When a Mississippi city pays the county to house a municipal prisoner, does the daily rate ($25 or $32.71) cover meals, medical care, and transportation?

Plain-English summary

Mayor Lockley of McComb followed up on the March 2025 Mallette opinion (which set the $25/day for days 1-30 and $32.71/day for days 31+ caps for housing municipal inmates in county jails). The follow-up: do those daily rates include meals, medical treatment, and transportation?

The AG's answers:

• Meals: yes, included. Section 47-5-901(3)(a) is the operative text: "the Department of Corrections [or political subdivision] shall pay to such county, out of any available funds, the actual cost of food, or contract price per prisoner, not to exceed Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) per day per offender, except as authorized in Section 47-5-909(2)." The daily rate covers food.

• Medical treatment and related transportation: no, separate. Section 47-5-909(3): "The Department of Corrections is additionally responsible for all medical costs related to offenders housed at county jails under subsection (2) of this section." (Emphasis added.) Section 47-5-901(3)(a) requires medical providers to be paid based on negotiated fees or, absent those, at the Mississippi Medicaid reimbursement rate. So medical and the transportation directly related to medical treatment are NOT in the per-diem; they are an additional responsibility for the political subdivision (here, the city).

• Other transportation: not addressed by statute, so it is contractual. Section 19-25-73(3) speaks of "housing, feeding and otherwise caring for such prisoners." Whether non-medical transportation (court appearances, transfers between facilities) is "caring for" or a separate cost is left to the parties' agreement.

The opinion includes a footnote referencing Section 47-1-57 (regarding payment of medical assistance for prisoners) and AG Op., Turnage (Sept. 29, 2006), which held that "if the city pays for medical costs of a non-indigent prisoner, it may seek reimbursement by civil suit against the prisoner." So the city has a recovery path if it ends up paying medical bills for a prisoner who can pay.

The framework, in short:
- Daily rate = housing + food. That is what the city pays the county.
- Medical care and related transport = separate, paid by the city directly (or for state inmates, by MDOC).
- Other transport = contract.

What this means for you

For mayors and municipal attorneys negotiating jail services contracts

Build the contract around the statutory framework:

1. Per-diem rate at the statutory cap ($25/day for days 1-30, $32.71/day for days 31+).
2. Confirm the per-diem covers housing and food. Standard practice.
3. Specify medical treatment as a separate responsibility. Decide who arranges the care (typically the county jail's medical provider) and who pays. The city pays for medical for its prisoners. For non-indigent prisoners, the city can seek reimbursement under AG Op., Turnage.
4. Specify transportation other than medical: who pays for court runs, transfers, intake/release? Spell it out. Default is no statutory rule, so contract terms control.

Watch for contracts that bundle medical into the per-diem at a higher rate. Section 19-25-73(3) caps the per-diem at the MDOC rate; bundling extra services into a higher rate violates the cap.

For sheriffs and county administrators

You can lawfully charge cities the per-diem for housing and food. You cannot bundle medical costs into the per-diem; medical is the city's responsibility separately. Your contract should clearly allocate medical billing: either the city's billed directly by the medical provider, or you front the cost and get reimbursed.

For non-medical transportation, build the contract terms you need. Do you charge per-trip for court runs? Bundle them into the per-diem? Charge mileage? Section 19-25-73(3) does not prescribe.

For city clerks and finance officers

When invoices come from the county, audit them against the framework. Daily rate at $25 or $32.71. Meals included. Medical and medical transport separate. Other transport per contract. Push back on bundled invoices that exceed the per-diem cap.

For municipal-prisoner medical billing

If your city is billed by a medical provider for a non-indigent prisoner's care, pay it (the prisoner gets care now), then seek reimbursement from the prisoner under Section 47-1-57 and AG Op., Turnage. If the prisoner is indigent, the cost is the city's burden and recovery is unlikely.

For state auditors

Watch for contracts that bundle services into per-diems above the statutory cap. The statute caps at the MDOC rate. Medical is a separate cost stream. Confirm cities and counties are following the framework.

Common questions

Does the $25/$32.71 per day include meals for the prisoner?
Yes. Section 47-5-901(3)(a) provides for "the actual cost of food, or contract price per prisoner, not to exceed Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) per day per offender."

Does the per-diem include medical treatment?
No. Section 47-5-909(3) makes medical costs the additional responsibility of the housing entity. For state inmates, MDOC pays; for municipal prisoners, the city pays.

