Walnut Grove, Mississippi
| Walnut Grove, Mississippi | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
 Location of Walnut Grove, Mississippi | |
  Walnut Grove, Mississippi Location in the United States | |
| Coordinates: 32°35′45″N 89°27′32″W / 32.59583°N 89.45889°WCoordinates: 32°35′45″N 89°27′32″W / 32.59583°N 89.45889°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Mississippi |
| County | Leake |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Brian Gomillion |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.8 sq mi (2.1 km2) |
| • Land | 0.8 sq mi (2.1 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 361 ft (110 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 488 |
| • Density | 610.2/sq mi (235.6/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 39189 |
| Area code(s) | 601 |
| FIPS code | 28-77520 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0679299 |
Walnut Grove is a town in Leake County, Mississippi. The population was 1,911 at the 2010 census. Under the leadership of eight-term mayor, William Grady Smith, one of the longest-serving mayors in the state, the town had dramatically increased its population and revenues by annexing the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility, privately owned and operated under contract to the state. By 2011 this was the largest juvenile facility in the nation.
Investigations by public interest groups and the United States Department of Justice revealed extensive abuses and constitutional violations in operation of the facility. A class-action suit was filed against the facility's operator, staff, and state officials. As a result of the settlement, youthful offenders were transferred to a state-operated facility established to juvenile justice standards, the state is prohibited from using solitary confinement for any youthful offender, and conditions at the prison are being monitored to protect current inmates. It has been converted to an adult facility.
Golden Memorial State Park is located east of the town.
History
Walnut Grove began as a European-American settlement in a nearby location, now referred to as "Old Walnut Grove". This area was developed as cotton plantations in the antebellum era. The town was incorporated in 1884.[1] A post office was established in 1854,[2] and in the early 1900s, electricity and street lights were installed.[1]
The Jackson and Eastern Railway was completed to Walnut Grove in 1923, and then extended to nearby Tuscola, Mississippi in 1925.[3]
The town was surveyed at its present location in 1923. Two canals were built near Walnut Grove in the late 1920s to improve transportation. Walnut Grove received a telephone franchise in 1927, and was connected to the Forest exchange.
In 1962, a sewage and water system was installed, and in 1966, natural gas was installed. In 1970, the town organized and trained a volunteer fire department, though the first fire truck was not purchased until 1974.[1]
Walnut Grove's Marshall, Jake Trest, was murdered in 1979. His killer, Edward Earl Johnson, was executed in 1987.[4]
In 1981 William Grady Sims was elected as mayor of Walnut Grove and was repeatedly re-elected, serving until 2012. He was one of the longest-serving mayors in the state. By 2006 the town annexed the property of the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility, which had been constructed nearby in the county in 2001, adding to its area and population. In 2009 Sims was appointed as warden by the company that owned the prison. The prison made payments to the city in lieu of taxes that constituted 15% of the city's budget in 2011.[5] State expansion of the prison population made it the largest youth facility in the nation.
Numerous investigations of conditions at the prison resulted in a class action suit filed in 2010 in federal court against its management and the state. The federal government started a separate investigation. Sims resigned as warden. In 2011 he was indicted on two federal charges; in February 2012 he resigned as mayor under a federal plea agreement.[6] In October 2011 he was ordered by the state auditor to pay "$31,530 for using city employees and equipment to work on private prisons in the area, including the one he ran."[7]
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²), all land.
Cityscape
The community's town hall, post office, and library are not in the central part of Walnut Grove.[8]
Demographics
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1890 | 166 | — | |
| 1900 | 207 | 24.7% | |
| 1910 | 199 | −3.9% | |
| 1930 | 753 | — | |
| 1940 | 653 | −13.3% | |
| 1950 | 517 | −20.8% | |
| 1960 | 433 | −16.2% | |
| 1970 | 398 | −8.1% | |
| 1980 | 439 | 10.3% | |
| 1990 | 389 | −11.4% | |
| 2000 | 488 | 25.4% | |
| 2010 | 1,911 | 291.6% | |
| Est. 2014 | 1,921 | [9] | 0.5% |
As of the census[11] of 2000, there were 488 people, 215 households, and 127 families residing in the town. The population density was 610.2 people per square mile (235.5/km²). There were 239 housing units at an average density of 298.9 per square mile (115.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 57.38% White, 40.78% African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.20% Pacific Islander, and 1.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.41% of the population.
