Appropriation; Child Protection Services, Department of.

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To: Appropriations C;
Appropriations A
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representatives Deweese, Read, Bennett,
Creekmore IV, Currie, McGee, Mickens, Scott,
Turner

HOUSE BILL NO. 1906
(As Sent to Governor)

AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO DEFRAY THE EXPENSES OF THE 1
DEPARTMENT OF CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2027. 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 3
SECTION 1. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be 4
necessary, is appropriated out of any money in the State General 5
Fund not otherwise appropriated, to the Department of Child 6
Protection Services for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, 7
and ending June 30, 2027....................... $ 140,814,395.00. 8
SECTION 2. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be 9
necessary, is appropriated out of any money in any special fund in 10
the State Treasury to the credit of the Department of Child 11
Protection Services which is comprised of special source funds 12
collected by or otherwise available to the department for the 13
support of the various divisions of the department, for the 14
purpose of defraying the expenses of the department for the fiscal 15
year beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027............. 16
............................................... $ 218,192,896.00. 17
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SECTION 3. Of the funds appropriated under the provisions of 18
this act, not more than the following amount of funds, with the 19
exception of the provisions in this section, shall be expended 20
only for "Personal Services," which includes "Vacancy Funding," 21
for the following authorized number of employment headcount: 22
FUNDING: 23
General Funds: $ 64,259,278.00 24
Special Funds: $ 61,166,364.00 25
Total Funds: $ 125,425,642.00 26
PERSONAL SERVICES: 27
Employee Salaries, Wages and 28
Fringe Benefits: $ 120,383,027.00 29
Progressions: $ 0.00 30
Vacancy Funding: $ 5,042,615.00 31
Total Personal Services: $ 125,425,642.00 32
AUTHORIZED HEADCOUNT: 33
Permanent: 1,440 34
Time-Limited: 403 35
As used in this section, the term "Personal Services" shall 36
mean funds provided under the major object of expenditure category 37
Personal Services for Salaries, Wages, and Fringe Benefits. Funds 38
in this category shall not be transferred to any other category. 39
It is the intention of the Legislature to ensure compliance 40
with the Variable Compensation Plan, as outlined in Section 41
25-9-147, Mississippi Code of 1972. Payment from these funds 42
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shall be in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan 43
promulgated by the Mississippi State Personnel Board. It is the 44
Legislature's intention that no employee's salary falls below the 45
minimum salary established by the Mississippi State Personnel 46
Board. 47
The State Personnel Board shall determine and publish the 48
projected annual cost of "Personal Services" based on monthly and 49
year-to-date payroll expenditures in compliance with the 50
provisions of this act. 51
With the funds herein appropriated, it shall be the agency's 52
responsibility to ensure that no single personnel action or 53
combination of personnel actions, when annualized, exceeds the 54
Fiscal Year 2027 appropriation for "Personal Services" with the 55
exception of escalated funds. Further, it shall be the agency's 56
responsibility to ensure that funds required to be appropriated 57
for "Personal Services" for Fiscal Year 2028 do not exceed Fiscal 58
Year 2027 funds appropriated for that purpose unless programs or 59
positions are added to the agency's Fiscal Year 2027 budget by the 60
Mississippi Legislature. 61
If, at the time the agency takes any action to change 62
"Personal Services," the State Personnel Board determines that the 63
agency has taken or will take an action that would cause the 64
agency to exceed the funds appropriated in this act when 65
annualized for Fiscal Year 2027 or increase the need for "Personal 66
Services" for Fiscal Year 2028, when annualized, the State 67
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Personnel Board shall process no salary actions until such time as 68
the requirements of the provisions of this section are met with 69
the exception of new hires determined to be essential for the 70
agency. 71
When used in this section, "Vacancy Funding" shall mean funds 72
included in the Total Personal Services amount listed above and 73
designated for approved vacancies in Fiscal Year 2027. These 74
funds are to be utilized to increase the number of filled 75
headcounts that were authorized but unfilled as of the last day of 76
Fiscal Year 2026. If the agency fills additional headcounts after 77
March 1, 2026, until the end of Fiscal Year 2026, the amount of 78
available Vacancy Funding may be proportionally adjusted to 79
reflect the updated number of filled headcounts. The agency shall 80
be responsible for ensuring that "Vacancy Funding" is used to 81
increase headcounts and not for promotions, title changes, 82
in-range salary adjustments, or any other mechanism for increasing 83
salaries for current employees. 84
Any transfers or escalations shall be made in accordance with 85
the terms, conditions, and procedures established by law or 86
allowable under the terms set forth within this act. The State 87
Personnel Board shall not escalate positions or increase the 88
Personal Services total without written approval from the 89
Department of Finance and Administration. The Department of 90
Finance and Administration shall not provide written approval to 91
escalate any funds for salaries and/or headcounts without proof of 92
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availability of new or additional funds above the appropriated 93
level. Unless specifically noted, all Fiscal Year 2026 escalated 94
headcounts have been accounted for and shall be converted to 95
authorized time-limited headcounts. 96
No general funds authorized to be expended herein shall be 97
used to replace federal funds and/or other special funds used for 98
salaries authorized under the provisions of this act and which are 99
withdrawn and no longer available. 100
None of the funds herein appropriated shall be used in 101
violation of the Internal Revenue Service's Publication 15-A 102
