Congressman Bennie G. Thompson Announces Two DOJ Grant Awards Totaling $588,054 to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Bennie G. Thompson is pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has awarded two grants to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (MDPS) totaling $588,054 to support critical initiatives aimed at improving the state's medical examiner system and enhancing criminal history records.

The first grant, under the BJA FY24 Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner System Program, awards $95,054 to the Mississippi State Medical Examiner's Office. This funding will be used to hire a part-time Quality Assurance Project Coordinator, who will assist the two MSME locations in developing and implementing a comprehensive quality assurance program. This is an important step toward the MSME's application for IACME accreditation, which will help recruit forensic pathology professionals, support fellowship programs, and improve services in underserved communities across Mississippi. The coordinator will also enhance the accreditation efforts of Mississippi’s County Medical Examiner Investigators.

The second grant, under the BJS FY24 National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) Supplemental Funding, provides $493,000 for the Mississippi Criminal Information Center (MCIC) to maintain and improve its criminal history system. Through this funding, MDPS will work with Computer Projects of Illinois, Inc. to upgrade the state’s message switch to meet FBI-mandated NIEM-compliant standards, and with Meris to create a bulk scanning process that will reduce the paper backlog and improve the efficiency of processing expunctions, dispositions, and background checks. This project aims to enhance the accuracy and timeliness of criminal history records, a critical component of public safety.