Chris Epps facts for kids

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. 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.

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. 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.

Early life and education

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. 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.

Career

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.

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. Incidents of violence decreased dramatically. Many prisoners in the facility were held there because they had HIV or mental illness. The state worked to transfer them to other facilities.

In 2010, Epps continued to work with the ACLU to close Unit 32, moving prisoners with severe mental illness from Unit 32 to the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, intended to provide more intensive treatment for such prisoners.

In 2008, Epps gained support from state senator Willie Lee Simmons for legislation to amend the state's "truth in sentencing law"; the new law, signed by the governor in 2009, made nonviolent offenders eligible for parole after serving 25 percent of their sentences. (The previous law had required all convicted felons to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence, resulting in a dramatic expansion of the number of prisoners in the state, to 22,800 by 2007.) The law was retroactive. From 2009 to 2010 the Parole Board reviewed cases to determine prisoners eligible for parole. They were aided by use of a science-based "risk instrument" to evaluate prisoners' risk of recidivism. The state released more than 3,000 felons on parole who had been convicted of non-violent crimes. None has committed the type of high-profile crimes that has damaged such efforts in other states. This policy also saved the state money. Epps was respected for his efforts to reduce the use of solitary confinement in prisons throughout the state.

By 2014, Epps was making a $132,700-a-year salary. He was the only African American heading a state department in Governor Bryant's administration.

Serving in the Mississippi National Guard since 1984, Epps was promoted to a rank of lieutenant colonel before his March 2008 retirement. Epps worked as an auditor for the American Correctional Association (ACA). In May 2010 he was elected as the association's president, with a term through February 2015. He was also elected as president of the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA), taking office in August 2014. On November 5, 2014, Epps resigned from his ACA position, the day before his indictment was announced.

Personal life

Epps's wife is Catherlean Sanders and they have two sons. Prior to 2015, Epps's primary residence was in Flowood, Mississippi, in the Jackson metropolitan area. He served as a deacon of Hanging Moss Road Church of Christ in Jackson.

At one time he owned a condominium in Biloxi, but later replaced it with a condominium in Pass Christian, Mississippi.

In April 2015, Epps' wife hired a Seattle forfeiture attorney to represent her in regard to the case involving their Flowood residence. On March 2, 2016, the court allowed her to keep $200,000 of their forfeited assets.