12 Miss. Code. R. 9-12.2
A no cost contract is a contract in which there is no expenditure of public funds from any funding source (state, federal, or other). PPRB does not have purview over these contracts. Where any Agency is claiming a contract for personal or professional services is a no cost contract, the Agency shall submit a memorandum signed by the Agency's legal counsel and the Agency's chief financial officer with an explanation as to the source of funding such that the contract meets the definition of no cost contract.
For example, a contract for commissary services at a prison in which inmates purchase items from the commissary using their personal money is a no cost contract if the prison does not directly pay the contractor for any goods or services because the contract is paid entirely with non-public funds (i.e., money from inmates' personal accounts).
Alternatively, a contractor recovering overpayments made by an Agency administering a public benefit program on a contingency fee basis is not a no cost contract, even where the contractor withholds its payment from the recovered funds prior to returning the remainder of the recovered funds to the Agency. The full amount of recovered funds belongs to the Agency and therefore the percentage of recovered funds paid to the contractor constitutes public funds even if that payment is not processed by the Agency.
It shall be the sole responsibility of the procuring Agency to determine whether a contract for personal or professional services is a no cost contract. OPSCR will accept a memorandum executed by the Agency's legal counsel and the Agency's chief financial officer without independent analysis as to whether the contract meets the definition of a no cost contract and OPSCR will approve the contract in MAGIC where the requirements of Section 12.2 are met.
12 Miss. Code. R. 9-12.2