OurTupelo

Some toplines from the Mississippi legislative session this week:

• School choice appears dead

• Ice storm aid hangs in the balance

• House-Senate GOP leadership relationship is historically icy

School choice: Going into the 2026 legislative session, school choice – using tax dollars for private schooling – was the big bugaboo issue. House Speaker Jason White and Gov. Tate Reeves deemed it issue No. 1. Senate leaders didn’t want it, but had a more modest proposal to make it easier for students to switch public school districts. But heading into the final month or so of the session, each chamber has snuffed out the other’s proposals. The only related item still kicking is a House-passed plan to double tax credits available for private school scholarships to $20 million over the next few years. Its fate in the Senate is unclear.

Ice storm aid: There are several proposals pending – $20 million in direct spending for MEMA, a recovery loan program and the state loaning Entergy $200 million for utility damages to prevent customer rate hikes. But there appears to be some disagreement on how the state can best help Mississippians and communities recover. Lawmakers heard from the state insurance commissioner that private claims for damages have topped $107 million and will grow.

House-Senate feuding: It’s something of a tradition for lawmakers and Capitol observers to proclaim nearly every session that House and Senate relations are “the worst we’ve ever seen.” But given the current state of affairs between the Republican administrations running the chambers since 2024, that may be on point. The two chambers, as has become the new custom, have killed most of each other’s major initiatives so far this session. Some lawmakers and observers are questioning whether Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and Speaker Jason White are communicating at all, and whether the Legislature can set a budget by deadline.

Quote of the Week

“If you’re going to run for office and say that you are capable of running any level of government, you need to know how to use the damn internet.” – Rep. Shanda Yates of Jackson, discussing a bill that would require Mississippi candidates to file their campaign finance reports online.

In Brief

Education bills set to die

House Education Committee Chairman Rob Roberson, a Republican from Starkville, announced last week that the panel of representatives would not meet again this session. 

That means, aside from two Senate education bills passed on Feb. 18, a handful of other measures are set to die. These include bills that would have given teachers money for classroom supplies earlier, required school boards to adopt policies restricting or banning cell phones in classrooms and ramped up initiatives to combat absenteeism.

There are no House bills still alive that address these issues. 

The Senate Education Committee met and passed three House bills, including one that’s intended to make it easier for school districts to sell unused buildings. More than a dozen House education bills are still pending, but it’s not clear if the Senate committee will meet again, either. 

The committee chairmen have until Tuesday to call meetings. – Devna Bose

State loans could stave off Entergy rate hikes

A bill passed the House last week would allow the state to issue bonds to loan Entergy money to repair its system after Winter Storm Fern, an effort to prevent rate hikes for customers from the damages.

Similar borrowing was provided for Mississippi Power Company after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

HB 4069 would give Entergy better rates on the borrowing than it could get on the commercial market. It’s estimated the company had $200 million to $250 million in damages from the storm. – Katherine Lin

Proposal would provide resource officers to private schools

A bill that would fund school resource officers at private and public schools with state dollars has passed the House. 

HB 4065, authored by Republican Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar of Senatobia, would establish the Mississippi School Resource Officers School Safety Act. Under the proposed legislation, any school in the state can apply for the Department of Public Safety to pay part of the salary, up to $55,000, for one school resource officer.

The measure, which would cost $5 million for the first year, awaits consideration in the Senate. – Devna Bose

Bill would allow black bear hunting in MS

Lawmakers have advanced a bill during the legislative session that allows the Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Commission to create regulations for a bear hunting season that could begin during the 2027 hunting season.

SB 2436 allows the commission to establish a lottery system for issuing black bear hunting tags. The commission would determine how many tags to issue based on the current bear population. To participate, hunters would have to purchase a Mississippi hunting license and apply for a harvest tag through the lottery system.

Black bears were once nearly extinct in Mississippi and hunting them is currently prohibited.

The measure passed the Senate 49-3, and the House Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Committee passed it. The full House must vote to approve it before it can head to the governor for consideration. – Taylor Vance

Another online sports betting measure advanced

A bill passed by the Ways and Means committee last week would tax all gross revenue from mobile sports betting at 22%, up from the 18.5% rate that has been proposed in other legalization measures. That would boost the overall revenue Mississippi would generate through mobile sports betting to $100 million, said House Gaming Chairman Casey Eure. Estimates for previous legalization bills that would tax at a lower rate range from $30 million to $80 million. The bill would also lower the state’s regular gambling tax rate from 8% to 6%, which would amount to a $48 million tax cut for brick-and-mortar casinos, Eure said.

The House already passed a separate measure to legalize mobile sports betting in early February. Both proposals would direct gambling revenue to the Public Employees’ Retirement System. Eure said the House plans to keep as many options alive to win over a skeptical Senate, where mobile sports betting legalization has died without a vote. – Michael Goldberg

By the Numbers

$0

Amount Mississippians would have to pay to get an associate degree or professional credentials in qualifying fields at Mississippi community colleges under SB 2522, a “last-dollar” scholarship program proposal. The scholarships would cover the remaining balance for a student once they’ve exhausted all other financial aid, essentially free education. The measure is modeled after programs in other states, and similar bills have been unsuccessfully proposed in the Mississippi Legislature in recent years.

More Legislative Coverage

Advocates call for funding, collaboration as more Mississippians are expected to struggle with food insecurity

Mississippi’s three main food banks last year handed out 40 million meals across all 82 counties and had their largest-ever distribution of produce as a result of a new collaborative effort, food bank leaders said Wednesday at the Capitol. Read the story.

Mississippi lawmakers are looking to regulate AI after the technology is misused

Mississippi currently has two laws dealing with AI, and three more are being proposed. One current law criminalizes creating political deepfakes meant to damage a candidate. The other classifies AI-generated images of children performing sexual acts as child exploitation. Read the story.

