Pearl River County Sheriff David Allison gets approval for GED program at county jail

Pearl River County Sheriff David Allison received approval from the Board of Supervisors to enter into a contract with a teacher to provide a General Education Diploma (GED) program at the jail using funding generated from the canteen program which does not come from taxpayer dollars.

Basically, a GED is a series of tests used to show if one has a high school level education or not. Once someone has earned a GED, it's practically as good as an actual diploma.

Pearl River County Sheriff David Allison during Monday's meeting.

According to Sheriff Allison, the canteen program is administered by a third party company. The program provides inmates an opportunity to purchase snacks foods and limited personal hygiene products (those not provided by the jail) through kiosks at the jail if the inmate has money in their account.

Sheriff Allison said the proceeds from the canteen program must be spent on the inmates because the profit is created from the inmates money spent. He add that the funds have been used for items like basketballs, televisions, and other items for the inmates to use while incarcerated.