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Senate committee backs bill to require municipal jail contracts at or above state payment rates
Summary
Senate Bill 2432 would authorize boards of supervisors to contract with political subdivisions for inmate housing at rates not less than payments made by the Mississippi Department of Corrections; sponsors said a May 2025 Attorney General opinion lowered municipal rates and forced counties to house inmates at a loss.
Senator Barrett told the committee that Senate Bill 2432 seeks to restore the prior practice by authorizing boards of supervisors to contract with political subdivisions at an agreed-upon rate "which shall not be less than the payments by the Mississippi Department of Corrections to the county." He said an Attorney General opinion from about May 2025 permitted municipalities to house inmates in county jails at a greatly reduced rate and that has left counties and sheriffs carrying a financial burden.
Sheriff Steve Rushing testified in support of the change, explaining counties historically negotiated rates with cities and that recent practice left jails operating at a loss. "We always have negotiated our rate with our cities... Most of us cost anywhere from 40 to $50 per day to house," he said, urging the statutory floor tied to MDOC payments. The committee first adopted the committee substitute and then voted to report the bill; the transcript records voice approval but does not include a roll-call tally or text of the Attorney General opinion.
