It houses hundreds of county and state offenders, but it is also one of the largest employers in Carroll and Montgomery counties.

The official groundbreaking of the correctional facility took place on May 1999 in Vaiden, after several years of seeking options for improved local facilities. In the search for a solution, the two counties found each other and began a partnership that produced the Carroll Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility (CMRCF).

Today, the CMRCF is recognized as one of the best correctional facilities in the area. To prove it so, the facility received exceptional scores from the American Correctional Association audit.

According to Carroll County Sheriff Jerry Carver, the jail received perfect scores on mandatory and non-mandatory criteria concerning the facility.

"The jail does not look 10-years old," Carver said. "It is as clean as a pin, and it is a top-of-the-line facility."

The audit was a two-day affair, where the ACA auditing team reviewed all Mississippi Department of Corrections’ policies and procedures, the CMRCF facility, and interviewed MDOC staff and inmates housed at the institution. To be awarded accreditation, CMRCF must comply with 100 percent of the mandatory standards identified by ACA and comply with at least 90 percent of the non-mandatory standards identified by ACA.

"Everybody that gets audited doesn't pass," Carver said. "And with the score we got, we are in elite company."

The story of CMRCF dates back some 15 years ago, when jails in Winona and Carroll County would not have survived the audit teams of today's standards. County officials began discussing the possibility of building a new jail in the area.

Former Carroll County Chancery Clerk Ralph Self and Montgomery County Chancery Clerk Tee Golding began talks in 1995 on the different options of getting a jail.

"The jail we had was not going to work," Golding said. "I was on the phone calling Bunky Huggins everyday."

Huggins, the late state senator from District 14, represented Carroll, Montgomery, Attala, Leflore, Tallahatchie and Grenada counties. Huggins served as Chairman of the Corrections Committee, and had chaired both the appropriations and public health committees as well.

"Bunky [Huggins] called back and wanted to join Carroll and Montgomery counties for a regional correctional facility," Golding said. "The cost of a new building in Winona was too expensive to endure back then, making a regional facility the best option."

The facility is an Adult Median Custody male institution. Female offenders in Carroll and Montgomery counties are housed in the Grenada County Jail. The CMRCF housing has a dormitory, two man cells and single cells.

The facility is supported by a central kitchen, laundry, medical, programs and physical plant maintenance area. The facility also provides Adult Basic Education and GED classes through Holmes Community College. Vocational skills are taught through the Building Trades Class, and the facilities maintenance department and by referral to MDOC.

In the aspect of liability, Golding said a jail was much needed.

"After talking with Bunky, Ralph Self said he had the ideal spot where the jail could be built," Golding said.

That spot was a piece of 16th section land in Vaiden that was already connected with gas and water.

"We decided to build it on the land in Vaiden, a place that was close to Winona," Golding said.

The jail, which is located on Highway 35, is ten miles from Winona, 18 miles from Carrollton, and only 13 miles to Kilmichael.

Former Carroll County Sheriff Don Gray remembers talks of the new jail and the land where it would later stand.

"It was a hill in Vaiden, and it was cut down to the empty lot," Gray said. "Bunky Huggins was big in getting the jail for us. The state had built two other jails similar to ours, and the authorization was made and the process would later begin. It was a great time for the county and our other local officials Bobby Howell and Mary Ann Stevens played a part as well."

Today the 300-bed facility still houses both state and county offenders and remains as one of the leading employers in the county.

"There are several people from Vaiden employed there, several people in Winona, Black Hawk, Kilmichael and Carrollton," Carroll County Beat Five Supervisor Ricky Corley said.

Howell, the District 46 House member who represents Carroll, Montgomery, Attala, Grenada and Leflore counties, said the CMRCF is proven successful.

"Obviously the need of jobs is important," Howells said. "But it is paid for by the state to house the inmates and it saves Montgomery and Carroll counties from the increase in tax millage."

Howell said both jails in Montgomery and Carroll were facing sanctions and something had to be done.

"The facility is proven to be successful for the community and has benefited the taxpayers," Howell said.

Inmates, employees and visitors at the facility are provided with a safe environment through the effective use of fire and safety procedures and equipment. Fire protection equipment is placed at appropriate locations throughout the building.

Along with chaplaincy and religious services, every offender is required to work in the offender work programs. The programs consist of several jobs that range from barbers, kitchen, clerks to yard crew wall cleaners and dorm janitors.

"Warden [Arthur] Smith, the administrator, officers and the consultant Ed Hargett are to be commended for the work that they've done at the jail," Carver said. "The morale is high out there, it is clean and it is not everyday people say they are proud to have a jail in their backyards."