The Detention Center
Neshoba County Law Enforcement Center
- Operated byNeshoba County Sheriff's Department
- Jail address920 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, MS 39350
- Rated capacity52 maximum-security beds plus 12 beds for work-crew members (county sheriff page)
- OpenedJanuary 1995; built in under seven months
- Cost$1.8 million 'to the citizens of Neshoba County' (county sheriff page)
- SizeOver 15,000 sq ft; one of the first to use factory-assembled detention units; also houses sheriff's offices
- Regional correctional facilityKemper/Neshoba County Regional Correctional Facility (DeKalb) — holds state prisoners under an MDOC contract; not mentioned on the county's pages or in its FY2024 audit
- Jail AdministratorAmanda Wilkerson (Jail Administrator, named on the county sheriff page)
Source: Neshoba County — Sheriff page · checked 2026-09-29
Transparency rating
2/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗Who is in custody — not published
- ✓Beds and daily population
- ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
- ✗Deaths in custody — not published
- ✗PREA audits — not published
- ✗Independent inspection — not published
- ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
- ✗How to post bond — not published
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year built1995 (opened January 1995)
- Original cost$1.8 million
- Paid for byNot found
- Beds64 (52 maximum-security + 12 work-crew)
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Eric Clark
- Runs the jailYes — by law the sheriff is the jailer of the county (Miss. Code § 19-25-71)
- How the office is filledElected, four-year term; county page says he was first elected in the November 5, 2019 general election
- Contact920 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, MS 39350; 601-656-1414
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Neshoba County — Sheriff page · checked 2026-09-29
The Judges
Mississippi's circuit judges are elected state judges who hear felony cases. Bail is often first set at an initial appearance by a justice court judge, elected by district within the county, or by a county or municipal judge.
Who sets bail in Neshoba County
- Circuit Court: Mississippi's Eighth Circuit Court District, which also serves Leake, Newton and Scott. Circuit judges are elected district-wide to four-year terms and hear felony cases.
- Justice Court: Neshoba County's justice court judges are elected by district within the county and often set bail at the first appearance.
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-29
The Board of Supervisors
They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.
- What they controlThe county budget, including the sheriff's office and the jail, and the jail building itself. Five supervisors, each elected from a district. In fifteen counties, the county also runs a regional correctional facility that holds state prisoners under a contract with the Department of Corrections.
- What they don'tDay-to-day operations. By law the sheriff is the jailer of the county and hires the jailers (Miss. Code 19-25-71). No state agency inspects the jail.
- NoteNo meeting schedule or minutes posted; county posts audit reports and legal notices on its Public Notices page.
- The boardNeshoba County Board of Supervisors →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- Official county site neshobacounty.net opened (found via search); Sheriff, Board of Supervisors, Public Notices, County Administrator, Justice Court pages and the FY2024 audit read.
- Sheriff page names Sheriff Eric Clark, the Neshoba County Law Enforcement Center, its jail administrator, bed count, 1995 opening and $1.8 million cost.
- No roster, visitation, commissary, bond, PREA or fee information on the county site.
- Justice Court page: judges hold court sessions at the jail so each arrested person has an initial appearance within three days of arrest — but no guidance on posting bond.
- County posts annual audit reports (FY2021–FY2024) under Public Notices; the FY2024 audit shows only a combined 'public safety' line, not a sheriff or jail line, so budget scored no. No adopted budget posted.
- Board page posts no meeting schedule, minutes or agendas; it links policies, ordinances and audits.
- FY2024 audit makes no mention of the Kemper/Neshoba regional facility, prisoner per-diems or jail revenue.
- Sheriff's office has a Facebook page (facebook.com/neshobasheriff) — not counted.
- What was tried: neshobacounty.net root (fetch refused before search; sub-pages opened after).
- State inspection/oversight: Mississippi has no state agency that inspects county jails. The State Department of Health's jail inspections ended when the Legislature stopped funding them in 2017.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Neshoba County and what it costs the people who live here. Nationally, almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 had not been convicted of anything, and suicide was the leading single cause of those deaths (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019).
How much is your sheriff — and your judge — costing you?
Your VOTE is POWERFUL.
The sheriff is elected. So are the supervisors who pay for the jail, and the judges who set bail.
Names verified 2026-09-29 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered