Quitman County landfill purchase bill dies in committee, seeks $400,000

Quitman County’s effort to take control of the Hood Road landfill hit a wall in Jackson, leaving the county without the $400,000 it sought for a purchase that could shape trash service, disposal costs and environmental oversight for years. Senate Bill 3333 would have set aside state money for Quitman County to buy the 56.4-acre site at 4680 Hood Road in Marks, just down the road from the county’s own courthouse and government offices.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jackson, was introduced in the 2026 regular session, sent to Appropriations on Feb. 24 and died in committee the next day. The short life of the measure means the county did not get the appropriation it asked for in fiscal year 2027, and any plan to secure the landfill now faces delay unless local leaders find another way to finance it.

The stakes are practical. Owning or controlling a disposal site can give a county more leverage over hauling expenses, more say in how waste is managed and more certainty in long-term planning. In Quitman County, where the July 1, 2025 population estimate was 5,364, down from 6,176 in the 2020 Census, every major infrastructure decision carries weight. Marks, the county seat, had 1,444 residents in 2020, underscoring how closely a landfill on Hood Road would be tied to the daily operations of county government rather than to a distant regional facility.

The proposal also fit into Mississippi’s regulatory framework for solid waste. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality oversees local 20-year solid waste management plans and collects annual disposal reports from landfills and other facilities, while state law requires counties to work with municipalities on local nonhazardous solid waste management plans. If Quitman County cannot secure the Hood Road site, it may have to keep relying on outside disposal arrangements, a choice that can leave hauling costs less predictable and county control more limited.

Records also suggest the site is not idle ground waiting for a new use. State inspection records show an inspection at Hood Road Landfill LLC at 4680 Hood Road on Nov. 4, 2025, and public business records link Mississippi Landfill Operations, LLC to the same address, with the company filed in 2003 and later dissolved. That history points to an existing landfill asset with a long operational footprint, which is exactly why the county’s failed request matters: the fight was never just about property, but about who controls one of Quitman County’s most basic public services.