Lincoln County and more than a dozen other counties have agreed to continue using state inmates in a work program without reimbursement from the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

According to a statement released by MDOC Thursday, the department plans to phase out the current Joint State County Work Program starting Saturday.

In addition to following MDOC’s rules and regulations and no longer receiving $20 per day per offender, each county also must provide alcohol and drug treatment and GED programs to all inmates in the program at the county’s expense. MDOC still will provide and pay for medical care for inmates.

Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing said with those options in place, providing those services for seven to eight more inmates would be minimal.

“We figured we’re losing the reimbursement either way,” Rushing said. “And they provide enough services here that it would be worth the cost to keep it going at the moment and see what we can do in January.”

Rushing has been a constant figure in a small group of sheriffs backed by the Mississippi Sheriffs Association in contact with Corrections Commissioner Marshall Fisher about the benefit of these programs since he announced the cancellation of the program in a letter to sheriffs April 30. Rushing referenced the Mississippi legislative session which begins in January, when sheriffs could lobby for changes.

According to MDOC, ending the current program allows MDOC to redirect $3.2 million to other budgetary needs, though MDOC’s monetary estimations have been questioned during discussions. Losing the $20 per day reimbursement from the state will cost Lincoln County between $50,000 and $70,000 a year, though Rushing said it’s a loss the county can absorb.

Currently, sheriffs in 14 counties have signed a memorandum of understanding. The counties are Carroll, Chickasaw, Clay, Jefferson, Lauderdale, Lincoln, Monroe, Montgomery, Pearl River, Scott, Simpson, Stone, Tate and Union. A total of 30 counties participated in the work program.

Sheriffs who have signed the agreement want additional offenders. However, because of fewer eligible inmates, MDOC can’t quickly grant the requests.

Rushing said the program is about more than free labor and workers keeping a clean courthouse.

“They’re getting benefits from these programs too. For every day they work they get a day off their sentence,” Rushing said. “I get four or five requests a week [from people asking to be in the program.] It also helps reinstitute them back in to society. […] It’s good program and it’s beneficial for the county to keep it going.

Inmates in counties without agreements will be moved to the state’s community work centers.

“We are no longer operating as status quo,” Fisher said. “Detractors should anticipate a different way of doing business at MDOC.”