House Bill 858 Summary

• Authorizes two or more county boards of supervisors or municipal governing authorities to jointly contract for preneed disaster-related solid waste collection, disposal, and monitoring services for a maximum term of two years.

• Requires joint disaster cleanup contracts to be publicly advertised through the Mississippi Procurement Technical Assistance Program with a minimum ten-day posting period before bid opening.

• Permits contracting entities to designate a joint purchasing or bidding agent to manage the procurement process and allows cost-sharing arrangements determined by each participating board or authority.

• Exempts joint disaster cleanup agreements from the intergovernmental agreement approval requirements of Section 17-13-11, allowing entities to bypass Attorney General review and other standard filing procedures.

• Amends Section 31-7-13 to add this new preneed disaster cleanup contracting authority as an exception to standard competitive bidding procedures.