Mississippi House wants to increase public school oversight

A House bill aimed at increasing public school accountability in Mississippi awaits consideration in the Senate. Read the story.

An effort to require Mississippi candidates to file their campaign finance reports online appears, once again, likely to fail in the state Legislature. 

The House Elections Committee on Thursday voted to pause debate on SB 2589, with the option to resume debate in the future. But if the committee does not pass the bill by Tuesday, the legislation will die. Similar measures have died in the past.

PODCAST: Secretary of State Michael Watson says Mississippi needs campaign finance reform

The bill would require county, municipal and state candidates to file their campaign finance reports online with the secretary of state’s office. This is an effort to provide the public with searchable, legible campaign finance data, as most states, including all those surrounding Mississippi, have.

But some House members expressed concerns about requiring candidates, especially in rural areas, to file reports online.

“I’m not trying to make an 80-something-year-old try to figure out how to file something online,” House Elections Chairman Noah Sanford said.

But Shanda Yates, an independent from Jackson, said candidates need to learn how to use the internet because it’s “not going away” and technology is an integral part of modern life.

“If you’re going to run for office and say that you are capable of running any level of government, you need to know how to use the damn internet,” Yates said. 

Sanford, a Republican from Collins, proposed a compromise that would require candidates for a state office to file online reports, but exempt local candidates from filing an online report with the secretary of state if they receive less than $2,000 in campaign donations in a year.

But Yates and Rep. Becky Currie, a Republican from Brookhaven, disagreed with that proposal because they believe every candidate in Mississippi, local and state level, should be held to the same standard. 

“If we’re not making everyone do it, I’m going to vote no,” Currie said. 

Current state law requires candidates for state office to file reports with the secretary of state’s office, county candidates with local circuit clerks and municipal candidates with local municipal clerks. 

But the law gives candidates wide latitude in how they can submit the report. 

Candidates can handwrite reports, submit pictures of them, or submit them in spreadsheet format. Lax requirements allow some handwritten reports to be illegible, or the print on the report too small for a person to read. 

To solve this issue, Secretary of State Michael Watson plans on rolling out a new searchable, user-friendly campaign finance website similar to the one operated by the Federal Election Commission for federal candidates. 

During the debate, Yates pointed out that every candidate is already required to file a statement of economic interest online, which is a report filed with the Mississippi Ethics Commission to disclose sources of income. 

Tom Hood, the director of the Ethics Commission, told Mississippi Today that the commission first required candidates and public officials to file the forms online in 2010, and since moving to online filing, the commission has received positive feedback.

For people who have trouble with technology, Hood said the commission allows them to send their form in through the postal service or by alternative means. But “only a handful” of people choose other options, the director said.

“People should not be afraid of online filing,” Hood said. 

If passed, the bill would not mandate online filing until 2028, one year after statewide elections in 2027, to give candidates time to acclimate to the new requirements.

Late in his second term as governor of Mississippi, Kirk Fordice delivered a State of the State speech where he was not interrupted a single time by applause.

The House chamber in the state Capitol was as quiet as a church mouse on a Sunday morning.

By the time Fordice delivered the State of the State address sans applause, a series of events had occurred making it clear he was cheating on First Lady Pat Fordice. Those events culminated with a near-fatal car wreck the governor suffered in November 1996 while returning to Jackson after sneaking away to visit another woman in Memphis.

The Fordice State of the State speech in the late 1990s, juxtaposed with President Donald Trump’s recent State of the Union address, crystallizes the political change that has occurred in the last quarter of a century.

Modern-day politicians, at least Donald Trump, can survive many more scandals than they could during the era of Kirk Fordice.

Fordice was a blunt spoken, in-your-face politician, and was immensely popular, especially among a growing Republican base of voters who had revered him as the party’s first governor of Mississippi since the 1800s.

For much of his gubernatorial tenure, hints of Fordice’s marital infidelity had been ignored, especially by the Christian right that embraced him.

But by the time of that fateful State of the State speech as the evidence piled up of Fordice’s indiscretion, no one was willing to stand up for him on that quiet January day in the ornate chamber of the Mississippi House as he spoke uninterrupted.

It should be noted that Fordice’s combustible tendencies, often berating both his allies and his enemies, might have contributed to those attending the State of the State not displaying any support for the governor.

The president also has a penchant for exploding in anger at those loyal to him and those who are not. In short, the president has said and done things that would have doomed politicians in a past era – a not too distant era, such as the era when Fordice served as governor of Mississippi. Trump, on the other hand, remains popular among Republicans.

For instance, as Trump recently delivered the longest State of the Union speech in modern American history, he was repeatedly interrupted by thunderous applause by his Republican supporters.

True, Democrats sat quietly and a few heckled him, as has also occurred in recent years with Republican lawmakers when past Democratic presidents delivered their State of Union addresses. Many other Democrats simply did not attend Trump’s speech. 

Still, the support of loyal Republicans, both politicians and non-politicians, to Trump has not wavered and did not as he delivered his State of the Union address.

The president’s missteps or misdeeds are far too many to count. They include multiple claims of sexual misconduct, including bragging of sexually assaulting women, being found guilty by a civil jury by a preponderance of the evidence of sexually assaulting a woman, being accused of sexual assault by countless others. He infamously belittled the late Sen. John McCain for serving as a prisoner of war after his airplane was shot down in Vietnam. Trump was forced to close his charity endeavors after they were found to be a scam. The list goes on and on.

There is evidence that Trump was sleeping with a porn star.

