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To: Corrections;
Appropriations
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Senator(s) Barnett
SENATE BILL NO. 2779
AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS 1
TO CONDUCT A TIME-LIMITED PILOT PROJECT UTILIZING ADVANCED DATA 2
ANALYTICS AND DECISION-SUPPORT TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE INSTITUTIONAL 3
SAFETY, HEALTH OUTCOMES, STAFFING EFFICIENCY, AND COMPLIANCE RISK 4
MANAGEMENT; TO PRESCRIBE THE SCOPE OF WORK FOR THE PILOT PROJECT; 5
TO PROVIDE FOR REPORTING AND EVALUATION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 6
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 7
SECTION 1. Legislative findings and purpose. The 8
Legislature finds that: 9
(a) The Mississippi Department of Corrections faces 10
persistent challenges related to staffing shortages, elevated 11
overtime costs, preventable medical emergencies, inmate and staff 12
safety risks, and increased exposure to litigation and compliance 13
actions; 14
(b) Traditional staffing-only approaches, while 15
necessary, are costly, slow to deploy, and insufficient on their 16
own to address systemic operational risk, particularly during 17
overnight shifts and high-risk periods; 18
(c) Advances in data analytics and decision-support 19
systems now permit correctional agencies to proactively identify 20
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health deterioration, behavioral risk escalation, staffing strain, 21
and operational disruptions before they result in emergencies, 22
assaults, suicides, or costly overtime responses; 23
(d) A limited pilot project will allow the State of 24
Mississippi to evaluate whether such technology can act as a force 25
multiplier for existing correctional staff, improve safety 26
outcomes, reduce avoidable costs, and strengthen compliance and 27
defensibility, without increasing headcount. 28
It is therefore the purpose of this act to authorize a 29
structured pilot program to test data-driven operational 30
intelligence tools within the Mississippi Department of 31
Corrections, subject to defined scope, oversight, and performance 32
reporting. 33
SECTION 2. Authorization of pilot project. (1) The 34
Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) is authorized to 35
establish and administer a pilot project in partnership with one 36
or more qualified data analytics and decision-support vendors. 37
(2) The pilot project shall operate for a period of three 38
(3) fiscal years, beginning July 1, 2026, unless terminated 39
earlier by the Legislature. 40
(3) Participation in the pilot project shall not require the 41
hiring of additional correctional officers or medical staff and 42
shall be designed to support and augment existing personnel. 43
SECTION 3. Scope of work. The pilot project shall include, 44
at a minimum, the following capabilities and functions: 45
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(a) Preventable medical emergency detection: 46
(i) Early identification of inmates at risk of 47
preventable acute medical emergencies; 48
(ii) Prioritization of interventions to reduce 49
offsite emergency transports and hospitalizations; 50
(iii) Exclusion of suicide and self-harm events 51
from medical cost calculations, which shall be tracked separately. 52
(b) Overtime and staffing efficiency analytics: 53
(i) Identification of patterns contributing to 54
incident-driven overtime; 55
(ii) Support for shift-level and facility-level 56
decision-making to reduce forced overtime and emergency staffing 57
backfill; 58
(iii) Special emphasis on overnight and 59
understaffed shifts. 60
(c) Medicare readiness and transition support: 61
(i) Identification of inmates eligible or 62
near-eligible for Medicare or Medicare-coordinated coverage; 63
(ii) Support for administrative processes that 64
reduce MDOC's medical cost burden through lawful coverage 65
transitions. 66
(d) Operational strain reduction: 67
(i) Monitoring and analysis of system-wide 68
disruptions, including lockdowns, emergency reassignments, 69
transport churn, and cascading administrative workload; 70
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(ii) Distinction between overtime costs and 71
broader operational strain impacts. 72
(e) Safety and risk reduction: 73
(i) Identification of behavioral and environmental 74
indicators associated with assaults, suicides, and severe 75
self-harm; 76
(ii) Support for early intervention strategies 77
aimed at reducing high-severity incidents. 78
(f) Compliance and litigation risk management: 79
(i) Enhanced documentation, defensibility, and 80
reporting related to health care delivery, incident response, and 81
institutional conditions; 82
(ii) Reduction of exposure to litigation, 83
regulatory action, and federal intervention. 84
SECTION 4. Data governance and privacy. (1) All inmate and 85
staff data used in the pilot project shall remain the property of 86
the State of Mississippi. 87
(2) Any vendor participating in the pilot project shall 88
comply with all applicable state and federal privacy, security, 89
and data-use requirements, including, but not limited to, HIPAA 90
where applicable. 91
(3) No personally identifiable data may be sold, 92
transferred, or used for purposes unrelated to the pilot project. 93
SECTION 5. Performance measurement and reporting. MDOC 94
shall submit annual reports to the Chairmen of the House and 95
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Senate Corrections Committees, the Chairmen of the Appropriations 96
Committees, and the Legislative Budget Office, which shall 97
include: 98
(a) Quantified reductions in: 99
(i) Preventable medical emergencies; 100
(ii) Emergency medical transports; 101
(iii) Incident-driven overtime hours; 102
(iv) Assaults, suicides, and severe self-harm 103
events; 104
(b) Estimated cost savings attributable to the pilot 105
project, including: 106
(i) Medical cost avoidance; 107
(ii) Overtime reduction; 108
(iii) Operational strain reduction; 109
(iv) Medicare coverage transitions; 110
(v) Compliance and litigation risk mitigation; 111
(c) A composite risk and efficiency assessment 112
measuring changes in: 113
(i) Inmate safety; 114
(ii) Staff safety and fatigue; 115
(iii) Operational strain; 116
(iv) Health escalation frequency; 117
(v) Legal and compliance exposure; 118
(d) An evaluation of whether the pilot project should 119
be: 120
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ST: MDOC to conduct pilot project on advanced
data analytics; authorize.
(i) Expanded statewide; 121
(ii) Modified; or 122
(iii) Discontinued upon completion of the pilot 123
term. 124
SECTION 6. Construction and limitation. Nothing in this act 125
shall be construed to: 126
(a) Mandate the permanent procurement of any specific 127
technology; 128
(b) Replace correctional officers or medical staff; 129
(c) Supersede existing statutory duties of MDOC. 130
This act authorizes a pilot project only. 131
SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from 132
and after July 1, 2026. 133