House Bill 541

AN ACT TO CREATE NEW SECTION 47-5-12, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, to require the Department of Corrections to request consulting services from the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services; to require the department of corrections and the department of information technology services to execute a cooperative plan for the acquisition and implementation of an offender management information system; to require the DEPARTMENT of information TECHNOLOGY services to provide certain annual expense reports; to REQUIRE the department of corrections to PROVIDE certain bi-ANNUAL updates to the peer COMMITTEE; to supplement the AUTHORITY OF THE Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services to procure equipment, systems and related services; To amend Section 25-53-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, to conform to the preceding section; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 47-5-12, Mississippi Code of 1972:

47-5-12. (1) In accordance with the provisions of Section 25-53-29, the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) shall request consulting services from the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services (MDITS) to identify, acquire, and implement a new offender management information system. The requested technical assistance should include, but not be limited to, the following:

(a) Updating all offender records to ensure data in the current system is reliable, accurate, and complete;

(b) Ensuring reports produced by the current system are updated and accurate;

(c) Providing a management letter containing cost estimates and recommendations for a new system after inspecting facilities and equipment, interviewing employees, and reviewing records to identify cost-effective alternatives. Recommendations should consider system compliance with national technical and functional standards, feasibility of expansion to manage county jails, and capacity to exchange information with the Mississippi Analysis and Information Center and other criminal justice stakeholders;

(d) Publishing a written planning guide to identify, acquire, and implement a new system;

(e) Publishing policies and procedures for the new system;

(f) Training end-users of the new system; and

(g) Ensuring the accurate and complete offender data is transferred into the new system.

(2) By September 1, 2023, MDOC and MDITS shall reduce to writing and execute a cooperative plan for the acquisition and implementation of an offender management information system. Any plan so adopted shall be carried out in accordance with provisions of Section 47-5-12(1) and Section 25-53-29(1)(f) unless the same shall be amended by joint action of the executive director of MDITS and the commissioner of MDOC. The adopted plan must also require MDOC to pay an amount not to exceed Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) per year to MDITS for consulting services until all provisions are completed.

(3) MDITS shall provide annual expense reports to the Mississippi Legislative Budget Office and the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER Committee) on the cooperative plan for a new offender management information system. The expense reports should itemize expenditures for each fiscal year and provides copies of all charges.

(4) MDOC shall provide bi-annual updates to the PEER Committee on the collaborative efforts with the MDITS to update offender data, procure a new offender management information system, and transfer offender data to the new system. MDOC must submit updates bi-annually until the project is complete.

(5) The provisions of Section 47-5-12 supplement the authority of MDITS to procure equipment, systems, and related services in accordance with the law or regulations, or both, which govern the Bureau of Purchasing of the Office of General Services or which govern the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services procurement of telecommunications equipment, software, and services.

(6) The provisions of this section shall be repealed from and after July 1, 2028.

SECTION 2. Section 25-53-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-53-29. (1) For the purposes of this section the term "bureau" shall mean the "Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services." The * * *~~authority~~ bureau shall have the following powers and responsibilities to carry out the establishment of policy and provide for long-range planning and consulting:

(a) Provide a high level of technical expertise for agencies, institutions, political subdivisions and other governmental entities as follows: planning; consulting; project management; systems and performance review; system definition; design; application programming; training; development and documentation; implementation; maintenance; and other tasks as may be required, within the resources available to the bureau.

(b) Publish written planning guides, policies and procedures for use by agencies and institutions in planning future electronic information service systems. The bureau may require agencies and institutions to submit data, including periodic electronic equipment inventory listings, information on agency staffing, systems under study, planned applications for the future, and other information needed for the purposes of preparing the state master plan. The bureau may require agencies and institutions to submit any additional data required for purposes of preparing the state master plan.

(c) Inspect agency facilities and equipment, interview agency employees and review records at any time deemed necessary by the bureau for the purpose of identifying cost-effective applications of electronic information technology. Upon conclusion of any inspection, the bureau shall issue a management letter containing cost estimates and recommendations to the agency head and governing board concerning applications identified that would result in staff reductions, other monetary savings and improved delivery of public services.

(d) Conduct classroom and on-site training for end users for applications and systems developed by the bureau.

(e) Provide consulting services to agencies and institutions or Mississippi governmental subdivisions requesting technical assistance in electronic information services technology applications and systems. The bureau may submit proposals and enter into contracts to provide services to agencies and institutions or governmental subdivisions for such purposes.

(f) Provide consulting services to the Mississippi Department of Corrections as required by Section 47-5-12. This paragraph (f) shall stand repealed from and after July 1, 2028.

(2) The bureau shall annually issue a three-year master plan in writing to the Governor, available on request to any member of the Legislature, including recommended statewide strategies and goals for the effective and efficient use of information technology and services in state government. The report shall also include recommended information policy actions and other recommendations for consideration by the Governor and members of the Legislature.

(3) The bureau shall make an annual report in writing to the Governor, available on request to any member of the Legislature, to include a full and detailed account of the work of the authority for the preceding year. The report shall contain recommendations to agencies and institutions resulting from inspections or consulting contracts. The report shall also contain a summary of the master plan, progress made, and legislative and policy recommendations for consideration by the Governor and members of the Legislature.

(4) The bureau may charge fees to agencies and institutions for services rendered to them. The bureau may charge fees to vendors to recover the cost of providing procurement services and the delivery of procurement awards to public bodies. The amounts of such fees shall be set by the authority upon recommendation of the Executive Director of the MDITS, and all such fees collected shall be paid into the fund established for carrying out the purposes of this section.

(5) It is the intention of the Legislature that the employees of the bureau performing services defined by this section be staffed by highly qualified persons possessing technical, consulting and programming expertise. Such employees shall be considered nonstate service employees as defined in Section 25-9-107(c)(x) and may be compensated at a rate comparable to the prevailing rate of individuals in qualified professional consulting firms in the private sector. Such compensation rates shall be determined by the State Personnel Director. The number of such positions shall be set by annual appropriation of the Legislature. Qualifications and compensation of the bureau employees shall be set by the State Personnel Board upon recommendation of the Executive Director of the MDITS. The total number of positions and classification of positions may be increased or decreased during a fiscal year depending upon work load and availability of funds.

(6) The bureau may, from time to time, at the discretion of the Executive Director of the MDITS, contract with firms or qualified individuals to be used to augment the bureau's professional staff in order to assure timely completion and implementation of assigned tasks, provided that funds are available in the fund established for carrying out the purposes of this section. Such individuals may be employees of any agency, bureau or institution provided that these individuals or firms meet the requirements of other individuals or firms doing business with the state through the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services. Individuals who are employees of an agency or institution may contract with the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services only with the concurrence of the agency or institution for whom they are employed.

From and after July 1, 2018, the expenses of this agency shall be defrayed by appropriation from the State General Fund. In addition, in order to receive the maximum use and benefit from information technology and services, expenses for the provision of statewide shared services that facilitate cost-effective information processing and telecommunication solutions shall be defrayed by pass-through funding and shall be deposited into the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services Revolving Fund unless otherwise specified by the Legislature. These funds shall only be utilized to pay the actual costs incurred by the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services for providing these shared services to state agencies. Furthermore, state agencies shall work in full cooperation with the Board of the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services (MDITS) to identify computer equipment or services to minimize duplication, reduce costs, and improve the efficiency of providing common technology services across agency boundaries.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.