McComb selectmen indicated a willingness on Tuesday to hire a part-time clerk for the city court.
City Judge Brandon Frazier told the board during Tuesday’s work session that the court has a backlog of dispositions from cases that have not been entered into a state information system as they should have been, and a part-time clerk would be utilized mostly to enter that data into the computer system.
City Clerk Servia Fortenberry said the bulk of the backlog is from 2006 forward, but there are some cases from as far back as 1998 that were never entered into the system.
Frazier said not having all of the city’s dispositions entered in the system could skew the city’s crime and justice statistics, because cases show as pending in the system until a disposition is entered.
He added that the dispositions have to be entered manually into the system now, but proposed new software — that can be integrated with the system the police department has asked to buy — has the potential to update state programs automatically when dispositions are registered within the city’s records.
Police Chief Damian Gatlin wouldn’t commit to that, however.
“I’m not going to say it will help us absolutely. I want to check and make sure,” Gatlin said. But “it should be something (the software) can help us with.”
Gatlin told the board that Magnolia and Summit have signed on to be included in the software purchase and installation, while the sheriff’s department and Osyka have yet to commit.
Once installed, the new software would allow local police and courts to see criminal and legal records from other jurisdictions that use the software.
That would include such entities as Brookhaven, Lincoln County and Vicksburg, among others.
Frazier also updated the board on other issues at the city court.
He said the cost for housing prisoners at the county jail has been cut from about $20,000 each month to $8,000 for the most recent reporting month.
Frazier said he accomplished that by speeding up initial court appearances and allowing people who miss a court date to post a cash bond instead of sending them to jail.
If that decrease is sustained, “that should support a part-time position,” Mayor Quordiniah Lockley said.
Frazier said Gatlin had provided a television that can be rolled into the courtroom for the viewing of certain items of evidence, when needed, including body camera footage.
“We were having to leave and watch a computer in the clerk’s office,” Frazier said.
He also made a pitch for stripping and repainting some walls in the court offices, saying they look “really bad.”
Board members also heard new quotes for tourism brochures developed by the Pike County Chamber of Commerce.
Chamber Director Catherine Sanders said Graphics Etc. outsources the printing of the brochures and had received a new set of quotes half and less than the $4,800 for 1,000 copies that was presented at the previous work session.
The new quotes were $2,150 for 1,000 copies, $2,280 for 1,500 copies and $2,400 for 2,000 copies.
Selectman Michael Cameron asked if the chamber needs 2,000 copies, and Sanders said it does.
“We haven’t sent any brochures to the visitor centers yet this year,” Sanders said. “We could definitely use 2,000. I searched around the county and could barely find five.”
