PASCAGOULA, Miss.–The state-of-the-art jail set to open next week in Jackson County will be named for a deputy killed on the job in 2000. Bruce Wayne Evans’ family were at the jail Monday for the announcement.
The jail has cost about $27 million to plan and build, but some think the new design, which will be able to withstand a hurricane like Katrina, is worth it.
County Supervisor Mike Mangum told News Mississippi that the new facility is being built high enough off the ground to avoid flooding. He said that sheltering the over 400 inmates in the lockup now would not be much of a problem if another major hurricane hit the coast. The cells are pre-fab and are extremely sturdy, so that even if the main roof collapsed, the individual cells would not be damaged.
“It’s a modern design, the latest techniques in correctional facilities,” he said.
It took years to find an architect and a company that was capable of building what the county needed.
