Private prisons that house state offenders; provide moratorium on the expansion of.

HB 1746 would have prohibited Mississippi from expanding the housing capacity of private prisons currently used to house state inmates and banned the state from entering new contracts with private facilities for this purpose. It directly affects private correctional facilities contracted with the state and the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The bill’s key provision, stated in Section 1, would have blocked both capacity increases at existing facilities and new agreements for housing state offenders at private prisons. The bill amended several sections of Mississippi law to align with this moratorium but died in committee on February 3, 2026, without becoming law.