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

HB 1238 would have prohibited Mississippi private prisons housing state inmates from expanding their capacity and banned the state from entering new contracts with private facilities for this purpose. The bill specifically targeted facilities currently used by the state, blocking both capacity increases and new agreements under existing laws. This moratorium would have directly affected private correctional facilities operating under state contracts and prevented the state from expanding reliance on private incarceration. (Note: The bill died in committee on February 4, 2025, and did not become law.)