THE MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

Background

During its 1994 special session, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 2005 (now codified as MISS. CODE ANN. Section 47-5-1201 et seq.) to address short- and long-term bed capacity within the state's correctional system. The bill created the State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board to expedite the contracting and construction of proposed public and private prison facilities authorized by the bill.

MISS. CODE ANN. Section 47-5-1211 (1) (3) (a) states:
No contract for private incarceration shall be entered into unless the cost of the private operation, including the state's cost for monitoring the private operation, offers a cost savings of at least ten percent (10%) to the Department of Corrections for at least the same level and quality of service offered by the Department of Corrections.

This section also requires PEER to contract annually with a certified public accounting firm to establish a state cost per inmate day for a comparable state facility. The law further requires that the state cost per inmate day be certified annually and that the certified cost be used as the basis for measuring the validity of the ten percent savings of the contractor costs.

PEER received five bids in response to its request for proposals for cost determinations of MDOC's FY 1995 cost per inmate day for 1,000-bed minimum-, medium-, and maximum-security facilities. PEER contracted with Deloitte & Touche LLP to perform the cost determinations.

Cost Per Day Determination

Deloitte & Touche provided cost per inmate day determinations for all security levels of inmates combined (i.e., MDOC's general cost per inmate day) and also on the basis of security classification (i.e., minimum, medium, or maximum) of inmates.

MDOC's FY 1995 general cost per inmate day totaled $39.20 and included the following components:

Direct Costs