Chris Epps

Although MDOC had been sued in two class-action suits in the 21st century on behalf of prisoners because of poor conditions, Epps was respected for his efforts to improve conditions by reducing the use of solitary confinement in Mississippi, reducing the prison population by supporting earlier parole for non-violent offenders and establishing halfway houses for newly released inmates.

Beginning in the late 20th century, Mississippi contracted with for-profit prison companies to run several of its prisons as did many other states.

Epps was the only black American who was head of a state department under Governor Bryant.

Christopher B. Epps (born January 25, 1961) is a Federal inmate and a former commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) and career employee in the state criminal justice system though he started his career as a teacher.

In 1982 MDOC contacted him asking if he was interested in working in prisons.

Epps earned a master's degree in guidance counseling from Liberty University.

By 1982 Epps thought the criminal justice system might provide more opportunity for career advancement than education.

At first he worked both as a teacher outside and as a prison correctional officer in Unit 29 at the Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman) in Sunflower County, Mississippi.

In January 1985 he began working there as a disciplinary hearings officer.

Around July of that year he quit his teaching position and devoted himself to Parchman, and at that time he became a case manager there.

He began to be promoted to higher positions within the corrections department.

He served as Chief of Security and Corrections Case Management Supervisor.

In December 1988 Governor Ray Mabus appointed Epps as the deputy superintendent of Mississippi State Penitentiary.

He was responsible for security and running day-to-day prison operations.

He also served as the MDOC's Chief of Staff, Deputy Commissioner of Institutions, Deputy Commissioner of Community Corrections, Director of Offender Services and Director of Treatment Services.

Appointed as Commissioner in 2002 and serving until 2014, he served under three governors and was the agency's longest-serving commissioner in its history.

Epps came up within the department as a 32-year career employee.

In July 2002 the ACLU filed a class action suit against MDOC and the officials of Parchman Penitentiary, saying that conditions for inmates on Death Row in Unit 32 constituted "cruel and unusual punishment" as prohibited by the US Constitution.

On August 30, 2002, Democratic Governor Ronnie Musgrove appointed Epps as Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Republican governors Haley Barbour and Phil Bryant reappointed Epps on January 13, 2004, and January 11, 2012, respectively.

In 2006, Epps agreed to enter into a consent decree with the ACLU, working with them to reform Unit 32 particularly.

He invited teams from Connecticut and reviewed the classification system, seeking to develop a better way to reward prisoners who modeled desired behavior.

Controls at Unit 32 were lessened, group dining and classes were introduced.

During the next four years, programs were developed whereby prisoners could earn their way out of solitary confinement through good behavior.

By the fall of 2007, the prison population in solitary confinement was reduced from more than 1,000 to 150.

Epps had been elected president of the American Correctional Association in 2010.

He resigned on November 5, 2014, during the federal investigation and after resigning as commissioner of the state system.

It was the day before he was indicted on federal charges of bribery and kickbacks.

He had received what may have been more than $2 million in bribes from Cecil McCrory, a businessman and former Mississippi Republican state house member and others, including Robert Simmons.

The FBI termed the case Operation Mississippi Hustle.

McCrory was most recently a consultant for Management and Training Corporation (MTC) of Utah, a major for-profit prison operating company; at the time, it had a $60 million contract in Mississippi to operate four prisons.

In February 2017, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood announced he had filed civil cases for damages and punitive damages against 11 corporations and individuals who had engaged in contracts with the MDOC and Epps.

He said that state law required the companies and consultants to pay back the value of their contracts.

Christopher Epps was born and grew up in Tchula, Mississippi, in Holmes County, which is bordered on the west by the Yazoo River and the Mississippi Delta.

His family was deeply involved in education and several members had PhDs.

Epps attended Mississippi Valley State University and received a bachelor's degree in elementary education.

Epps has said that, at the time of his graduation, he filled out an MDOC job application at a job fair at his university.

Epps' relatives worked in the education sector and had post-graduate degrees.

He expected to have a career in education, too.

He started working at a school in Drew, Mississippi, teaching science and mathematics.