Title 47 — Prisons and Prisoners; Probation and Parole

Mississippi Code of 1972 — Title 47. Prisons and Prisoners; Probation and Parole

Text as published by FindLaw, current as of 2025-01-01.

Miss. Code Ann. § 1-1-9 asserts that copyright in the Mississippi Code of 1972, including catchlines, section numbering, source lines and annotations, is owned by the State of Mississippi.

Chapter 1 County and Municipal Prisons and Prisoners

§ 47-1-1

Every convict sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail, or to such imprisonment and the payment of a fine, or the payment of a fine, shall be committed to jail, and shall remain in close confinement for the full time specified for imprisonment in the sentence of the court, and in like confinement, subject to the provisions of Section 99-19-20.1, until the fine, costs and jail fees be fully paid, unless discharged in due course of law, or as hereinafter provided. Subject to the provisions of Section 99-19-20.1, no convict shall be held in continuous confinement under a conviction for any one (1) offense for failure to pay fine and costs in such case for a period of more than one (1) year.

§ 47-1-3

It is the imperative duty of the board of supervisors in each county in this state to require each convict sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail and the payment of a fine and costs, or to imprisonment and payment of costs, or to payment of fine and costs, to work out the sentence on the county convict farm or on the public roads or other public works of the county, or in a contiguous county, as herein provided. But any convict who is sentenced to the payment of a fine and costs and who pays such fine and costs shall thereby be relieved from working out such fine and costs, but the payment in full of such fine and costs shall not relieve such convict from working out the full time of his imprisonment as adjudged in his sentence. The board of supervisors of any county, however, may by an order spread upon its minutes, giving the reason therefor, and with the approval of the circuit judge of the district, discharge any aged or infirm convict upon his making an affidavit of his insolvency and inability to pay the fine and costs, and filing same with the clerk of the board of supervisors at any time after the expiration of his imprisonment.

§ 47-1-5

In order to carry out the provisions of Section 47-1-3, the board of supervisors of each county in this state are authorized and directed, whenever it may be necessary to buy or lease a sufficient number of acres of land within reasonable and convenient distance of the county jail to be used by the county as a county convict farm. They are also authorized to make any necessary improvements thereon, such as erecting necessary and convenient buildings, clearing, terracing and ditching and leveeing, or otherwise repairing and improving such farm, so that it may be suitable to be used as a farm upon which to work the convicts committed to the county jail, and they shall employ a competent and suitable person to be known as foreman of county farm to superintend such convict farm and manage it and to work the convicts sentenced to the county jail thereon. The board of supervisors in each county shall also have full and complete authority to buy, or rent necessary mules or horses, tractors, farming tools and implements and all other necessary things incidental to the successful operation of such convict farm in such numbers and amounts as they may reasonably contemplate will be necessary to successfully operate such farm, having in view, first, the continuous employment of all the convicts able to work thereon at remunerative labor, and second, the operation of said farm in the most economical manner consistent with the continuous working of such convicts.

§ 47-1-7

In any county where there are not a sufficient number of convicts to make it economically feasible for such county to own and operate a county convict farm as provided for by law, the board of supervisors of any such county may agree with the board of supervisors of any contiguous county to own and operate in common with such contiguous county, a county convict farm upon which prisoners of both such counties may be detained and required to work. In like manner the board of supervisors of any county in which there are not a sufficient number of convicts to make it economically feasible to own and operate a county convict farm, may make similar arrangements with any city, town or village within said county to own and operate said farm in connection with said city, town or village. In any county where there are not a sufficient number of convicts to make it economically feasible for such county to own a farm or to own and operate a farm with a contiguous county or with a city or town, the board of supervisors of such county may contract with the board of supervisors of any contiguous county or with any county in the same circuit or chancery court district, to have its prisoners worked by the contiguous county or counties in the same circuit or chancery court district upon payment made to the board of supervisors of such contiguous county or counties in the same circuit or chancery court district for the purpose of detaining and working such prisoners. The terms of such a contract are to be agreed upon by and between the two contracting boards and the same shall not be in violation of the law. Where the board of supervisors of one county so contracts to work convicts of another county, all the provisions of Sections 47-1-1 through 47-1-37, Sections 47-1-41, 47-1-45, 47-1-47, and 47-1-61, Mississippi Code of 1972, and Section 226 of the Constitution in regard to the working of convicts shall apply to the convicts contracted for as herein provided; and the name of the convict or convicts may be entered on the jail docket of the county contracting to detain and work the convict or convicts, together with all other information required by Section 47-1-21.

