State corrections officials seek major budget increases for offender tracking, facilities and pay

State Department of Corrections officials told a state appropriations subcommittee they are seeking larger appropriations for information systems, repairs and staff pay, including a request for $14 million to replace the agency's offender-tracking system and $41 million for Central Mississippi Correctional Facility operations in fiscal 2026.

Commissioner Kane said the department has increased hiring since 2020, rising from 682 employees to 1,139, a gain of 457, and reported a current inmate population of 17,593. "We spent a total of $73,980,454.31 at Parchman so far," Kane said, adding that a renovated 56-bed death row unit will be occupied on Feb. 15 and that the work cost about $14,000,000.

Derek, identified in the hearing as a department budget official, described the agency's near-term funding needs. "Our appropriation for the year was $36,000,000. We're already expended $22,000,000 with remaining appropriations for the next 6 months for Central Mississippi ... of $14,000,000," he said, and added: "We're requesting $41,000,000 for fiscal year 2026 to cover the impact that we're having right now." Derek also said the department's overall original budget request was about $500,000,000 and that the request had been increased to about $519,000,000.

The presentation named several discrete capital or compliance projects: about $8,000,000 at Walnut Grove to replace doors and locking systems, $11,000,000 at East Mississippi for similar work, and a request for a state support fund of about $7,800,000 for repairs such as routers, security gates and generators. Derek told the subcommittee the department wants to rebuild its fleet with approximately $1,300,000 and asked for $4,700,000 to expand work-release operations, including staffing and facility upgrades.

Officials said the agency is seeking a $34 per-inmate payment for regional facilities; staff noted the current law is $32.71 per inmate and that raising it to $34 would require changing that law. Derek described an outstanding need to raise pay for probation and parole staff, citing an approximate figure for salary increases discussed during the hearing.

The request also includes a new offender-tracking system. Officials said the current Finitrack system is at end-of-life and the department is seeking roughly $14,000,000 to replace it. Derek said the department hopes to "piggyback off other states" and pursue a cloud-based solution to shorten the RFP timeline, but cautioned the final price would be set by the procurement process.

The medical contract was another focus. The department requested an additional $12,000,000 in the fiscal 2026 budget for medical services and told the committee the agency is working on a compliance and oversight framework with legal counsel to hold the vendor accountable for day-to-day medical care. Officials said the new medical contract is signed and that the vendor has six months to finalize compliance steps.

Committee members pressed officials on staffing and prior cost overruns. One senator noted prior Department of Justice oversight and asked what steps were being taken; officials said they are emphasizing hiring, facility repairs (locks, generators) and a compliance mechanism for the medical contract. Commissioner Kane described a reduction in the documented gang population from earlier counts and said the agency plans to introduce a gang-abatement bill in committee to further reduce gang activity over several years.

Department officials also reported special-fund and audit developments. Derek said the department's deficit projection for the fiscal year had fallen from about $7,200,000 to $2,600,000 after internal-audit work and contract follow-ups returned roughly $6 million to the agency.

The hearing included multiple detailed questions by subcommittee members about how the new requests map to the budget submission and whether some items had previously been appropriated or piloted. Officials said a prior pilot technology appropriation for community corrections remained unspent pending the larger ITS/cloud approach; they said the $14,000,000 offender-tracking figure is a planning-level estimate that may change during procurement.

No formal votes were recorded during the presentation; the hearing was a departmental budget briefing and question-and-answer session. Committee members asked for follow-up documentation, including a breakdown of the department's SPB (state personnel/budget) listings and clearer cost bands for offender-tracking alternatives.

Ending: Department officials said they will provide detailed follow-up materials on the offender-tracking estimate, the status and schedule for the Walnut Grove and East Mississippi lock projects, the medical-contract compliance plan, and the SPB salary progressions. Committee chairs signaled further budget scrutiny in upcoming appropriations deliberations.