Series 509: House Committee files and reports. 1817-1989.
Legislature (RG 47).

Series 509: House Committee files and reports. 1817-1989.
Legislature (RG 47).

      Docket books and folders listing bills introduced at a particular legislative session with columns for the title, author, when received by the committee, when reported (introduced) to the House, character of the report, sufficiency of title, and remarks. The docket books and folders may also include columns for passed in the House, sent to the Senate, passed in the Senate, and sent to Governor. These are usually fairly sketchy entries. The docket books usually include a roster of the committee members, and sometimes attendance at committee meetings, in the front inside cover. Also included are files with various committee reports and notices on committee actions.

For a historical note on the Charity Hospitals Study Committee, see page 4, after the end of the listing of series contents.

HISTORICAL NOTE – Special Committee to Study Charity Hospitals:

      The records of the Mississippi House of Representatives Special Committee to Study Charity Hospitals include minutes, reports, correspondence, transcripts of meetings and hearings, audio recordings of public hearings and meetings, correspondence, statistics, financial data, and reference material used by committee members.

      In 1980, the Speaker of the House appointed a committee to study the operation of the state’s charity hospitals (and their associated nursing schools) in order to determine their effectiveness and cost. These included the Natchez Charity Hospital, the Matty Hersee Hospital (Meridian), the South Mississippi State Hospital (Laurel), and the Kuhn Memorial State Hospital (Vicksburg). The charity aspects of the University of Mississippi Medical Center (Jackson) were also included in the study. In the course of their work, the committee made on-site inspections of each hospital in question, met with local officials and hospital representatives, and held public hearings at each locality. Since North Mississippi had no charity hospitals, a public hearing for that region was held in Oxford at the North Mississippi Retardation Center.

      The committee’s seven members split four to three in their recommendations to the Legislature. The majority voted to continue to fund three of the four charity hospitals in question, while providing an equal amount of money to other county hospitals as reimbursement for charity cases. The minority voted to phase out spending for all of the charity hospitals over a four-year period, and thereafter allocate funds for charity work in county hospitals across the state. The only facility shut down as a direct result of this committee’s action was the Natchez Charity Hospital, which closed in 1982.

      The majority and minority reports, found in Box 15253, offer concise summaries of the committee’s work and contain copies of the most important correspondence and financial and statistical data. Correspondence, statistics, and financial data are found throughout the series. Box 15255 contains only audiotape reels and is limited access. All materials are arranged randomly, though items related to a particular meeting or charity institution are typically foldered together.