FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CR TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1994 (202) 616-2765 TDD (202) 514-1888 FOUR MORE MISSISSIPPI JAILS AGREE TO UPGRADE CONDITIONS IN RESPONSE TO JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PROBE WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Four Mississippi jails that were found to be unsafe and unsanitary agreed today to upgrade their conditions of confinement and one also agreed to build a new facility, the Justice Department announced today. The facilities, Tupelo City Jail, Corinth City Jail, Grenada County Jail, and Forest City Jail, were four of 18 Mississippi jails investigated by the Justice Department following a series of inmate suicides. Nine facilities now have reached agreements with the Justice Department to correct alleged violations. The investigations, launched pursuant to the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, revealed that the conditions at the jails failed to meet constitutional standards. A separate investigation of the individual suicides in Mississippi jails is pending in the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division. Under the consent decrees, the four jails will develop and implement new policies and procedures, provide adequate security and supervision, ensure fire safety, offer adequate medical and mental health care, and implement suicide prevention measures. In the agreement with Grenada County, officials have agreed to complete construction of a new facility by May 1, 1996. The Justice Department's investigation examined all conditions including supervision, fire safety, training, staffing, medical and mental health care, and suicide prevention measures. "We cannot stand by while one's constitutional rights are violated," said Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval L. Patrick. "I commend the cooperative efforts of federal and local officials in reaching these agreements which will ensure constitutional conditions of confinement." In the fall of 1993, the Justice Department notified local officials of the findings of its investigation and entered into negotiations to resolve the problems. The Justice Department will monitor the four jails to ensure that they comply with the consent decrees and will continue to monitor the five other jails which entered agreements with the Justice Department earlier this year. The Tupelo, Corinth and Grenada City consent decrees were filed today in the U.S. District Court in Oxford and the Forest City consent decree was filed today in U.S. District Court in Jackson. # # # 94-653