§ 47-1-9

In any county where it is clearly more advantageous to the county to work the county convicts or some of them on the public roads of the county, or on other works of the county exclusively public in their character, the board of supervisors shall have the authority so to order, and in such cases the board shall establish all proper regulations for the working, guarding, safekeeping, clothing, housing and subsistence of convicts while so working, and shall provide all the necessary equipment for such purpose. The board shall establish regulations for the discipline of convicts on said works, and on county farms, when a convict is persistently idle or refractory, and may enforce such regulations by penalties.

§ 47-1-11

If any convict committed to the county jail is physically unable to do any kind of manual labor, then, upon the certificate of the county health officer or physician designated by the board of supervisors of the county, to this effect, such convict shall not be required, during the period of such physical disability, to perform manual labor on the convict farm. But all convicts shall be required each day to do and perform such work as they are physically able to do and perform and which will not impair the health of such convict, or as is not inhumane to require of him.

§ 47-1-13

Any person being held in the county jail in default of bail to await trial, except those held for treason, murder, arson, or rape, and except such as the sheriff may deem it improper to let out, may on application to the sheriff of the county, be allowed to work on the county farm or on the public roads or other county public works as other convicts are worked and at the same wage. The board of supervisors shall settle with prisoners so working at their regular meetings monthly. But if it appears that it is not to the best interest of the county to work such prisoners, the board may decline at any time to employ them.

§ 47-1-15

Any convict working under the direction of the board of supervisors who renders efficient services and complies with all necessary rules and regulations may have deducted from the term of his imprisonment one-fourth ( 1/4 ) thereof.

§ 47-1-17

No convict shall be credited with any wages during the time of his or her escape; and if any convict escapes while being worked on a public road, or works or county farm, he or she may be pursued and retaken by any person, or officer authorized to make arrests, or board, or any one entitled to the custody or services of said convict; and when retaken such convict shall be required to work out the balance of his term of hire, not counting the period of such escape, even if the term of imprisonment and the time for which such convict was first hired had expired before the recapture. Such convict shall be liable to indictment for such escape and liable to the same punishment as for an escape from the custody of the county jail.

§ 47-1-19

(1) It is unlawful for any county-housed state inmate or county prisoner or prisoners to be leased or hired to any individual or corporation for any purpose whatsoever. Nor shall they be worked under any contractor; but in working them on county farms, or on the public roads or on any other work, which work must be of an exclusively public character, they shall be under exclusive official control and management.

(2)(a) It is lawful for a state, county or municipality to provide prisoners for public service work for nonprofit charitable organizations as defined under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code if that nonprofit charitable organization provides food to charities. In addition, it is lawful for a state, county or municipality to provide prisoners for public service work for churches according to criteria approved by the Department of Corrections.

(b) The prisoners participating in the public service work under paragraph (a) shall remain under the exclusive control and management of the county or municipality.

(c) A prisoner performing public service work under this subsection shall be entitled to earned credits as provided under this chapter.

§ 47-1-21

The sheriff of each county shall keep a well bound alphabetical jail docket. In it he shall promptly enter under the proper initial the name, age, color and sex of each convict, the date of his or her commitment, each day worked on the county farm, time required to be served and amount of fine and costs and the jail fees charged against the prisoner and the date of discharge.

The sheriff shall submit his docket to the board of supervisors at each of their regular meetings, and the same shall be examined carefully by the president of the board, and by any other members who desire to examine the same, in the presence of the board while in session.

§ 47-1-23

It shall be unlawful for convicts of different sexes to be confined or worked together.