Still, nowhere is the support for the president stronger than right here in Mississippi among many Republican politicians and non-politicians. It is of note that right here in the heart of the Bible Belt not that many years ago people were so troubled by the conduct of a Mississippi governor that they sat quietly as he delivered his State of the State speech.

And what did poor Kirk Fordice do to deserve their disdain?

The 60-something Fordice ended up leaving his wife, not for a younger woman, but for a woman who had been his high school sweetheart.

Granted, that is nothing to be proud of, but compared to what is tolerated nowadays by Mississippians, especially by Mississippi politicians, Fordice’s scandal was fairly tame stuff.

CENTREVILLE — Dysfunctional leadership and low academic achievement have been a challenge in the Wilkinson County School District for at least six years, according to past superintendents, district parents and a review of documents from three state agencies. 

The Mississippi Board of Education voted in January to take over the district in the rural southwestern corner of the state, where schools have posted some of the lowest scores in math and reading on state assessments since the 2018-19 school year.

Leaders’ decision to close two schools forced students from rival communities of Centreville and Woodville to attend classes together, spurring fights.

School board meetings sometimes devolved into name calling, and the group’s financial decisions raised questions and concerns about whether they complied with state law. 

As of January, district officials had not submitted a financial audit since the 2023 fiscal year, and they had indicated a $1.7 million deficit in the budget outlook for the current school year.

The district’s struggles reflect those in the community, former Wilkinson County leaders and school administrators told Mississippi Today. In the county, one of the most rural in the state, almost 30% of residents live in poverty. Some of the largest employers are the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, a private prison.

Mobile homes and A-frame homes are situated in thick forest off roads that cut through bluffs in Centreville, a rural community without a bank. Ancient live oak trees hug the 19th century courthouse in Woodville, which boasts a downtown populated by small businesses.

The district student population decreased by half in the last six years, from 1,210 to 648, and the county population has similarly shrunk as locals sought opportunities in Louisiana, which borders Wilkinson County to the west and south.

As L.C. Clark, the former chief of the district’s campus police, put it: The children of Wilkinson County haven’t yet had the opportunity to succeed. Others including Hope Price, whose child attended Wilkinson County High, said they feel it will take greater parental involvement to change a school and community culture that normalized dysfunction.

“When (some parents) found out that the state had taken over the school, they were on Facebook rejoicing,” Price recalled. “And it’s crazy to me. You have no school board, no superintendent. Why are you excited about that?”

Some parents were eager to see the outgoing superintendent punished, she said. 

Now, the district has an opportunity to return to its “glory days,” Interim Superintendent Lee Henry Coats said.

School closings fuel fights

For now, there is bad blood between some residents of Centreville and Woodville, two similarly sized towns roughly 14 miles apart, and the strife spills over into the district’s schools, according to more than a dozen locals who spoke to Mississippi Today. The ensuing clashes started before the two cities’ high schools were football rivals.

Price, of Woodville, said her son was sent to the district alternative school after defending a friend who got into a fight with a student from Centreville on a school bus. 

“They see each other at school after they’re done beefing on social media,” Price said. “It’s where it all comes out.”

The rivalry worsened when district officials decided to shutter both schools in Centreville. The elementary school closed after a 2019 fire, and William Winan Middle School shut down in 2024 despite being renovated in the last decade.

The school closings meant a longer commute for Centreville students and injured pride for alumni. Linton Trahan, an alumnus, had to start waking up his grandchildren at dawn to catch the school bus for the long ride to Woodville.

“You can’t teach them discipline at home if they can’t do nothing but get up, go to school and come back and go to bed,” he said. “And then they get tired and can’t learn because they fall asleep in class.”

A dysfunctional school board

Discipline programs aren’t limited to students. 

Wilkinson County locals may not agree on much, but most who spoke to Mississippi Today pointed to five people they blame for the district’s decline: school board members. Two state agencies have investigated whether board members’ financial decisions and actions broke state law. 

The State Auditor’s Office found that in fiscal year 2023, the school board approved financial statements and paid vendors without presenting the buys at its meetings. The board also accepted bids for consulting fees without reviewing cheaper alternatives and couldn’t account for some expenditures that were $5,000 to $72,000. One invoice was billed incorrectly and another was split in half to circumvent state purchasing law. 

In October, the state Department of Education sent district leaders a letter about allegations that school board members were interfering in the district’s daily operations. The letter states that President Fred Anderson, whose service was terminated as part of the state takeover, had not completed training required under state law. The letter also cited allegations that board member Elease Sullivan, whose service was also terminated, had “expressed concerns” about her daughter’s salary — a conflict of interest, texted other board members about hiring a new football coach after a losing season and arranged an impromptu walkthrough of the high school without the superintendent’s approval.

Two former Wilkinson County superintendents accused board members of violating the state open meetings law and discussing school district business outside of the boardroom. One recalled chaotic board meetings where board members would engage in name calling and make it difficult to fund supplemental pay for teachers and other priorities that would directly impact students in the classroom.

It seemed that serving on the school board “created a level of significance for them, for people to stop in the grocery store or stop at church and want to talk to you,” former Superintendent Kimberly Jackson said of board members’ behavior. Some board members also seemed to enjoy traveling to conferences on the district’s dime, she said. 

Clark, who was a campus police officer for the district for more than 15 years, said he felt ignored by several school board members he thought were out of touch with parents’ and community members’ concerns. He said board meeting minutes were not readily available.

“If you didn’t catch the board member out and talk to them, they weren’t going to talk to you,”Clark said. “To me, they couldn’t have done it any better than getting rid of the board.”

Academics in free fall

After she was hired as Wilkinson County Schools’ superintendent in July 2023, Shemekia Rankin said she struggled to change the dysfunctional school culture and improve test scores. She said she encountered staff who were complacent and willing to pull rank with the help of board members.

