Isle inmates in Mississippi
get more guards

TUTWILER, Miss. >> Almost two weeks after 28 inmates set fire to mattresses, clothing and a portable toilet, a private prison housing Hawaii inmates is hiring additional guards.

Officials at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility said the move was not due to the disturbance, but to an expanding inmate population.

Warden James Cooke said the prison will add 37 employees, including about 25 guards. The additions will bring the prison staff to 302 people, including about 200 guards, Cooke said.

Cooke said, however, that the decision to add staff had nothing to do with the July 21 disturbance.

"We will be getting more (inmates) from Hawaii," Cooke said.

The facility now houses about 850 inmates, with a capacity of a little more than 1,000. There are about 120 inmates from Colorado, 690 from Hawaii and 40 from Tallahatchie County.

The island inmates were sent from Hawaii, Arizona and Oklahoma to Mississippi since May 11, a Hawaii state Department of Public Safety spokeswoman said yesterday.

Prison officials, with the help of law enforcement, halted last month's disturbance within 30 minutes. No injuries were reported.