What about transportation to and from medical appointments?
That is part of the medical-cost stream, not the per-diem.

What about transportation for court appearances, transfers between facilities, intake or release?
The statute does not address it. The city and county should agree by contract.

Can the city recover medical costs from a non-indigent prisoner?
Yes. AG Op., Turnage (Sept. 29, 2006), confirmed: "if the city pays for medical costs of a non-indigent prisoner, it may seek reimbursement by civil suit against the prisoner." Section 47-1-57 also addresses prisoner medical costs.

Can the city and county agree to a different rate or different bundling?
The statutory caps on the per-diem are mandatory. The city cannot pay more than the MDOC rate. The bundling of medical with per-diem is not permitted because Section 47-5-909(3) makes medical separate. Other contract terms (non-medical transportation, intake/release procedures) are negotiable.

Background and statutory framework

The Lockley opinion follows up on Mallette (Mar. 18, 2025), which read Sections 19-25-73(3), 47-1-39, 47-5-901(2), and 47-5-909 together to set the municipal-inmate per-diem cap.

Section 19-25-73(3): "the county may charge the political subdivision for housing, feeding and otherwise caring for such prisoners an amount not to exceed the payments provided under state law for the keeping in the county jail of persons committed, sentenced or otherwise placed under the custody of the Department of Corrections."

Section 47-5-901(2):

If state prisoners are housed in county jails due to a lack of capacity at state correctional institutions, the Department of Corrections shall determine the cost for food and medical attention for such prisoners. The cost of feeding and housing offenders confined in such county jails shall be based on actual costs or contract price per prisoner. In order to maximize the potential use of county jail space, the Department of Corrections is encouraged to negotiate a reasonable per day cost per prisoner, which in no event may exceed Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) per day per offender, except as authorized in Section 47-5-909(2).

Section 47-5-901(3)(a) sets the food/medical billing structure: "the actual cost of food, or contract price per prisoner, not to exceed Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) per day per offender, except as authorized in Section 47-5-909(2)" plus medical providers paid at negotiated fees or Medicaid reimbursement rates.

Section 47-5-909(2) extends the per-diem to $32.71 for days 31+ for certain offenders.

Section 47-5-909(3): "The Department of Corrections is additionally responsible for all medical costs related to offenders housed at county jails under subsection (2) of this section." (Emphasis added.) Translated to municipal context: the city is additionally responsible for medical costs.

Section 47-1-57 and AG Op., Turnage (Sept. 29, 2006), provide a recovery path for medical costs paid for non-indigent prisoners.

Section 47-1-39 authorizes city-county contracts for jail services.

Citations

• Miss. Code Ann. § 19-25-73(3) (cap on county charges to political subdivisions)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 47-1-39 (city-county jail services contract authority)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 47-1-57 (prisoner medical assistance payment)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 47-5-901(2) (MDOC standard $25/day cap)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 47-5-901(3)(a) (food cost component; medical provider rate)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 47-5-909(2) ($32.71/day for days 31+)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 47-5-909(3) (medical costs separate from per-diem)

Source

• Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Q.-Lockley-August-28-2025-Contract-for-Jail-Services.pdf

Original opinion text

August 28, 2025
The Honorable Quordiniah N. Lockley
Mayor, City of McComb
Post Office Box 667
McComb, Mississippi 39649-0667
Re:

Contract for Jail Services

Dear Mayor Lockley:
The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion.
Question Presented
In follow up to MS AG Op., Mallette (Mar. 18, 2025), when a municipality is paying a county to
hold a municipal detainee or prisoner in the county jail, does the $25 per day for days one through
thirty and $32.71 per day for days thirty-one or greater include meals, medical treatment and
transportation?
Brief Response
Meals are included in the statutory daily rate when a municipality is paying a county to hold a
municipal detainee or prisoner in the county jail. However, in accordance with Mississippi Code
Annotated Sections 19-25-73(3) and 47-5-909(3), medical treatment and related transportation are
an additional responsibility. Mississippi law does not address whether transportation unrelated to
medical treatment is included in the contracted daily rate; accordingly, such decision is left to the
discretion of the parties.
Applicable Law and Discussion
In summary, in MS AG Op., Mallette, we opined that a municipality is authorized to pay a county
up to $25 per day for days one through thirty and $32.71 for days thirty-one or greater for holding
a municipal pretrial detainee or prisoner in the county jail. (citing Miss. Code Ann. §§ 47-1-39
(allowing municipalities to contract for use of the county jail), 19-25-73(3), 47-5-901(2), and 47-5-909).
General authority for counties to charge political subdivisions for use of the county jail is found in
Section 19-25-73(3), which states:

In the event that prisoners are housed in the county jail by any political subdivision
of the state, the county may charge the political subdivision for housing, feeding
and otherwise caring for such prisoners an amount not to exceed the payments
provided under state law for the keeping in the county jail of persons committed,
sentenced or otherwise placed under the custody of the Department of Corrections.