There were 215 households out of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.3% were married couples living together, 20.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.5% were non-families. 36.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 3.00.
In the town the population was spread out with 29.1% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 86.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.3 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $21,719, and the median income for a family was $27,981. Males had a median income of $21,667 versus $26,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,851. About 25.2% of families and 29.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 47.1% of those under age 18 and 15.1% of those age 65 or over.
The 2006 population estimate had 1,424 residents; this dramatic increase is due to the annexation of the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility and its inmate population.[12] Growth has continued, largely through inmate population.
Economy
Marco Apparel, a clothing manufacturer, opened in Walnut Grove in 1984. In 2001, it laid off over 100 employees.[13] The city was struggling to survive.
In 2001, the privately owned Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility opened in unincorporated county land under contract with the state; it was designed for youth offenders of 18 and under in age. Originally it was considered a model, but the state kept raising the age of offenders who were incarcerated there, and some prisoners aged there, so the population includedyoung men in their 20s. From 2003 to 2010, the prison was operated by Columbia Companies, which merged that year with GEO Group. The town annexed the prison property before 2006, thereby markedly increasing its population.[12] Its prisoners outnumbered town residents by a two to one ratio. The prison paid the city substantial amounts in lieu of taxes, with payments making up 15% of the city's annual budget in 2011.[5]
The facility became the largest youth facility in the nation, according to an NPR investigative report, with more than 1200 inmates. More than two-thirds were imprisoned for non-violent offenses. Increases in the number of prisoners were not accompanied by appropriate staffing, and the guard to prisoner ratio was far below standards: a 2005 state audit found the ratio was 1 to 60. This can be compared to the 1 to 10 or 12 ratio that is more common, according to the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators. Keeping staffing low enabled the company to increase its profits but failed to protect the safety of the inmates.[5]
Due to family and prisoner complaints and documented reports of the high rates of violence, injury and prisoner abuse, in November 2010 the Southern Poverty Law Center and ACLU National Prison Project "filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 13 inmates against the prison operator, GEO Group, the prison administration and state officials. The complaint describes rampant contraband brought in by guards, sex between female guards and male inmates, inadequate medical care, prisoners held inhumanely in isolation, guards brutalizing inmates and inmate-on-inmate violence that was so brutal it led to brain damage."[5][14] In 2011 the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice also began an investigation.[5]
Columbia Companies merged with GEO Group in 2011, the largest private prison contractor nationally. NPR reported that in 2011, nearly 15 percent of the town's annual budget came from the facility, which paid the town $15,000 each month in lieu of taxes. The town also received $4,500 per month from a state grant paid to the prison, and prison executives received bonuses based on federal educational grants, intended to be used for prison education programs. Walnut Grove's then-mayor, William Grady Sims, who owned 18 snack machines inside the prison and had been appointed warden in 2009, stated: "It's been a sweet deal for Walnut Grove."[5]
Sims served as mayor of Walnut Grove from 1981 to 2012, having been re-elected for more than 30 years. He was one of the longest-serving mayors in Mississippi. In 2009 he was appointed by Columbia Companies as warden of what was then called the Walnut Grove Transition Center, a "privately owned and operated facility which had contracted with the Mississippi Department of Corrections to house state inmates."[6]
The federal government began an investigation of conditions at the prison because of numerous complaints. In 2012, Sims was convicted of witness tampering. As warden, he had taken a female inmate to a motel room for sex in 2009 in Carthage, Mississippi, the county seat, and later instructed her to lie about it to federal investigators.[6] He resigned as warden of the prison in 2010. Sims pleaded guilty in February 2012 and was required to immediately resign as mayor of Walnut Grove under his plea agreement. He was sentenced to "serve seven months in prison followed by six months of home confinement and two years of supervised release."[6]
Since 2012, the prison has been owned by the Walnut Grove Development Authority, and operated by Management and Training Corporation under contract with the state.[15]
Under a landmark settlement of the SPLC/ACLU suit and associated DOJ investigation, the state was required under federal court order in 2012 to remove youthful offenders from the private facility and to establish them in a stand-alone unit, to be operated according to juvenile justice standards. They were transferred in December 2012 to a new, independent unit at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County. [16] In addition, the court decree prohibits the state of Mississippi from subjecting any youthful inmates to solitary confinement.[14]
Government
The Town of Walnut Grove has an alderman/mayor form of government with the mayor voting in case of a tie. City government is made up of five elected aldermen, an elected mayor, an elected municipal clerk, and an appointed police chief.
