Prichard Tightens The Belt

The City of Prichard is having to cut costs in more ways the one.
Today, Prichard shut down its jail. The facility will still be maintained as part of a new partnership with the Mobile County Sheriff's Office. Imates will now be sent to Mobile Metro Jail. The Prichard facility will be used only for overflow.

In addition, sheriff's deputies will take over all law enforcement calls in the area just east of Eight Mile. Sheriff Sam Cochran says deputies are already familiar with the area since it overlaps into their current jurisdiction. Prichard Police Chief Lawrence Battiste says the move will not only save money, but allow the department to focus more on their inner city.
"Basically what the Mobile County Sheriff's Office is doing, is they're assisting us with calls for services in unincorporated areas. They're not necessarily taking over any additional responsibilities from the City of Prichard Police Department,"Said Chief Battiste.
"To me it only makes sense to not have this redundancy of services and let them program those services back into the City of Prichard,"Said Sheriff Cochran.

Nine jail employees are getting severance packages from the City of Prichard.
Prichard Police tell News Five they hope to keep at least one employee to assist with court services.