Mississippi county balks at oversight for troubled jail

— Mississippi’s largest county says it will appeal a federal judge’s appointment of a public safety consultant to manage its jail where the judge found “ongoing unconstitutional conditions,” including short staffing levels that allowed some inmates to assault others. Hinds County is asking U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves to delay work by the receiver he appointed to oversee the Raymond Detention Center, according to federal court papers the county filed Thursday. Attorneys representing Hinds County wrote that delaying the appointment of the receiver during its appeal “is in the public interest because the Receiver is utterly unaccountable to the voters and taxpayers of Hinds County.” Reeves is scheduled to hold a Nov. 28 hearing on the county’s request. “The Receiver’s staggering budgetary authority could bankrupt the County, force the County to defund other legitimate funding needs, or raise taxes,” the county’s attorneys wrote in the court filing Thursday.