“There was no structure,” Rankin said. “So with me coming in, putting new policies in place, teachers and other staff pushed against me. Some left. They didn’t want the culture to change.”

A 2023 report on district instruction backed up some of Rankin’s observations. The Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER), which monitors state agencies, contracted an education technology firm to analyze information about instruction at 30 school districts, including Wilkinson County. The consultant’s analysis indicated significant grade inflation in Wilkinson County schools because about 90% of district fourth and fifth graders received As and Bs but less than a quarter of elementary students scored as proficient on state standardized tests.

Rankin said she faced additional hurdles while filling principal vacancies. In her first semester, the high school principal died, the elementary school principal resigned, and a counselor was serving as the middle school principal. Rankin said she was unable to find replacements by end of year due to low job interest and a small applicant pool. 

“Year one was bound to be an F,” Rankin said of the district’s accountability grade. “I didn’t have effective leadership at any of the schools.”

She also struggled to fill teacher vacancies in state tested subjects such as algebra and English II during her second full year on the job. Substitute teachers taught most of those courses, she said.

Many teachers who were stalwarts in the community, some of whom commuted from Louisiana, had retired, leaving a new generation hesitant to join the local teacher workforce. Rankin also struggled to hire a truancy officer during her tenure; the Wilkinson County schools share one with the Natchez-Adams School District.

Rankin looked internationally, primarily in Jamaica, for educators to teach state tested subjects in math and science. She said she was seeing improvements in benchmark data.

“It takes more than two and a half years to move a district, especially given what challenges the district has faced for as long as it had,” Rankin said. “People in the district had stopped caring.” 

Tracking down cheaters

Such apathy might explain concerns about cheating in the district.

In 2023, the state Department of Education began investigating testing irregularities in the district. Department officials reached out to interview Wilkinson County High School teachers  who might have helped students cheat on state tests, but could not reach them.

Those teachers weren’t working at public schools in Mississippi or Louisiana after that year, which prevented state education officials from questioning them, said Brian McGarity, the department’s director of educator misconduct.

“We’ve put a timestamp on their licenses in which they can’t upgrade, move around, or add an endorsement until they talk to us,” McGarity said. “From what we can tell, the last employer for all of these educators was the Wilkinson County School District.”

To complete its investigation, the department needs to question between one and five of those teachers, state education officials told Mississippi Today. The investigation is still open.

“We’re not going to give it up,” McGarity said. “We do work diligently to try to keep a list with cases cleared.”

The state invalidated the high school’s test scores. The “C” accountability grade the district received in 2023 now only applies to the elementary and middle school.

Meanwhile, Coats, the interim superintendent, faced a difficult first few weeks leading the district. He canceled two days of classes because of Winter Storm Fern. A beloved high school senior and a homecoming court attendant was shot and killed.

Coats previously helped improve test scores and attendance at the Holmes County School District, which the state took over in 2021 because of violations including dysfunctional leadership and financial mismanagement. Before that, he worked as a principal in Kosciusko.

“I think a lot of times when you have an MDE takeover, a lot of people are left in the dark. I just want to be transparent on what we’re doing to move the district forward,” he said.

For community members, new leadership brings the hope of improved educational outcomes for the county’s youngest residents.

“For both kids and parents, I just pray that one day we have unity,” Price said. “Genuine unity. We can only go up from here.”

HATTIESBURG — A proposal to create a 24-hour child care facility in Hattiesburg is gaining attention as families face long waitlists, limited hours and fewer state child care subsidies. 

Hattiesburg resident Myra Hawthorne said the idea emerged after she struggled to find care that matched her work schedule. She and other residents say a round-the-clock option could help parents who work overnight, multiple jobs or irregular shifts. 

The conversation comes as Mississippi faces ongoing child care shortages. In April 2025, the Mississippi Department of Human Services announced it would reduce child care vouchers that subsidize costs for low-income families. The decision led some centers across the state to close and left thousands of families on waiting lists. 

U.S. News & World Report reported that nearly 16,000 Mississippi families were waiting for child care assistance in 2025. 

Child care shortages fuel discussion 

Hawthorne, who works as a municipal court clerk, said she sees the effects locally. 

“I was told that I need to start calling at least six months before my baby actually started school because everyone’s waiting list was so long,” Hawthorne said. 

She said limited operating hours at many centers create additional challenges for residents who do not work traditional 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedules. 

“I’m aware of accommodation issues. I know a lot of people who are having to work two jobs,” Hawthorne said. 

Hawthorne said she believes a 24-hour facility could support single parents, overnight workers and families seeking short-term care outside standard hours. She has begun researching what would be required but has not formally started the process.

State regulations require additional accommodations for overnight operations. 

“Additional things you have to have are beds and a place to shower. It’s not a huge difference,” Hawthorne said. “But I have skimmed over it as far as what the building and what I would physically need.” 

Providers cite staffing, cost barriers 

While some families support expanded hours, local providers say the challenges are significant. 

Erin Hensley, director of Panther’s Den, said a 24-hour center could serve families with overnight shifts. However, staffing remains the primary obstacle. 

“It’s hard enough to find staff for during the day, working regular hours,” Hensley said. “It can be a daunting task to add more hours to that, requiring more staff.” 

Hensley said private centers also compete with public schools and Head Start programs that offer state-backed benefits, which can make recruiting and retaining qualified teachers more difficult. 

Cheryl Hodge, assistant director of Angel Academy Learning Center, said operational costs would also increase substantially. 

“Well, a lot of supplies and a lot of — well, all the bills that come up that people don’t think about, like trash service. Services that go throughout the center,” Hodge said. “Electricity is quite expensive. But stuff like that and food cost is very big.” 

