About Stone County, Mississippi, Stone County MS Sheriff, Jail

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About Stone County, Mississippi

Stone County is a county situated in the United States state of Mississippi. Its county seat is Wiggins. This county was formed on June 5, 1916, from the northern part of Harrison County. Stone County was named after John M. Stone, who served as a Governor of Mississippi between 1876 and 1888 and again from 1890 to 1896. This area is included in the Gulfport-Biloxi, MS, Metropolitan Statistical Area.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Stone County has a total area of 448 square miles, including 445 square miles as land and 2.6 square miles as water.

Demographics

Stone County is the 50th most populated county in Mississippi, of 82 counties with 18356 people. Attala County closely follows it with 18025 people and Winston County with 17846 people. The largest racial or ethnic groups in this area are White at 76.4%, Black at 15.8%, and Two or more at 4.8%.

As of 2021, the median household income of Stone County households was $50,686. Notably, this county's households made slightly more than Warren County ($50,686) and Union County ($50,543). It is important to note that Stone County families live in poverty.

Arts and Culture

During the 2012 regular session of the Mississippi Legislature, on April 25, the State Senate and the House of Representatives adopted Concurrent Resolution 643. It stated that Stone County was to be named and declared “the Mural County of Mississippi. In the previous eight years, a Telling Trees Project was developed in this area to document and celebrate the county's history and heritage.

Board of Supervisors

Generally, the Board of Supervisors is the governing body of Stone County. It establishes objectives and goals to direct the county's development and growth. It also carries out other responsibilities set forth by Mississippi statutes. These supervisors are usually elected from each of the five districts in this area to serve a four-year term.

Stone County Sheriff's Department and Jail

About Stone County Sheriff’s Department

The Stone County Sheriff’s Department is Stone County, Mississippi's primary law enforcement agency. The Sheriff is an elected official who typically serves a four-year term. This office’s law enforcement duties include keeping peace within the county. It achieves this by causing all offenders in the Sheriff’s view to enter into bonds, with sureties for keeping the peace and appearing at the next circuit court and committing such offenders suppose there is refusal. The Sheriff is also responsible for quelling routs, riots, unlawful assemblages, and affrays and preventing mob violence and lynching.

The Sheriff's Department also has administrative duties, as follows:

  • Submit a budget of the Sheriff's Office's estimated expenses for the following fiscal year, including payment on the insurance and bond needed to protect the county's interest. (for instance, insurance against false arrest charges, bonds for liability insurance, insurance against false imprisonment charges, fire, theft, hospitalization insurance, and hazards insurance).
  • Serve as the county's jailor. The Sheriff's Office is tasked with keeping separate rooms for the genders, only allowing communication between male and female prisoners if they are married. It provides lights when proper and necessary, clean and sufficient bedding, and daily adequate and wholesome food and drink.
  • Keep a jail docket noting the information of each warrant or mittimus of any individual in the county jail.
  • Be in charge of the county courthouse and jail, including the premises belonging to it, and of the offenders in the jail. This function also includes protecting the court and offenders from mob violence, intruders and trespassers, and attacks or injuries by mobs.
  • Keep the Mississippi Department Reports, Mississippi Reports, census reports, digests, statutes of the state, and legislative journals assigned to Stone County in the courtroom of the courthouse.
  • Keep every kind of books, charts, maps, and other items that may be donated to the county.

Stone County Regional Correctional Facility

The Stone County Regional Correctional Facility is medium security jail located in Wiggins, Stone County, Mississippi. It is physically situated at 1420 Industrial Road, Wiggins, MS, 39577. This correctional facility opened on 12/15/00 and has been operating since. It houses more than 130 adult offenders and detainees. The Stone County Jail is a medium prison office in Stone County, arranged on four sections of land in metropolitan Wiggins.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections, Division of Institutions, monitors the operation of this regional correctional facility.

The monthly average of total bookings in Stone County Correctional Facility is 79. The Stone County Sheriff’s Office manages and operates this county jail. Additionally, about 131 staff members and corrections officers are in charge of the jail’s daily operations. They ensure the safety, security, and care of all inmates in custody and visitors at the facility.

In a typical year, this jail uses more than 125 offenders in its in-office work details to offer help in administering its kitchen, laundry, and other activities.

Stone County Courthouse, MS

The Stone County Courthouse was built from 1917 to 1918 and serves as the county government's seat for Stone County, Mississippi. In 1996, this courthouse was designated a Mississippi Landmark.

The Mississippi Legislature established Stone County in 1916. One of the initial acts of the new county's Board of Supervisors was awarding a contract for the construction of the county courthouse. It was constructed by Standard Construction Company of Meridian, Mississippi, and was completed in March 1918 at the cost of US$29515.18, equivalent to $531727 as of 2021.

It was a two-story building, with the lower floor divided into county offices. The upper floor served as the courtroom. This courthouse was used throughout the 20th century, with modifications that included extensions of the first floor on each end of this building. County offices on this construction included the Sheriff, circuit clerk, chancery clerk, and tax collector.

By 2000, the old courthouse needed a renovation. For this reason, it received Community Heritage Preservation Grant in 2002, and a Save America's Treasures grant the following year. This renovation was completed in September 2004 at $2.4 million. The upgrades included internet access, a youth court, and an elevator.

The original county jail was constructed south of this courthouse. In the late 20th century, after the structure was abandoned as a jail, it was renovated to host county offices.

The courthouse grounds feature two memorials. One memorial honors county citizens killed in World War I, World War II, Gulf War, Vietnam War, Korean War, and the Global War on Terrorism. The second one is a tribute to Mississippians who received the Medal of Honor.