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Mississippi Department of Public Safety requests funding to hire troopers, finish headquarters and clear forensic backlogs
Summary
The Department of Public Safety presented its fiscal 2026 budget request, asking for new troopers, technology upgrades, funds to complete a new headquarters and money to contract out forensic work to address crime-lab and medical-examiner backlogs.
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety told the Appropriations Committee it is seeking increased funding for personnel, facilities and technology for fiscal 2026.
“Let's make the request and understand that we're not gonna get everything we ask for, but this is an opportunity to highlight what we've done as an agency,” Commissioner (Department of Public Safety) said during the committee hearing, introducing the department’s request and 2024 performance highlights.
The agency highlighted several operational and public-safety trends to justify the request. It said the Mississippi Capitol Police, now part of the Department of Public Safety, made 915 felony arrests in calendar 2024 after making far fewer arrests in prior years; the medical examiner’s office reduced a backlog of thousands of autopsy reports to about 137 outstanding; and the state saw a decline in homicide autopsies from 551 in 2020 to 433…
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