Overcrowding at the Issaquena County Jail over the past two weeks has forced Vicksburg police to take inmates to jails in other counties, costing the city more than $3,000, Police Chief Walter Armstrong said Tuesday.

Armstrong discussed the cost of housing inmates after addressing the Vicksburg Kiwanis Club.

“One of the biggest challenges we face in law enforcement is jail overcrowding,” he said, adding that Issaquena officials told the city two weeks ago their jail was full.

The alternative jails, he said, are in Claiborne, Adams, Madison and Leake counties. Vicksburg Police Department headquarters has six holding cells, he said.

As of Tuesday, Armstrong said, the city had six prisoners held for a total of 14 days in the Claiborne County Jail at $35 a day, or $490; and 11 prisoners held for a total of 119 days in the Leake County Jail in Carthage for $25 a day, or $2,975 — a total of $3,465.

During fiscal year 2011, which ended in September, the city paid $158,898 to house inmates in facilities outside Warren County, he said.

Of the alternatives currently available, Armstrong said the city has used only the Claiborne and Leake county jails, adding the cost of keeping inmates in the two jails does not include the gasoline for transportation.

City purchasing director Tim Smith said the city pays $3.20 per gallon for regular gas through Fuelman, the supply service that holds the state contract to provide gasoline and diesel.

Armstrong said police use two vans to take prisoners to and from jail to court.

The vans, he said, are used only during the week. If night or weekend transportation is required, a patrol officer must drive.

Suspects arrested in Vicksburg for misdemeanor crimes generally are taken to Issaquena County, which has a regional facility and charges the city $28 per inmate per day, Armstrong said. The Issaquena jail holds 54 people.

Suspects arrested for felonies, Armstrong said, are held at the Warren County Jail, which holds 128.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said the county charges the city $20 a day for felony prisoners awaiting their initial appearance in city court, where charges are read and bond is set.

“Once the bond is set, they become county prisoners,” Pace said. He said the county jail remains full.

“We have no room for misdemeanor prisoners,” he said. “The section that was supposed to hold misdemeanor prisoners is holding felony prisoners.”

Armstrong said the decision of which jail to house city prisoners depends on the distance from Vicksburg, whether the jail has room, and the length of the sentence.

“Obviously, we want to go the shortest distance possible, because of the security risk,” he said. “But if we have someone who has a 30-day sentence and Carthage has room, we’ll take them there because we don’t have to go back and forth to court. It’s about two hours to Carthage.”

The distance from Vicksburg to the Claiborne County Jail is 30 miles, and to Carthage is about 100 miles.

Armstrong said Issaquena County is beginning to have more openings.

“They have called us and told us they have some room for our prisoners,” he said. “I think things may be getting back to normal.”