Mississippi Department of Corrections officials confirmed the state denied entry to the state for two sisters who were paroled in 2011 on condition that one donate a kidney to the other.

MDOC spokeswoman Grace Simmons Fisher wrote in an email the state would not let Gladys and Jamie Scott enter Mississippi as part of their book tour.

“MDOC denied a request for the Scott sisters to come to Mississippi because of the nature of their travel,” Fisher said.

Fisher did not elaborate on the reasoning.

The sisters were set to appear Saturday morning at a book signing and lecture at Warren County Vicksburg Public Library followed by an appearance later in the day in Jackson.

The Scotts recently released “The Scott Sisters: Resurrecting Life from Double Life Sentences.”

Jamie Scott who spoke by speakerphone to about two dozen people gathered for the event Saturday said the sisters were preparing to leave their home on Pensacola, Fla., when they were notified they had been denied a permit to enter their home state without being given a reason.

“We’ve been coming for the last four years,” she said.

The Scotts visited as recently as June and participated in a poetry reading in Jackson in February.

Visitors at the planned event Saturday said they planed to call MDOC officials and demand answers for why the sisters were not allowed to enter the state.

Some also spoke briefly with Jamie Scott.

“I just want you to know you have our support,” Regina Howard told Scott.

In 1994, the sisters were both convicted of two counts of armed robbery and sentenced to two life sentences. The sisters maintain their innocence but neither testified at trial.

Their attorney and advocacy groups have said $11 was taken in the robbery that happened Christmas Eve 1993, arguing life sentences were too harsh for such a small sum. The exact amount is in dispute and was never brought to light at trial. One victim testified he was robbed of about $200 while a juvenile involved in the robbery testified that his take was between $9 and $11.

In January 2011, the sisters were released from MDOC custody following an order signed by then-Gov. Haley Barbour calling for Gladys Scott to donate a kidney to her ailing sister. While in prison, Jamie Scott discovered she had kidney failure.

The transplant has not taken place and no date has been set, Jamie Scott said Saturday.

Though their sentences were commuted, the Scotts remain on parole through the Florida Department of Corrections.