§ 47-1-25

Each county officer or officers, for any district of a county shall at all times have free access to convicts in the custody of any official for the purpose of investigating their condition and treatment. The sheriff or his deputies shall visit the convict camp or county farms where the convicts of his county are kept or worked at least once in every month and more often if necessary. He shall make a thorough inspection and investigation of the treatment of convicts and report the same in writing to the board of supervisors. For failure to perform duty in this respect the board of supervisors may fine the sheriff Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00).

§ 47-1-27

An official, or guard, or other employee, having the custody of any county prisoner, or any official or employee of the county having custody of any county prisoner, who shall maltreat or abuse any such convict, or who shall knowingly permit the same to be done, or who being under duty to provide sufficient and wholesome food, clothing, shelter, bathing facilities, or medical attention to such convict, shall wilfully fail to furnish the same to such convict, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be fined in any sum not less than Ten Dollars ($10.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or shall be imprisoned not less than one (1) month, or shall suffer both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court, and it shall be the duty of the judge of the circuit court of such county to so charge the grand jury.

§ 47-1-29

On complaint by or on behalf of any convict to any county or county district officer, that such convict had been improperly treated in any respect, it shall be the duty of such officer at once to investigate the complaint, and if it is believed to be well founded, to report the facts to the president of the board of supervisors, or to the board in session. Upon such report the board shall cite the person complained of to appear before it, and such action shall be taken by the board as shall be proper.

§ 47-1-31

Each grand jury which is impaneled shall examine the records of county prisoners and their treatment and condition and report the same to the court.

§ 47-1-33

The sheriff on receiving each convict shall furnish such convict with a certificate showing the amount of the fine and costs, as far as the costs are then known, the beginning and length of his term of imprisonment. The convict shall be allowed to have and keep such certificate on or about his person, if he so desires.

§ 47-1-35

(1) The board of supervisors of any county that now maintains and operates a county penal farm, commonly known as a “county farm,” which farm contains more than five hundred (500) acres and less than six hundred (600) acres of land, which said farm has been continuously operating at a loss to the county for a period of five (5) years or more, and provided said county contains at least four hundred (400) square miles of territory and less than four hundred twenty-five (425) square miles of territory within its boundaries, shall sell, at public sale after receiving bids as required by law for the letting of public contracts, to the highest and best bidder for cash, said county farm; provided, however, that the said board shall retain for the benefit of the county and shall reserve from said sale, at least one-half ( 1/2 ) of the mineral rights and interests in said lands, with full right in the said board, in its discretion, to lease said retained and reserved mineral interests and rights, to the highest and best bidder after receiving bids therefor in the same manner, at the same or any other time.

(2) Any and all amounts received from such sale of said lands and from such lease of said mineral interests or rights, shall be, on receipt by the board, applied to the payment of the bonded indebtedness of said county.

§ 47-1-37

In the cultivation of crops and the gathering thereof if it shall appear necessary, from the lack of convict labor, the board of supervisors may employ free labor at current prices to work on a county convict farm until such time as the convict labor may become sufficient to complete and gather the crops started on such a farm, and pay for the same out of the county treasury.

§ 47-1-39

(1) The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power to construct and maintain a municipal prison, and to regulate the keeping of the same and the prisoners therein, and to contract with the board of supervisors, which is empowered in the premises, for the use of the county jail by the municipality; and to provide for the working of the streets by municipal prisoners, and to contract with the county for such work by county prisoners or the working of county roads by municipal prisoners, or for working same on the county farms. Municipal prisoners shall be worked on county roads or county farms only in the county in which the municipality is situated. Males and females shall be confined in separate cells or compartments.

(2) The municipality shall pay the tuition, living and travel expenses incurred by a person attending and participating in the basic and continuing education courses for jail officers.

