Each year the Pearl River County Board of Supervisors sets aside $200,000 for countywide trash pick up.

Every day, litter crews set out across the county in an attempt to clear garbage from county roads and remove illegal dumpsites.

County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin said the county has three litter crews manned by three full-time correction officers who utilize the assistance of two county inmates each to remove trash from the roadsides.

Lumpkin said the $200,000 budgeted for this task pays the salaries of the three full-time correction officers, as well the maintenance of the vehicles, trucks and trailers used during the operation.

These inmates are allowed to assist in that effort as part of the inmate programs under the Mississippi Department of Corrections, Lumpkin said.

Efforts to clean state aid roads are reimbursed by the state based on the hours spent and the number of miles traveled. The county receives approximately $2,500 a month in reimbursement, Lumpkin said.

Bubba Lilly, Supervisor for the county’s litter control crews, said out of the county’s three crews, two crews are assigned to state aid roads and one crew is assigned to county roads.

Pearl River County Sheriff David Allison said last year the sheriff’s department received an award for collecting the most trash in the Southern District of the state.

Allison said it is disappointing to receive an award for having the most trash.

He encourages people to dispose of their waste properly and abstain from throwing trash out of their vehicle and on the roadside.

Allison said the $200,000 used to collect that waste could be spent in areas where the county needs it most.

“We get calls almost every day to pick up trash,” Allison said.

Lilly said on average one of the three crews picks up about five tons of garbage from across the county each day.