BREAKING: Commissioner Epps Resigns

BY JEFF AMY
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – State lawmakers say Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps is under investigation for unspecified misdeeds.

Epps resigned suddenly Wednesday after leading the state prison for 12 years. Gov Phil Bryant has named Deputy Commissioner Richard McCarty as the interim leader of the state prison system until a permanent commissioner is selected.

House Corrections Committee Chairman Tommie Taylor, a Boyle Republican, says Epps is under investigation. Taylor says he’s saddened by Epps’ departure. Sen. Derrick Simmons, a Greenville Democrat, says he understands Epps is under scrutiny from federal prosecutors.

Epps’ departure comes as he’s serving as the president of the American Correctional Association and the Association of State Correctional Administrators. Mississippi’s prison system is under scrutiny because of a lawsuit alleging abusive conditions at two prisons run by a private contractor.