Flaggs tapped to lead search for new MDOC leader

Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. has been tapped to lead the search for a new leader for Mississippi’s troubled Department of Corrections.

Newly installed Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves will announce the search team in a news conference this afternoon, the Associated Press reports.

The nationwide search follows weeks of unrest and violence in the state’s prisons that began Dec. 29. Five inmates have died, and numerous others injured in a gang war that spanned the prison system, causing MDOC to lockdown prisoners to limit their movements. MDOC has not revealed how many men were injured or how badly. The lockdown has been lifted in all prisons except the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

On Dec. 31, MDOC Commissioner Pelicia Hall announced she would be leaving her post in mid-January. Monday, Hall said in a press release that conditions at Parchman were unsafe, and that MDOC was seeking to move 625 inmates to better facilities after already moving 375 into a private institution. Additionally, Hall said she has been seeking additional funding to adequately staff the prisons.

MDOC is seeking a budget increase of $67 million to increase guards’ starting pay and hire additional guards. Currently, the state’s prisons have fewer than half the number of guards required to provide safe conditions for prisoners and staff. An additional $22.3 million would be used to renovate Unit 29 at Parchman. If approved, the funds would be added to the budget effective July 1.

Tuesday, more than two-dozen Parchman inmates filed a lawsuit against the state alleging the living conditions are decrepit and dangerous. Other suits have been filed, and lawmakers have called for an independent investigation into conditions at Mississippi prisons.

Jerry Williams, MDOC’s deputy commissioner of institutions and the No. 2 man in the agency, announced his retirement effective yesterday.