MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2019 Regular Session
To: County Affairs
By: Representatives Baker, Sykes
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 19-25-73, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCREASE FROM $6.00 TO $15.00 PER DAY PER PRISONER THAT COUNTY SHERIFFS MAY EXPEND UPON FEEDING PRISONERS HOUSED WITHIN COUNTY JAILS WHENEVER SUCH SHERIFFS PURCHASE FOOD, IN THE NAME OF THE COUNTY, FOR THE PRISONERS; 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 an amount equal to * * * Fifteen Dollars ($15.00)
per day per prisoner, except as provided in subsection (3) of this section.
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 of * * * 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, except as provided in subsection (3) of this section.
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.
(3) In the event that
prisoners are housed in the county jail by any political subdivision of the
state, the county may charge the political subdivision for housing, feeding and
otherwise caring for such prisoners an amount not to exceed the payments
provided under * * * state law for
the keeping in the county jail of persons committed, sentenced or otherwise
placed under the custody of the Department of Corrections. Nothing in this
section shall be construed to affect payments by the Department of Corrections
set by * * * state law for the keeping in the
county jail of persons committed, sentenced or otherwise placed under the
custody of the Department of Corrections.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect from and after July 1, 2019.