Year-to-date, it appeared the tedious process expected to lead to a new detention facility to serve Vicksburg and Warren County was gaining speed. After all, the consultant hired after a fact-finding mission to Colorado by locals in 2007 said site selection should be completed by August.

Now, however, it appears the board of supervisors has applied the brakes. There’s one reason: money.

“Until we find out exactly what this economy’s going to do, what the state’s going to do, I don’t see us doing anything,” District 1 Supervisor David McDonald said last week during a session with an informal committee examining court processes.

Again, supervisors are to be commended for keeping the process open and for being candid with taxpayers who foot the bills for decisions they make. Making every notion public probably invites more criticism than is warranted, but we’re all stakeholders in what will likely be the most expensive building ever built with local funds.

It’s too soon to say supervisors need to go back to square one, but it’s not too soon to point out that consultants offered up a “Cadillac” plan. The proposal is for a jail on a 30- to 50-acre site with enough space to expand to 650 inmates plus an immediate tripling of staff.

There may be less costly alternatives that cover local needs for several decades, as any design should.

As unlikely as it may sound, this is as good a time as any to start serious talks with Vicksburg officials about moving forward on a joint project. Urban sites, of which there are several, should also remain under consideration.

Warren County and Vicksburg will never have “extra money” to spend on a jail or anything else. That’s just not the nature of any government at any level. Providing safe, decent detention facilities is, however, a clear and unavoidable duty. Hard decisions need to be made, and with all deliberate speed.