JACKSON — Officials with the Mississippi Department of Corrections say two companies are bidding to manage the state’s four privately operated prisons. One is the current operator, Utah-based Management and Training Corp. The second is New Jersey-based Community Education Centers. MTC got $59.3 million last year to run East Mississippi Correctional Facility, Marshall County Correctional Facility and Walnut Grove Correctional ...

JACKSON — Mississippi corrections officials have added netting, body scanners and monthly prison searches to a growing list of steps to keep illegal cellphones, drugs, tobacco and other contraband out of prisoners’ hands. “We are in a new era where people will use any means to get contraband into prisons,” Commissioner Christopher B. Epps said in a news release. “Therefore, ...