MDOC and MDPS chiefs announce their resignations

Pelicia Hall, commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, and Marshall Fisher, commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, announced today that they are leaving their posts.

Hall is leaving MDOC in mid-January for a private-sector job, according to a news release. Although the release did not indicate where she will be working, it did say that she will be an “advocate for criminal justice reform and to support better wages and working conditions for the Department of Corrections employees.”

Gov. Phil Bryant appointed Hall to MDOC in 2017 to replace her boss, Marshall Fisher, who Bryant appointed as commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety at that time.

Fisher also announced today that he is retiring from MDPS, effective Jan. 31, to pursue other opportunities.

“I am deeply grateful to Gov. Phil Bryant for the support and confidence he displayed entrusting me to serve in various capacities of law enforcement and public safety for the state of Mississippi,” Fisher said in a statement.

Bryant had appointed Fisher as commissioner of MDOC in 2015. His previous experience with the state includes work with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.