Hodge said overnight staffing and increased utility usage could significantly raise expenses for centers already operating on tight margins. 

Broader workforce implications 

Mississippi has few child care facilities that operate 24 hours a day. As businesses expand in Forrest County and more residents work nontraditional schedules, access to reliable child care remains a workforce concern. 

Hawthorne said she has spoken with community members interested in supporting the concept. Whether the idea moves forward through a new facility or collaboration with existing providers, she said the discussion reflects a broader need. 

For now, the proposal remains in the exploratory phase. 

Democrats say the Trump administration is sabotaging a key Federal Emergency Management Agency fund, which could keep operating during the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, in order to raise the shutdown’s stakes.

The lapse in funding is in its second week, with Democrats and Republicans still in a stalemate regarding new guidelines for federal immigration officers.But that’s left FEMA, which is part of DHS, without funding as well. Andearlier this week, the administration announced it was freezing disaster aid for long-term recovery projects. The decision has taken heat from Democrats and experts who say there is still money in the Disaster Relief Fund that could pay for these projects.

“That’s just another bonehead decision that Kristi Noem has done,” Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, told NOTUS. “Generally, there has always been an exception with ongoing disasters. They’re just being mean. They have significant resources available to them. They can make the adjustment if they want to.”

Rep. Troy Carter, a Democrat from Louisiana and another member of the committee, called the decision “counterproductive” and “ridiculous.”

“It’s to try to make an issue out of an issue,” Carter told NOTUS about the administration’s rationale for pausing the funding. “To paint a picture that somehow, because of the dysfunction of the Republican Party’s lack of negotiations, that they can blame it on someone other than themselves, and to exact pain from the American people in cases where they don’t have to.”

“The resources are there. For them to suggest otherwise is just untrue,” Carter added.

After disasters, states request and then wait on approval from the agency to begin working on projects like reconstructing sewers, roads, bridges and schools. When they are completed, local governments and other entities turn to the agency for reimbursement from the Disaster Relief Fund.

“I have introduced legislation that would ensure the law-abiding agencies under DHS – excluding ICE, CBP, and the Office of the Secretary – receive the funding they need to operate,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, told NOTUS in a statement. “There is no excuse for Republicans to reduce critical services or force public servants to work without pay.”

FEMA told Congress last week that the Disaster Relief Fund had a balance of $9.6 billion as of Feb. 19, a source familiar with the matter told NOTUS. Politico reported Sunday that the agency has typically waited for funds to plummet to around $3 billion before activating constraints.

“It is not uncommon for an administration to use scaling back reimbursements and things as a negotiating tool to try to get Congress to pass a budget or increase the amount of money in the Disaster Relief Fund,” a former senior official at FEMA told NOTUS.

However, the former official added that FEMA does not typically “pause standard reimbursements from FEMA public assistance unless you’re in immediate-needs funding and you’re about to run out of money in the DRF.”

“It’s conceivable that in many jurisdictions, not receiving a reimbursement for a few hundred-thousand dollars, to millions, depending on the size of reimbursement,” the former official continued. “That could really be a major challenge for them if it goes on long enough, and of course, contractors are waiting on reimbursements as well.”

Rep. Sam Graves, the Republican chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which also has jurisdiction over FEMA, told NOTUS that he needs to “evaluate” the announcement, adding that it’s “obviously gonna have an impact on every state.”

Other Democrats are still searching for an explanation for the decision.

“There’s money in the Disaster Relief Fund,” Rep. Rick Larsen, the top Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told NOTUS. “There’s no reason to stop the money. But that said, I think there’s some twisted brains at the White House or at Homeland Security who think they’re somehow punishing people because of the shutdown at DHS. All they’re doing is punishing people, period.”

In response to questions regarding the freezing of funding for these projects, a FEMA spokesperson said that the agency “delivered more than $5 billion in funding for recovery projects in the past week, some dating back to disasters that occurred more than 15 years ago.”

“Unfortunately, Democrats insist on playing political games with FEMA’s budget, which could soon have dire consequences,” the spokesperson said in a statement to NOTUS. “Without a budget, FEMA’s Disaster Relief fund is being rapidly depleted, impacting our ability to help communities facing disasters.”

“In order to continue this long-overdue work and accomplish its mission, FEMA needs its funding to be restored,” the spokesperson continued. ”The Disaster Relief Fund has been drastically depleted since the Democrats refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security.”

Prior to the shutdown, a top FEMA official warned members of Congress that the Disaster Relief Fund could be compromised if a major disaster occurred during a funding lapse. And during the shutdown’s first week, officials expressed concern about how a strained FEMA could affect their state.

Danielle Silva, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, told NOTUS that the agency has been nonresponsive about the state’s approved recovery projects.

“We need FEMA to kind of monitor and check in every step of the way,” Silva said. “We hope it’s resolved soon, because these projects are kind of key to helping the communities that are impacted rebuild. But we also know that monsoon season is coming.”

The shutdown has also resulted in questions from lawmakers about the return of funding from the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program. The program, which was funded using the Disaster Relief Fund, was cut by the Trump administration last year. But a federal judge ruled that the administration’s move was “unlawful.”

Republicans held back on criticizing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

“Anytime FEMA doesn’t have the necessary resources to rebuild communities after natural disasters, is certainly something that I’m going to be considerate of,” Rep. Rob Bresnahan, a Republican from Pennsylvania who introduced legislation to protect the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, told NOTUS. “But without actually seeing or reading the intricacies of that specific position, I’m going to defer until I can actually have a chance to review that actual memo.”

Rep. Tom Cole, the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, told NOTUS that FEMA helped his home state of Oklahoma respond to wildfires last week.

