Jackson Free Press

The Jackson Police Department and the Mississippi State Fair Commission say they are confident there will not be a repeat of last year's litigious ending to a disagreement about overtime pay for police security at the fair.

"Those officers will be paid directly from (the) fair. It won't impact the police overtime," Mayor Tony Yarber, a member of the State Fair Commission, said after the Jackson City Council's special meeting Thursday. "It was a battle that we fought on behalf of the City last year, and I am pleased to say that we in effect won, because we did not have to see our budget impacted by that anymore."

In 2015, the City did not have funds to pay overtime to police officers deployed to guard the perimeter of the fair, as detailed in the Hinds County Chancery Court documents from a lawsuit the Mississippi State Fair Commission filed against the City of Jackson on Oct. 2, 2015.

"The commission has been on notice for months that the City of Jackson does not have the funds to pay for the costs of extra personnel at this State-sponsored event. Now, on the eve of the event," the City's response last year states, "the commission is requesting that Jackson Police Department order an unspecified amount of police officers to work security and traffic for a two-week time frame."

In a similar situation to the City's present budget predicament, any additional overtime expenditure would have threatened the City's state-mandated requirement to maintain a balanced budget. So, the City ran the risk of having to pull other officers from their duties to provide fair security.

"As previously stated, the City of Jackson is undergoing budget cuts and furloughs to its employees. In order to operate within its budget and still provide the Commission with security personnel, other officers from other precincts will be pulled from their daily duties to attend this special event," the City's response states.

A year later, Jackson still faces overtime issues with the police. Yesterday, during a special council meeting, Yarber's administration asked the council to approve a $996,173 transfer of funds from across departments. This would cover overtime on the last paychecks to police for the 2016 budget year, which ends Oct. 1, set to be paid out the first and second week of October.

Jackson Police Chief Lee Vance said during a phone interview on Sept. 30 that although he hesitates to release too many specifics about the security plan for the fair, the funding issues for last year would not affect this year.

"Everything has been ironed out. We have a plan in place where we are going to be providing security on the outside of the state fair," Vance said. "I try to be non-specific about numbers for strategic reasons, but anybody that comes down to the fair will see a very significant presence of the Jackson police."

"And we will have zero tolerance for anybody that is trying to burglarize, disrupt, or accost anybody going in and out of the fair," Vance said.

The Hinds County Sheriff's Department and the Capitol Police will handle the inside security of the fair, Executive Director of the State Fair Commission Rick Reno said during an interview on Sept. 30.

"What you've got is different levels of security for any event, of course," Reno said. "But for the state fair, specifically, on the inside of the gates, once you are on the property, the Hinds County Sheriff's Department takes care of the inside along with the Capitol Police."

Reno said JPD would be present around the fairgrounds, patrolling and directing traffic.

"A lot involves them helping us with traffic right outside and the security in the close perimeters," Reno said, adding that the relationship with JPD from the fair's perspective does not have the problems of last year. "And yes, it is my understanding that everything is very positive."

"This is the largest event that comes to the city, with all the people that pour in here for this event. We are very thankful that the Jackson Police Department will be out," Reno said.

Email city reporter Tim Summers Jr. at [email protected]. See more local news at jfp.ms/localnews.