A retired Warren County sheriff’s deputy filed as a candidate for the department’s top job Wednesday, becoming Sheriff Martin Pace’s first challenger in eight years.

Bubba Comans, 55, will run in the Democratic primary for sheriff — a decision he said he formed in the 2 1/2 weeks since retiring from the department after 25 years, most recently supervising bailiffs inside the courthouse.

“The public just kept coming at me,” Comans said when asked about his run for sheriff the same year as his retirement. “They want a change… there’s a bunch of issues.”

Construction of a new jail and pay raises for deputies are two topics he said commanded his attention. Building and staffing a jail according to recommended specifications would force a property tax increase through a millage rate hike, according to calculations released by the county in January. The impact study forecast a $50 jump on tax bills for every $100,000 in true value.

“With the way the economy is right now, it’s kind of rough to fork out that kind of money,” Comans said. “It’s just not the time for it.”

A study completed last April by Colorado-based Voorhis/Robertson Justice Services said the labor force should triple to 77 to staff a new jail. Pace asked supervisors to fund cost-of-living raises for the department’s 44 sworn, non-clerical deputies. None were granted, as supervisors opted to budget $220,000 for 10 new patrol vehicles. Called the “Cadillac Plan” by county supervisors, the report lays out ideals for a jail that would require 20 to 50 acres and have space for at least 350 inmates.

Pace, 52, was first elected in 1996 in a special election to succeed longtime sheriff Paul Barrett and was unopposed four years ago. In 2003, Pace won re-election easily, garnering more than 90 percent of the vote.

Jail overcrowding has emerged in the past decade as a chronic budgetary issue for both Vicksburg and Warren County.

Pretrial detainees fill nearly all 128 beds at Cherry and Grove streets, prompting the city to ferry those with charges in municipal court to other county jails, mainly Issaquena County. Estimates on prisoner transport costs have hovered around $350,000 to $400,000, depending on fuel prices. Costs to the county for providing legal defense for poor clients spiked to more than $500,000 during fiscal 2009, and, despite lower costs in recent months due to per-case caps, is still considered by county officials a side effect of available beds in the jail.

In August 2007, Pace traveled with several fellow officials to Colorado to a jail planning seminar organized by the federal Department of Justice to gather facts on the county’s next steps in building a jail. In August 2008, supervisors tapped VRJS out of three proposals to consult them on the size and scope of a jail. Claims paid to the firm totaled $116,355.54, less than its $139,908 offer.