While he’s “sure” his state will be affected by the freeze and has concerns about securing long-term funding, he’s not disappointed with the agency.

“We’re still waiting on some relief from tornado activity last spring that we think has been approved,” Cole said. “But for whatever reason, hasn’t been released. So we’re working on that. But again, it’s hard to complain about an agency when we didn’t give them the money to operate on. And again, that’s squarely the fault of Leader Schumer and Democrats in the Senate.”

This story is provided by a partnership between Mississippi Today and the NOTUS Washington Bureau Initiative, which seeks to help readers in local communities understand what their elected representatives are doing in Congress.

GREENVILLE — Another former law enforcement officer pleaded guilty Friday to charges tied to a federal crackdown on drug trafficking in the Mississippi Delta.

Former Greenwood police officer Jamario Sanford, 38, pleaded guilty to charges involving the transportation and distribution of cocaine through Leflore, Sunflower and Washington counties. 

Sanford also pleaded guilty to conspiracy. He was indicted for accepting a $5,000 bribe from an FBI agent posing as a Mexican drug cartel member in exchange for protecting illegal drug shipments on June 22, 2022. He was paid an additional $7,800 in bribes partly for future jobs.

Sanford had also been indicted for carrying or using a firearm during drug trafficking and an attempt to aid and abet a transport of illegal drugs, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi dropped the charges as part of Sanford’s plea agreement.

On Friday, U.S. Chief Judge Debra M. Brown of the Northern District of Mississippi asked Sanford to describe any medication he takes to determine his fitness to enter a guilty plea. He said he takes medications for nerve pain, anxiety and depression.

Sanford, who walks with a cane, said he has experienced emotional trauma and physical pain after being shot in 2024. He also described how, while working as a police officer in Shaw in 2014, he struggled with a suspect after an officer involved shooting. He said the experience caused him “severe trauma.”

Brown also asked Sanford about getting arrested for simple assault on Jan. 24. Sanford said the charges will be dropped.

Brown accepted Sanford’s guilty plea and set sentencing for May 27. Brown released Sanford on the conditions of the $10,000 unsecured bond after his arrest.

Sanford was arrested on Oct. 30 along with former Sunflower County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Marvin Flowers and Greenwood Police Department Officer Tyquana Rucker as part of the conspiracy and aiding the transport of illegal drugs. The U.S. Attorney’s Office dropped Rucker’s charges on Oct. 30 due to exonerating evidence from subsequent interviews with sources. Flowers is set to stand trial on April 20 in Greenville’s federal courthouse.

Sanford declined to comment to Mississippi Today.

Under federal guidelines, Sanford can be sentenced to between 10 years and life in prison. He could also face up to $10 million in fines.

On Oct. 30, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed six indictments, which ensnared more than 14 current and former Mississippi Delta law enforcement officers, including former Washington County Sheriff Milton Gaston and former Humphreys County Sheriff Bruce Williams, on drug trafficking charges. 

The Justice Department charged current and former officers from sheriff’s offices in Washington, Humphreys and Sunflower counties and police departments in Greenville, Greenwood, Isola, Hollandale, Metcalfe and Yazoo City.

The department also charged Mississippi Delta-based former highway patrolman Marquivius Bankhead and former state Department of Corrections guard Marcus Nolan on drug trafficking charges. 

In a separate indictment, prosecutors alleged Sanford recruited Dequarian Smith, then a law enforcement officer with the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office and the Isola Police Department, to protect a transport of illegal drugs through portions of the Mississippi Delta. Smith pleaded guilty on Feb. 11 to charges of conspiring to transport illegal drugs and for accepting a $500 bribe.

University of Mississippi Medical Center clinics statewide are expected to resume normal operations and scheduled appointments Monday after being closed for over a week due to a Feb. 19 cyberattack, according to hospital officials.

“It will take some time to fully recover and to investigate this criminal attack on our network systems,” said Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs for UMMC, in a Friday statement. 

Clinics will begin reaching out to patients to reschedule canceled appointments Monday and will be open for extended hours and days to accommodate patients as soon as possible, the hospital said. 

Patients across Mississippi, including children with complex medical conditions, have missed health care appointments and surgeries since the attack, which compromised the health care system’s IT network and forced the medical center to shut down all of its network systems, including its electronic patient health records. Experts warned that the hospital system could face weeks or months of recovery following the attack.

UMMC can now access patient records, the medical center said Friday in a social media post. Phone lines and internet are also working, allowing UMMC to resume regular patient call center operations. 

The electronic health record will come online Saturday, and patients will then have access to their MyChart accounts.  

The academic medical center is one of Mississippi’s largest providers of specialty health care and operates the state’s only Level 1 trauma center, which is equipped to handle the most severe medical emergencies.

UMMC has not yet publicly described how extensive the attack on its computer systems was or if any data was compromised. In a Tuesday interview with SuperTalk Mississippi, Woodward confirmed the attacker made financial demands. 

Federal agencies, including the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, have been assisting Mississippi’s largest public hospital since Feb. 19.

“This was not just an attack on UMMC; it was also an attack on our patients, students, faculty and staff,” Woodward said in a statement.

UMMC hospitals and emergency departments have remained open as the hospital recovers from the cyberattack. 

Patients with time-sensitive needs, including prescription refills or postoperative care, can call the UMMC Triage Line at 601-815-0000.

Editor’s note: This essay is part of Mississippi Today Ideas, a platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share their ideas about our state’s past, present and future. Opinions expressed in guest essays are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of Mississippi Today. You can read more about the section here.

Toward the end of last year, one of my strongest attorneys walked into my office and told me he was leaving. He loved being a public defender and believed deeply in representing people who could not afford a lawyer.

