OKTIBBEHA COUNTY — Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office is getting an app, giving the public access to tip lines, community resources and live information about public safety hazards and inmate status.
Chief Deputy Maurice Johnson presented the contract to the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors on Monday, garnering unanimous approval to partner with OCV LLC, the company that already runs the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office app. He said Oktibbeha’s new app will offer a wide range of services, something he’s already experienced with apps for Lowndes and the district attorney’s office.
“It has sheriff compliments and complaints, a featured fugitive, jail information, a resource map, ways to join our team, the sex offender registry, a community calendar,” Johnson said. “You know how Saturday mornings people can come up to the jail and visit their family and friends? This way they’ll be able to do it by video.”
Johnson told The Dispatch on Wednesday that the sheriff’s office and County Attorney Rob Roberson are finalizing the details of the contract now, with a roughly 90-day timeline once it’s signed for the app to get up and running.
He expects the app to be much the same as LCSO’s, which is available not just for Android and iOS phones but for anyone on a computer with a web browser. Today the sheriff’s office website is just a blank page reading, “Please bear with us while we update our website…” with a couple header links to error pages or short entries.
LCSO’s app, meanwhile, has all the features Johnson mentioned Monday and regularly sends out push notifications about dangerous weather and other hazards to public safety.
“It’s a good thing,” District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer said. “… We’re trying to accommodate (people) and get information. This will probably give people information they’d otherwise have to call in to get. They can get it in the app, sign up for push notifications. Better communication, at the end of the day it ought to provide a lot of things that will be a benefit to users.”
Jail information will also help people keep track of any relatives or friends who have been arrested, giving people easy access to information like where people are being held, what they’re charged with and what bond has been set.
The county’s contract would cost $40,568 for the first year, with the second, third and fourth years each costing $9,000. The initial fee will be paid for through appropriated state funds and subsequent years paid for with income from jail commissary purchases. Those funds can only be used for inmate support, but given many of the app’s primary services benefit inmates, the sheriff’s office has opted to use those funds.
“I’m looking forward to that app very much,” Sheriff Shank Phelps told The Dispatch on Wednesday. “It’s going to be very beneficial to the citizens of this county.”
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