The mayor is Brian Gomillion, elected in 2013, and the Board of Aldermen includes: Jerry Darby, Teresa Darby, Pamela Gill, Chip Jones, Cindy Jones, and Mike Johnson.[17]
Education
The Town of Walnut Grove is served by the Leake County School District.
Notable people
- Sue Gunter, Olympic silver medalist and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.[18]
- Ken Lewis, former CEO, President, and Chairman of Bank of America.[19]
- Luther Riley, college basketball coach; grew up in Walnut Grove.[20]
- William Grady Sims, eight-term mayor who increased city population and revenues by annexing the privately owned and operated Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility. Appointed warden of the facility by its private operator in 2009, Sims was indicted under a major federal investigation of conditions at the prison,[7] and made a plea agreement.[5][6]
References
- 1 2 3 "History of Walnut Grove, Leake County, Mississippi". msleake. April 1975.
- ↑ Howe, Tony. "Walnut Grove, Mississippi". Mississippi Rails. Retrieved February 2014.
- ↑ Hoffman, Gil. "Jackson & Eastern Railway". Mississippi Rails. Retrieved February 2014.
- ↑ O'Shea, Kathleen A. (1999). Women and the Death Penalty in the United States, 1900-1998. Greenwood Publishing.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Burnett, John (March 25, 2011). "Town Relies On Troubled Youth Prison For Profits". NPR.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Former Mayor of Walnut Grove Sentenced for Federal Witness Tampering". Federal Bureau of Investigation. April 24, 2012.
- 1 2 "Longtime mayor of Miss. town, William Grady Sims, accused of sexually assaulting an inmate", CBS News, 26 October 2011, accessed 30 January 2016
- ↑ "Walnut Grove" (Archive). First Impressions. Mississippi State University, February 2008. 5 (5/21). Retrieved on August 14, 2010.
- ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014". Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ↑ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- 1 2 "Walnut Grove." First Impressions. Mississippi State University, February 2008. 0 (3/21). Retrieved on August 14, 2010. "Looking at the MDA profile, the population growth is impressive (year 2000 – 488, year 2006 – 1,424). However, we learned that most of this population growth has been due to the location and annexation of the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility."
- ↑ "Industrial Closures and Layoffs since 1997 in Leake County, Mississippi" (PDF). Leake County. Retrieved February 2014.
- 1 2 C.B., et al. v. Walnut Grove Correctional Authority, et al., SPLC
- ↑ "Private Prisons". Mississippi Department of Corrections. January 6, 2014.
- ↑ "MDOC OPENS YOUTHFUL OFFENDER UNIT", Press Release, 12 December 2012, Mississippi Dept. of Corrections, accessed 30 January 2016
- ↑ "Town of Walnut Grove Municipal General Election Results". Town of Walnut Grove. June 4, 2013.
- ↑ "Sue Gunter". Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 2014.
- ↑ Rohrlich, Justin (Nov 18, 2009). "Rags to Riches CEOs: Ken Lewis". Minyanville.
- ↑ "Luther J. Riley Named Head Men's Basketball Coach at Alcorn State University". Alcorn State University. March 28, 2011.
External links
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