But he could no longer afford to stay. Assistant public defenders in Hinds County earn, on average, more than $50,000 less than their prosecutor counterparts.

As the Hinds County public defender, I know firsthand that our county needs a meaningful investment in public defense. Since taking office in 2020, I have dealt with an average of two staff vacancies during my entire tenure, and I have had nearly 20 attorney resignations.

The vast majority of these are not lawyers chasing prestige or profit. They are public servants forced to choose between serving the people of Mississippi and providing for their own families.

When experienced public defenders leave Hinds County, it is not just a staffing issue. The U.S. Constitution promises people who are accused of a crime the right to a lawyer and a fair court process. Our faith compels us to ensure they do not walk through the legal system alone. But our public defense system is stretched so thin that many languish in jail for months waiting for their cases to move.

People miss work and often lose their jobs. Parents cannot care for their children. And taxpayers foot the bill of prolonged pretrial detention – all before a judge has determined guilt or innocence.

While I have dealt with staff shortages, the crisis in Hinds County has reached a breaking point. Last year, the Mississippi Legislature added a fifth circuit court judge in Hinds County to hear criminal cases, significantly impacting staff shortages and mounting workloads.

Our primary detention facility, the Raymond Detention Center, is now at “emergency” levels, housing a significant number of people above capacity. According to a recent review, there still remain people in our county who have been locked up for months without an indictment, and several who have been detained for more than a year.

We have a meaningful opportunity to address this constitutional crisis. On Monday, the Hinds County Board of Supervisors will consider my office’s request for a $350,000 equity adjustment to bring our starting salary up to parity with the one county-funded assistant district attorney salary. By approving this emergency funding, the Board of Supervisors will join a growing movement of Mississippians who understand investing in public defense is a fiscal, constitutional and moral imperative. 

While I will need over $1 million to achieve full parity with the DA’s office, this equity adjustment will greatly assist retention and recruitment efforts for the experienced attorneys and for support staff I need to effectively manage our office’s high caseloads. The only year I haven’t lost any attorneys because of low pay was in 2022—when our senior circuit court judge ordered a one-year salary supplement to the assistant public defenders in my office.

I can appreciate and recognize that funds are strained, but I also know that public defense is a smart investment. Studies show that across the country, counties that invest in public defense save millions each year because early, effective representation avoids the costs of unnecessary jail time and keeps our citizens working instead of being detained. 

A well-funded public defense system doesn’t just save money, it saves lives. With private philanthropic support, my office has recently hired two client advocates. These professionals work hand in hand with our social worker. In less than two years, their work has helped clients collectively spend considerably more years in their communities rather than behind bars. Each client gained valuable years to live, work and care for their family.

This is Hinds County’s — and more broadly, Mississippi’s — moment. Mississippians do not want our taxpayer dollars funding unnecessary pretrial detention.

We believe in the Constitution, which recognizes public defense as a fundamental legal right to protect us from government overreach. No one should sit in jail without a fair opportunity to have their day in court.

On Monday, the Hinds County Board of Supervisors can continue to recognize public defense as a priority for our county. They can seriously consider and hopefully vote to approve at their next regularly scheduled board meeting, the modest equity adjustment we need to stabilize our public defender’s office, reduce unnecessary detention and honor the constitutional promise that justice does not depend on wealth.

This is not about politics. It is about whether Hinds County will meet its legal and moral obligations — or continue paying the human and financial costs associated with unnecessary detention. Assuring that clients are effectively represented in the criminal justice system should be of paramount concern. Now is our time to act.

Gail Wright Lowery has served as the public defender of the 7th Circuit Court District of Hinds County since February 2020. Lowery previously served as Jackson municipal court judge and as assistant attorney general of the state of Mississippi. She is a native of Jackson and attended Jackson State University and Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago. 

Ashley Wall’s 9-month-old son has spent about two-thirds of his life at the University of Mississippi Medical Center children’s hospital in Jackson. 

Levi, who has cancer, experienced a delay in a critical bone marrow test as a result of the Feb. 19 cyberattack that struck UMMC and led it to cancel appointments and elective procedures statewide. 

The test, which will determine whether he continues treatment or enters hospice care, was planned for the same day as the attack, but was then delayed until Thursday. Doctors told Wall the test results, which are normally returned in a few days, may take as long as a week. 

Because of the delay, Wall chose to bring Levi home on Feb. 19 to Harrisville, 30 miles south of Jackson, for the first time since August. 

“We didn’t want to lose that time with our child,” Wall said.  

Children across Mississippi have been caught in the crosshairs of the cyberattack on the state’s largest public hospital system. The attack forced UMMC to shut down all of its computer systems and has caused patients across the state to go without medical care. Regularly scheduled clinic appointments and elective procedures at UMMC remain canceled through Friday. 

Children’s of Mississippi Hospital, located in Jackson at UMMC, is the only dedicated children’s hospital in the state. It houses the state’s only Level I pediatric trauma unit and pediatric intensive care. The hospital treats 275,000 children statewide each year, some of whom have complex conditions, including cancer, epilepsy, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, allergies and diabetes.

UMMC is making significant progress in its response to the Feb. 19 cyberattack and restoring systems, and is “hopeful that it will be able to resume normal clinic operations as soon as Monday,” the medical center said in a statement Wednesday. Multiple experts told Mississippi Today the hospital system could face weeks to months of recovery after the attack.

However, some families have been informed that not all elective procedures will resume by Monday. Levi, who was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Feb. 19, was told by doctors Thursday the scan will be postponed further. 

Some families worry that delays in care could seriously affect their children’s health and may force them to restart treatments that improved their condition.

