Brainstorming out loud costs nothing, even for public officials mindful of every cent — and every vote.

That’s why it’s time for Warren County supervisors, who will make the decision on when and where to spend millions, to speak up on where a new Warren County jail should be built.

Three sites have been suggested aloud. Two, off Mississippi 27 and East Clay Street and between Alcorn Drive and Martin Luther King Boulevard, were dropped as quickly as they were mentioned. Cited were the expenses associated with leveling hills and building new roads.

The third site, mentioned more than once by District 1 Supervisor David McDonald, is at Ceres Research and Industrial Interplex. Though it’s received the most ink, it’s already been met with opposition by members of the Warren County Port Commission, which operates the industrial park.

It’s been six months since supervisors were handed the results of a taxpayer-funded study by Colorado-based Voorhis/Robertson Justice Services. The report told the county it needed a 350-bed jail on 20 to 50 acres with enough room for a possible expansion to 650 beds.

It’s not an election year for supervisors, so fear of retribution at the polls probably is not the immediate reason for the silence on additional potential sites.

Maybe supervisors need some help — just to get the dialogue going.

• How about the Vicksburg Municipal Airport? It’s in the city limits — a previous sticking point; it’s only a few miles from the courthouse — much closer than Ceres; and we paid for and own another airport just eight miles west in Mound.

• Plenty of flat-looking, apparently idle land sits just west of North Washington Street near its intersection with U.S. 61 North. Could it be bought and used, even if it means dumping in more dirt to raise the ground out of a potential flood zone?

• This last possibility is really thinking out of the box, or maybe even out on a limb: How about attempting to buy or even arrange a swap with Vicksburg Catholic School for its property that is located in a relatively high-crime area less than a mile from the courthouse and creates traffic jams on Clay and Grove streets twice daily and football Friday nights.

If supervisors take a peek behind door No. 3, the Catholic school property, maybe they could find a parcel of land to swap that would be more convenient and safer on which the school could build a new complex.

And, after all, the school probably would not have to meet the stringent state and federal guidelines a jail must meet. School officials might be offended at the suggestion, or they might think it’s a pretty good idea.

Even on the cusp of an election year — supervisor elections are set for 2011 — it’s good politics to show the attempt to get started on a sorely needed new jail hasn’t perished.

These might or might not be worthy ideas for lofty jail planning, but a little more substantive public brainstorming can’t hurt.