbling down around them. The photos, the violence, and stories that come through the walls of Parchman and other prisons have us worried about our fathers, brothers, sons, cousins and friends.”

Contact Alissa Zhu at azhu@gannett.com. Follow @AlissaZhu on Twitter.