relating to the reporting of income paid to contract employees, as 103
interpreted by the Office of the State Auditor. 104
If the agency's total authorized headcount decreases from 105
Fiscal Year 2026 to Fiscal Year 2027, it will be the agency's 106
discretion as to what headcounts are removed. 107
The Legislature authorized three (3) new headcounts, which 108
are included in the authorized headcount above for Fiscal Year 109
2027. 110
New Headcount Authorized: 111
Attorney Family - 3 112
SECTION 4. It is the intention of the Legislature that the 113
Department of Child Protection Services shall maintain complete 114
accounting and personnel records related to the expenditure of all 115
funds appropriated under this act and that such records shall be 116
in the same format and level of detail as maintained for Fiscal 117
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Year 2026. It is further the intention of the Legislature that 118
the agency's budget request for Fiscal Year 2028 shall be 119
submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee in a format 120
and level of detail comparable to the format and level of detail 121
provided during the Fiscal Year 2027 budget request process. 122
SECTION 5. It is the intention of the Legislature that 123
whenever two (2) or more bids are received by this agency for the 124
purchase of commodities or equipment, and whenever all things 125
stated in such received bids are equal with respect to price, 126
quality and service, the Mississippi Industries for the Blind 127
shall be given preference. A similar preference shall be given to 128
the Mississippi Industries for the Blind whenever purchases are 129
made without competitive bids. 130
SECTION 6. The Department of Child Protection Services is 131
authorized to expend available funds on technology or equipment 132
upgrades or replacements when it will generate savings through 133
efficiency or when the savings generated from such upgrades or 134
replacements exceed expenditures thereof. 135
SECTION 7. Of the funds appropriated in Section 1, herein to 136
the Department of Child Protection Services, it is the intention 137
of the Legislature that Ninety-three Thousand Six Hundred One 138
Dollars ($93,601.00) shall be allocated to the Mississippi 139
Children's Trust Fund supported from General Fund court 140
assessments. 141
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SECTION 8. Of the funds appropriated by this act, pursuant 142
to Section 97-3-54.9, Mississippi Code of 1972, Two Hundred Fifty 143
Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) is provided for maintaining a 144
24-hour hotline that is to be manned at all times, and for a 145
coordinator to work with the Department of Public Safety, and to 146
contract with outside agencies or service providers to organize 147
for the provision of specialized services, including counseling 148
services and other appropriate care to children who have been 149
victims of commercial and sexual exploitation or human 150
trafficking. 151
SECTION 9. Of the funds appropriated in Section 1 and 152
Section 2, an amount not to exceed Five Million Four Hundred 153
Thirty-one Thousand Six Hundred Ninety-two Dollars ($5,431,692.00) 154
may be expended for the Department of Child Protection Services 155
for Kinship Care Payments as authorized by Section 43-15-17, 156
Mississippi Code of 1972. 157
SECTION 10. Of the funds appropriated in Section 1, Eleven 158
Million Eighty-six Thousand Two Hundred Thirty-nine Dollars 159
($11,086,239.00) is appropriated to maintain the Adoption 160
Assistance and Congregate Care Homes Maintenance Payments and One 161
Million Seven Hundred Eleven Thousand Nine Hundred Fifty-nine 162
Dollars ($1,711,959.00) is provided to maintain the Foster Home 163
Maintenance Payments. It is the intent of the Legislature that 164
these funds be expended for said purpose. 165
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SECTION 11. The following sum, or so much thereof as may be 166
necessary, is reappropriated out of any money in the Capital 167
Expense Fund not otherwise appropriated, for the Child Protection 168
Services for the purpose of reauthorizing the expenditure of 169
Capital Expense Funds as authorized in House Bill 17, 2025 First 170
Extraordinary Session, to provide for Information Technology 171
System Developments for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, 172
and ending June 30, 2027.......................... $ 2,500,000.00. 173
Notwithstanding the amount reappropriated under the 174
provisions of this section, in no event shall the amount expended 175
exceed the unexpended balances as of June 30, 2026. In addition, 176
this reappropriation shall not change the purpose for which the 177
funds were originally authorized. 178
SECTION 12. Of the funds appropriated under the provisions 179
of Section 2, Four Million Two Hundred Twenty-nine Thousand 180
Dollars ($4,229,000.00), or so much thereof, shall be derived out 181
of any money in the State Treasury to the credit of the Capital 182
Expense Fund, as created in Section 27-103-303, Mississippi Code 183
of 1972, and allocated in a manner as determined by the State 184
Treasurer. These funds are provided to the Department of Child 185
Protection Services for the operation and maintenance of the 186
pathways program. 187
SECTION 13. With the funds appropriated herein, the 188
Department of Child Protection Services is authorized to make 189
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ST: Appropriation; Child Protection Services,
Department of.
payment to certain vendors for expenses incurred during Fiscal 190
Years 2023 and 2024 in the total amount........... $ 60,208.00. 191
SECTION 14. Notwithstanding any other provision, the 192
Department of Child Protection Services shall have the authority 193
to escalate its headcount for any additional operational needs 194
related to Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds, upon approval 195
of the Department of Finance and Administration and the State 196
Personnel Board. 197
SECTION 15. The money herein appropriated shall be paid by 198
the State Treasurer out of any money in the State Treasury to the 199
credit of the proper fund or funds as set forth in this act, upon 200
warrants issued by the State Fiscal Officer; and the State Fiscal 201
Officer shall issue his warrants upon requisitions signed by the 202
proper person, officer or officers, in the manner provided by law. 203
SECTION 16. This act shall take effect and be in force from 204
and after July 1, 2026. 205