FORREST COUNTY, MISS., Thursday, August 5, 2010— The Mississippi Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) District Six honored Forrest County Sheriff Billy Magee with the Exemplary Performance Award for the highest amount of litter removal in the State of Mississippi for the past year. 

MDOT Southern Transportation Commissioner Wayne Brown presented Sheriff Magee the award in recognition for outstanding achievement as part of the Mississippi Inmate Litter Removal Partnership Program.  Forrest County inmates collected 25,225 bags of trash from July, 2009 through June, 2010. 

The Inmate Litter Removal Program began in 1999, according to MDOT District Six Anti-litter Coordinator Ashlyn Hamilton.

“Through our partnerships with the sheriffs of Mississippi, the citizens have provided an essential service of litter removal at an economical cost,” said Hamilton.  “It is discouraging that some people ruin our highways by littering, and we ask residents to do their part by not littering.  The inmates provide labor-intensive work and it greatly enhances Mississippi’s roadside beauty.”

Hamilton said Keep Mississippi Beautiful, a statewide non-profit beautification organization, provided the sheriff’s departments with resources such as trailers to aid in the litter removal efforts.

Pearl River County Sheriff David Allison came in second place with the collection of 17,748 bags of trash.  MDOT presented Certificates of Appreciation to all participating counties in District Six, which include Clarke, Forrest, George, Greene, Harrison, Jackson, Jones, Lamar, Pearl River, Perry, Stone, and Wayne Counties.

Along with the Inmate Litter Removal Program, MDOT sponsors dozens of Trash Bash events statewide and participates in the Great American Cleanup each year.

For more information about this the Anti-litter effort in District Six, contact Ashlyn Hamilton at 601-544-6511.