Section 47-5-901(2) places a cap on the cost of feeding and housing such offenders:

If state prisoners are housed in county jails due to a lack of capacity at state
correctional institutions, the Department of Corrections shall determine the cost for
food and medical attention for such prisoners. The cost of feeding and housing
offenders confined in such county jails shall be based on actual costs or contract
price per prisoner. In order to maximize the potential use of county jail space, the
Department of Corrections is encouraged to negotiate a reasonable per day cost per
prisoner, which in no event may exceed Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) per day per
offender, except as authorized in Section 47-5-909(2).

(emphasis added).
But Section 47-5-909(2) extends this cap for days thirty-one or greater, further providing:

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, to expedite the removal of inmates
from county jails as early as practicable, absent a contract negotiated between the
Department of Corrections and the county jail, the Department of Corrections shall
pay county jails for housing state offenders out of any available funds as follows:

(a) Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) per day per offender for days one (1)
through thirty (30);

(b) Thirty-two Dollars and Seventy-one Cents ($32.71) per day per offender
for days thirty-one (31) or greater when:

(i) An offender remains in the county jail after the Department of
Corrections receives a certified copy of the sentencing order or five
(5) days after the sentencing order is sent, in writing, by such county
to the Department of Corrections, whichever is earlier; or

(ii) An offender remains in the county jail after being revoked from
parole or probation or is sentenced to a technical violation center.

In follow up to Mallette, you ask if the $25 per day for days one through thirty and $32.71 per day
for days thirty-one or greater includes meals, medical treatment and transportation when a
municipality is paying a county to hold a municipal detainee or prisoner in the county jail. It is the
opinion of this office that medical treatment and transportation are not included in these amounts.
As stated supra, Section 19-25-73(3) allows counties to "charge the political subdivision for
housing, feeding and otherwise caring for such prisoners an amount not to exceed the payments
provided under state law for the keeping in the county jail of persons . . . under the custody of the
Department of Corrections." Section 47-5-909(3) clarifies that, "The Department of Corrections
is additionally responsible for all medical costs related to offenders housed at county jails under
subsection (2) of this section." (emphasis added); see also Miss. Code Ann. § 47-5-901(3)(a)
(requiring department or its contracted medical provider to pay provider of medical service amount
based upon negotiated fees as agreed to by medical care service providers, or upon absence thereof,
a rate not to exceed the relevant Mississippi Medicaid reimbursement rate).[1] It thus follows that
medical treatment and related transportation are likewise not included in the $25 per day for days
one through thirty and $32.71 per day for days thirty-one or greater when a municipality, or other
political subdivision, is paying a county to hold a municipal detainee or prisoner in the county jail.
This said, unlike medical costs, Mississippi law does not provide that meals are a separate expense
from the statutory daily rate. To the contrary, Section 47-5-901(3)(a) provides, "the Department
of Corrections [or political subdivision] shall pay to such county, out of any available funds, the
actual cost of food, or contract price per prisoner, not to exceed Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) per
day per offender, except as authorized in Section 47-5-909(2)." (emphasis added). Accordingly, it
is the opinion of this office that meals are included in the statutory daily rate.
Finally, because Mississippi law does not address whether transportation unrelated to medical
treatment is included in the contracted daily rate, it is the opinion of this office that such decision
is left to the discretion of the parties.
If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL
By:

/s/ Maggie Kate Bobo
Maggie Kate Bobo
Special Assistant Attorney General

[1] But see also Miss. Code Ann. § 47-1-57 (regarding payment of costs for prisoner's medical assistance); MS
AG Op., Turnage at *1 (Sept. 29, 2006) (providing "if the city pays for medical costs of a non-indigent prisoner, it
may seek reimbursement by civil suit against the prisoner").