Caitlin McCoo, president of the Mississippi Prosecutors Association, told the Appropriations Committee the association's primary FY2026 priority is a pay increase for statutory investigators employed across the state’s 23 prosecuting districts.

The association said most district budgets are dominated by salary and fringe expenses for statutory employees—district attorneys, assistant district attorneys and investigators—and that roughly 93% to 95% of a given district allocation is used for employee compensation. McCoo said the association is not seeking additional ADA positions in this budget cycle but asked that statutory investigator pay be increased to improve recruitment and retention.

Committee members asked whether the proposed pay increase would add statutory investigator positions or only increase pay for existing statutory investigator slots. McCoo said the request would not add more statutory investigator positions; it would raise pay that would be distributed across already-statutory positions. The association described the proposed raise as approximately $785,000 total across the statutory investigator pool and said the raise would move current investigator pay from roughly $63,000 toward about $75,000 in many districts.

The association noted district variation in funding and staffing: some counties supplement state-funded statutory slots, and district offices manage local resources differently. The association said past temporary positions created to address COVID-era backlogs were expiring, producing a lower overall request for FY2026 while investigators’ pay needs remain.

Ending: The association left the request with the committee for staff follow-up on allocation mechanics and exact statutory implementation; no appropriation was decided at the hearing.