The process of government is messy and often thankless, as our county’s board of supervisors knows well.

Our supervisors are faced with making decisions about the construction of a new county jail. The question is not whether the county should construct a jail. It must. The county’s jail is woefully inadequate in every way. No need to rehash that here.

A first step in the jail construction process is choosing a site. To date, the sites put forth by supervisors with the best of intentions have not received community/stakeholder support.

On Nov. 20, the county’s board of supervisors voted to construct the jail on land it owns at the Ceres Industrial Park. On the surface, the Ceres site seemed like a good decision. The county already owns the land and that would save money that could be used elsewhere in the project.

We thought the Ceres site was a good fit for a jail, too, and said so in an editorial prior to the county’s vote.

We were wrong.

The Ceres site is not the place to locate a new county jail. Since the board’s decision, a number of negatives with the site have come to light, including the logistical nightmare and safety issue of the distance deputies would need to drive to transport prisoners, not to mention a jail at the site would curtail any hope of other economic development in what is intended to be an industrial park.

The location of the jail is one that affects the entire community and such a decision should not be made in a vacuum. While it may seem that the decision primarily affects our safety and security, it also has impacts on community and economic development and that should be taken into account.

This decision would benefit from a summit of sorts.

It’s time to step back and take a breath. And soon after that breath, all stakeholders — all five members of the county’s board of supervisors and the city’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen, along with Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace and Pablo Diaz, representing economic development and the area’s business community — should come together in a joint meeting and hash out the good, bad and ugly of where to locate a new county jail.

Ceres is not the place, and our county’s supervisors need to realize putting a jail there just isn’t going to happen. State law requires the county jail to be constructed within a mile of the county seat. Building it elsewhere would require the city to sign off on the site and a legislative waiver. Neither will happen for the Ceres site.

Several sites do exist that appear potentially better choices for locating a jail. Let’s everyone get in a room and pick one, together.

We have the best shot we’ve had in years for growth in our community, but we’re going to damage those prospects if we continue to give the impression that our entities of government, economic development and the business community can’t get along or come to agreement when it counts.

That’s the impression this community has put out there in the past and it has cost this community dearly in lost opportunities. That’s such a shame because Vicksburg and Warren County have so much to offer. Mostly, it is such a disservice to the citizens of this community.

We’re counting on our elected officials to show leadership and organize this summit. Choose a facilitator if one is needed — and we think one is — but get together in a room and work this out.