Bill Text: MS HB1691 | 2026 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Housing of municipal prisoners in county jails; revise methods that counties and municipalities use to calculate costs for payments of.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Failed) 2026-02-03 - Died In Committee [HB1691 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2026-HB1691-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2026 Regular Session
To: County Affairs; Appropriations A
By: Representative Byrd
House Bill 1691
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 19-25-73, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REMOVE A CERTAIN PROVISION THAT AUTHORIZES COUNTIES TO CHARGE MUNICIPALITIES, WHICH HAVE MUNICIPAL PRISONERS HOUSED AT COUNTY JAILS, AT A RATE THAT IS TIED TO THE STATE RATE FOR THE HOUSING OF STATE INMATES; TO PROVIDE THAT SUCH REMOVAL WILL ALLOW COUNTIES AND MUNICIPALITIES TO NEGOTIATE THE COSTS FOR THE HOUSING AND CARE OF MUNICIPAL PRISONERS HELD IN COUNTY JAILS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 19-25-73, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
19-25-73. (1) In respect to the feeding of prisoners by the sheriff's office, the board of supervisors is authorized to choose one (1) of the following methods:
(a) It shall only contract with a local caterer or restaurant owner to bring in food for the prisoners, and the contract shall be awarded after taking bids as provided by law for other county contracts.
(b) The sheriff shall
purchase, in the name of the county, all necessary food and related supplies to
be used for feeding prisoners only in the county jail. All purchases of such
food and supplies shall be invoiced to the county and placed on the claims
docket of the board of supervisors for disposition in the same manner as all
other claims against the county. All wages and other compensation for services
rendered to the sheriff in connection with the feeding of prisoners shall be
submitted to and approved by the board of supervisors as other wages or
compensation paid to employees of the sheriff. The total expenditure for such
purpose under this method shall not exceed Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) per day per
prisoner * * *. All payments and
reimbursements from any source for the keeping of prisoners shall be received
and paid into the general fund of the county.
(c) The board of supervisors may negotiate a contract with the board of trustees of the local public community hospital to bring in food for the prisoners.
(2) The board of
supervisors may authorize the sheriff to maintain a bank account entitled "jail
food allowance account" into which shall be deposited all receipts for
feeding and keeping prisoners in the county jail, including payments from the
board of supervisors at the rate not to exceed Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) per
prisoner per day and all such receipts from municipalities, the United States
and any other jurisdictions required to pay the cost of feeding or keeping
prisoners contained in the jail. He shall maintain a receipts journal and a
disbursements journal, in a form to be prescribed by the State Department of
Audit, which will provide the information necessary to determine the actual
cost of feeding the prisoners, which shall not exceed Fifteen Dollars ($15.00)
per prisoner per day * * *. All costs and
expenses for such feeding shall be paid from the jail food allowance account
and supported by properly itemized invoices. Any funds accumulating in the
jail food allowance account in excess of the monthly average expenditures, plus
ten percent (10%) for contingencies, shall be paid into the county general fund
at least once each calendar quarter.
* * *
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.
