All future contracts at the Mississippi Department of Corrections should be subject to a competitive bidding process. That's one of the 12 recommendations of a 5-member task force appointed by Governor Phil Bryant.
Task force co-chairman, Andy Taggart says, “There are a number of processes that State agencies can engage in that don’t require competitive bidding. The recommendation of our task force is that all of the contracting arrangements at MDOC be competitively bid. It enhances the safety and the overview of the tax payers dollars, and the restoration of taxpayers' trust and confidence is a very high value for the task force.”
The group finalized 12 preliminary recommendations Monday, which will be officially delivered to the Governor on Wednesday.
Taggart says many existing MDOC contracts also need to be re-bid. “Most of the problems that arose and were the subject of the federal indictment were a result of contracts that were not bid. We believe that those contracts ought to be terminated and that the department ought to go back out into the marketplace and seek services on a competitive basis.”
The task force was launched after former Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps and businessman Cecil McCrory were indicted on federal corruption charges tied to prison contracts. The two have pleaded not guilty and await trial in April.