Mary Harwell’s 18-year-old son, Jack, has severe non-verbal autism, cerebral palsy and agitated catatonia, a disorder that causes him to hurt himself and others. For years, Jack and his family endured persistent involuntary violent behaviors, like head hitting, biting and attacks on others. 

“There was no quality of life and our family was falling apart,” said Harwell, who lives in Jackson. “He was just covered in bruises, he was miserable. There was no happiness.”

But for the past three years, electroconvulsive therapy treatments twice a week at UMMC have provided Jack significant relief from his symptoms and restored his quality of life. After just four treatments, Jack’s bruises disappeared, he began eating and regaining weight, he was able to go into a store for the first time in five years, and he began smiling. “He was living again,” Harwell said. 

Since the cyberattack began, Jack has missed three treatments and his symptoms have returned. He stopped eating and sleeping, and has been hitting himself continuously for the past several days, Harwell said. Missing multiple sessions can cause setbacks, forcing patients to restart the treatments at a higher frequency.

Only one other hospital in Mississippi, on the Gulf Coast, offers the treatment. Initially, the facility told Harwell it could not treat Jack without access to his medical records, which UMMC is currently unable to access. Staff later said they might make an exception, but Harwell worries that given Jack’s current, violent condition, she may not be able to safely transport him to the hospital several hours away. 

“It feels like we are starting all over, reliving the nightmare of his condition,” Harwell said. 

Research shows that patient care outcomes decline in the wake of ransomware, or malicious software that holds computer systems or data hostage in demand for a payment, targeting hospitals. 

“Cyberattacks, specifically ransomware on hospitals, kill patients,” said Dr. Hannah Neprash, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, who has studied the effect of cybersecurity attacks on patient care. 

Her 2026 study found that, among Medicare patients hospitalized during the attack, hospitals targeted by ransomware experienced an average increase of 34% to 38% in mortality rates compared to those discharged in the five weeks prior. The impact to patient care was most severe among the sickest patients with the most complex medical needs. 

For families of children with serious medical conditions, the cancellation of elective procedures essential to their kids’ health has been worrisome. 

Jack Jacobs, a high school student from Gulfport, was born with hypoplastic right heart syndrome, a heart condition in which one ventricle is underdeveloped. He has received treatment at UMMC for most of his life. 

Jack had a serious heart procedure scheduled for Feb. 24, but it was canceled as a result of the cyberattack. Although the procedure is not an emergency, it is necessary and not elective, said his mother Susan Jacobs. 

The term “elective” can be misleading, Neprash said. It may be more accurate to call care scheduled versus unscheduled.

“A lot of stuff is in that elective bucket that people take very seriously,” she said, pointing to examples such as cancer treatment. 

Jack’s procedure has not yet been rescheduled. For Susan Jacobs, the uncertainty surrounding the cyberattack and timeline for normal operations to resume has been anxiety-provoking. 

“To not have a clue when your child is going to have a heart procedure is just very disconcerting,” Jacobs said. 

UMMC officials have yet to release information about how extensive the attack was, when canceled appointments will be rescheduled or whether any data has been compromised. The medical center held its last press conference on Feb. 19, the first day of the attack.

The computer system outage at UMMC has extended beyond canceled procedures and has forced caregivers to face additional tough decisions about their children’s care. 

Alisa Hughes, a Jackson resident, has an 8-year-old granddaughter with severe asthma who has received treatment at UMMC since birth. 

Jayln was running a fever and was experiencing difficulty breathing Sunday. Concerned about the security of her granddaughter’s health information, Hughes opted not to take her to the UMMC emergency room, where she typically receives care. At a local urgent care center, Jayln was diagnosed with the flu. 

“We just prayed that they wouldn’t send her to the ER,” Hughes said. “…It was scary knowing that the hospital that you’ve trusted for the last eight years with her, you don’t feel confident taking her to this time.”

The cyberattack has disrupted other areas of the health care system as well. Levi, the 9-month-old with cancer, normally receives his medication at the hospital. But due to the attack, his family had to get the medication from a pharmacy. One medication required prior authorization for insurance coverage, but unable to reach his doctors, the family ended up paying for the $200 medication out of pocket. 

When the family returned a week later, hospital staff said they had never received the message that a prior authorization was needed because the hospital’s phone lines were down. 

Dr. Alan Jones, the associate vice chancellor for health affairs at UMMC, said at the press conference Feb. 19 that the hospital regularly prepares for operational disruptions during regularly scheduled maintenance of the electronic health record. 

Neprash said she is skeptical that downtime protocols, or procedures that kick in during IT system failures and use paper records, adequately prepare facilities for ransomware attacks. 

“There’s a huge difference between being ready for three hours of (electronic health record) downtime versus three days or three weeks,” Neprash said. She noted that each ransomware attack affects different parts of hospitals’ systems, so it can be difficult to prepare for them. 

Her research indicates that larger hospitals and health systems with sophisticated IT infrastructures can experience greater impacts from ransomware attacks compared to their smaller counterparts due to a larger number of interconnected computer systems and greater reliance on technology. 

Wall said she witnessed the effects of these operational disruptions on Levi’s care during his Thursday bone marrow test. What is normally a two-hour procedure ended up taking the entire day, she said. Wall said the hospital’s limited communication has been particularly frustrating given the time-sensitive nature of Levi’s treatment. These complications have made her question whether adequate protocols will be put in place to prevent similar issues in the future. 

However, for many families in Mississippi with children who have complex medical needs, there are few, if any, alternative options except to wait for normal operations to resume. 

“We keep saying, ‘Well, we lived through this for years so we can do it again,’” Harwell said. “We have no choice.” 

Correction, 2/27/2026: This article has been updated to reflect that Wall chose to bring Levi home to Harrisville for the second time since August.