As Amended
SEC. 31-11-3. Powers and duties.
(1) The Department of Finance and Administration, for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this chapter,
in addition to all other rights and powers granted by law, shall have full power and authority to employ and
compensate architects or other employees necessary for the purpose of making inspections, preparing plans and
specifications, supervising the erection of any buildings, and making any repairs or additions as may be determined
by the Department of Finance and Administration to be necessary, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the
State Personnel Board. The department shall have entire control and supervision of, and determine what, if any,
buildings, additions, repairs or improvements are to be made under the provisions of this chapter, subject to the
approval of the Public Procurement Review Board.
(2) The department shall have full power to erect buildings, make repairs, additions or improvements, and buy
materials, supplies and equipment for any of the institutions or departments of the state subject to the approval of
the Public Procurement Review Board. In addition to other powers conferred, the department shall have full
power and authority as directed by the Legislature, or when funds have been appropriated for its use for these
purposes, to:
(a) Build a state office building;
(b) Build suitable plants or buildings for the use and housing of any state schools or institutions, including the
building of plants or buildings for new state schools or institutions, as provided for by the Legislature;
(c) Provide state aid for the construction of school buildings;
(d) Promote and develop the training of returned veterans of the United States in all sorts of educational and
vocational learning to be supplied by the proper educational institution of the State of Mississippi, and in so doing
allocate monies appropriated to it for these purposes to the Governor for use by him in setting up, maintaining and
operating an office and employing a state director of on-the-job training for veterans and the personnel necessary in
carrying out Public Law No. 346 of the United States;
(e) Build and equip a hospital and administration building at the Mississippi State Penitentiary;
(f) Build and equip additional buildings and wards at the Boswell Retardation Center;
(g) Construct a sewage disposal and treatment plant at the state insane hospital, and in so doing acquire additional
land as may be necessary, and to exercise the right of eminent domain in the acquisition of this land;
(h) Build and equip the Mississippi central market and purchase or acquire by eminent domain, if necessary, any
lands needed for this purpose;
(i) Build and equip suitable facilities for a training and employing center for the blind;
(j) Build and equip a gymnasium at Columbia Training School;
(k) Approve or disapprove the expenditure of any money appropriated by the Legislature when authorized by the
bill making the appropriation;
(l) Expend monies appropriated to it in paying the state's part of the cost of any street paving;
(m) Sell and convey state lands when authorized by the Legislature, cause said lands to be properly surveyed and
platted, execute all deeds or other legal instruments, and do any and all other things required to effectively carry
out the purpose and intent of the Legislature. Any transaction which involves state lands under the provisions of
this paragraph shall be done in a manner consistent with the provisions of Section 29-1-1;
(n) Collect and receive from educational institutions of the State of Mississippi monies required to be paid by these
institutions to the state in carrying out any veterans' educational programs; and
(o) Purchase lands for building sites, or as additions to building sites, for the erection of buildings and other
facilities which the department is authorized to erect, and demolish and dispose of old buildings, when necessary
for the proper construction of new buildings. Any transaction which involves state lands under the provisions of
this paragraph shall be done in a manner consistent with the provisions of Section 29-1-1.
(3) The department shall survey state-owned and state-utilized buildings to establish an estimate of the costs of
architectural alterations, pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 USCS Section 12111 et
seq. The department shall establish priorities for making the identified architectural alterations and shall make
known to the Legislative Budget Office and to the Legislature the required cost to effectuate such alterations. To
meet the requirements of this section, the department shall use standards of accessibility that are at least as
stringent as any applicable federal requirements and may consider:
(a) Federal minimum guidelines and requirements issued by the United States Architectural and Transportation
Barriers Compliance Board and standards issued by other federal agencies;
(b) The criteria contained in the American Standard Specifications for Making Buildings Accessible and Usable by
the Physically Handicapped and any amendments thereto as approved by the American Standards Association,
Incorporated (ANSI Standards);
(c) Design manuals;
(d) Applicable federal guidelines;
(e) Current literature in the field;
(f) Applicable safety standards; and
(g) Any applicable environmental impact statements.
(4) The department shall observe the provisions of Section 31-5-23, in letting contracts and shall use Mississippi
products, including paint, varnish and lacquer which contain as vehicles tung oil and either ester gum or modified
resin (with rosin as the principal base of constituents), and turpentine shall be used as a solvent or thinner, where
these products are available at a cost not to exceed the cost of products grown, produced, prepared, made or
manufactured outside of the State of Mississippi.
(5) The department shall have authority to accept grants, loans or donations from the United States Government
or from any other sources for the purpose of matching funds in carrying out the provisions of this chapter.
(6) The department shall build a wheelchair ramp at the War Memorial Building which complies with all applicable
federal laws, regulations and specifications regarding wheelchair ramps.
(7) The department shall review and preapprove all architectural or engineering service contracts entered into by
any state agency, institution, commission, board or authority regardless of the source of funding used to defray the
costs of the construction or renovation project for which services are to be obtained. The provisions of this
subsection (7) shall not apply to any architectural or engineering contract paid for by self-generated funds of any
of the state institutions of higher learning, nor shall they apply to community college projects that are funded from
local funds or other nonstate sources which are outside the Department of Finance and Administration's
appropriations or as directed by the Legislature. The provisions of this subsection (7) shall not apply to any
construction or design projects of the State Military Department that are funded from federal funds or other
nonstate sources.
(8) The department shall have the authority to obtain annually from the state institutions of higher learning
information on all building, construction and renovation projects including duties, responsibilities and costs of any
architect or engineer hired by any such institutions.
(9) Contracts let or approved by the State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board when it
exercises its emergency powers to remove two thousand (2,000) inmates from county jails are exempt from this
section; however, this exemption does not apply to contracts for the construction of private correctional facilities
and additional facilities at the South Mississippi Correctional Institution and the Central Mississippi Correctional
Facility. This subsection shall stand repealed from and after July 1, 1996.
SOURCES: Codes, 1942, Sec. 9023-02; Laws, 1944, ch. 328, Secs. 2-4; 1946, ch. 386, Secs. 1, 2; 1950, ch. 392, Sec. 2; 1981, ch. 323, Sec. 1; 1984, ch. 488, Sec. 30, eff from and after July 1, 1984. Laws, 1991, ch. 411, Sec. 1; 1993, ch. 615, Sec. 2; 1994, ch. 448, Sec. 1, eff from and after July 1, 1994; 1994 Ex Sess, ch. 26, Sec. 24, eff from and after passage (approved August 23, 1994)