§ 47-1-41

(1) Any person convicted of violating any ordinance of any city, town or village in this state and sentenced to pay a fine and costs therefor, and failing to do so, may be worked on the streets or other public works of the municipality in the custody of the street commissioner, or other person designated by the mayor and board of aldermen, or councilmen of such municipality and at its expense, and shall receive credit on such fine and costs as provided in Section 99-19-20 for each day so worked, and such municipality shall accord the same treatment to its convicts that is required by this chapter to county convicts. The responsibility of carrying out the provisions of this section shall devolve on the mayor and board of aldermen or board of councilmen of each municipality with reference to its convicts. In the event it is, in the judgment of the ruling authorities of any village in the state or of any small town in the state, unprofitable to work the convicts as above provided, then such village or town may contract with the board of supervisors of the county at the best price and take and work such convicts on the county farm, but the convict shall receive credit at the rate provided in Section 99-19-20 for each day worked.

(2) If a convict is unable to work or if the city, town or village is unable to provide work for the convict, the convict shall receive the credit provided in Section 99-19-20 for each day of confinement.

§ 47-1-43

The board of supervisors of any county and the governing authorities of any municipality located within such county are hereby authorized to enter into agreements providing for the keeping of persons arrested for offenses committed within the county in which such municipality is located in the jail facilities of such municipality pending trial of such person. Such agreements may provide for the payment to the municipality by the board of supervisors from any available funds of the county of a sum not to exceed Five Dollars ($5.00) for each day or part thereof during which an offender may be confined in the jail of the municipality.

§ 47-1-45

The board of supervisors of each county is authorized to make contract with any village or small town within the county to work its convicts on the county farm. But in agreeing to take and work such convicts the board of supervisors shall not agree to pay more per day for the labor of any municipal convict than in its judgment the labor of such convict is worth to the county, in order that in the working of such municipal convicts the county shall not do so at a loss to the county.

§ 47-1-47

(1) Every county or municipal convict shall be comfortably clothed at the expense of the county or municipality, but all clothing furnished shall remain the property of the county or municipality, and shall be thoroughly fumigated and disinfected before being allotted to a convict after having been used by another, and every convict shall be sufficiently fed, to maintain his body and induce his good health, with substantial and suitable food to be furnished and prepared and paid for by the county or municipality. Every convict, for each day's work he is required to do, shall receive credit on his fine and costs assessed against him at the rate provided under Section 99-19-20, until such fine and costs are fully paid. In case the convict is serving a sentence of imprisonment, each day that he works in serving such sentence shall entitle him credit for equal time on his sentence of imprisonment, but in no instance shall a convict receive credit on the fine and costs and on the time sentenced to imprisonment for the same work. No convict shall be allowed to labor more than eight (8) hours per day, but shall be required, when able, to perform eight (8) hours labor each day.

(2) If a convict is unable to work or if the county or the municipality is unable to provide work for the convict, the convict shall receive the credit provided in Section 99-19-20 for each day of imprisonment.

§ 47-1-49

In the case of a jail owned jointly by a county and municipality, under the provisions of Section 17-5-1, the governing authorities of the county and municipality are hereby vested with full and complete authority, jurisdiction and control over such jointly owned jail facility and the governing authority of the municipality may appoint a jailer who shall be responsible for all municipal prisoners lodged in said jail in the same manner in which the sheriff is responsible for state prisoners, and such jailer shall have the same right of access to the jail as the sheriff.

§ 47-1-51

The jailer of a jail jointly owned by a county and a municipality shall, in regard to municipal prisoners, provide daily wholesome and sufficient food and drink, fire and lights when necessary and proper, and sufficient and clean bedding for all such prisoners committed to the jail, either before or after conviction. Any prisoner may, if he thinks fit, supply himself with meat and drink and bedding, but the same shall pass through the hands of the jailer to the prisoner.

§ 47-1-55

In the case of a jail jointly owned by a county and a municipality, the circuit judge in the district in which such jail is located, upon the request and recommendation of either the sheriff of the county or the marshal or chief of police of the municipality involved in the joint ownership, may authorize additional jail guards in cases of emergency and the cost thereof shall be paid in equal proportions by the county and municipality involved.

§ 47-1-57

(1) When any person confined in jail shall be in need of medical or surgical aid, the sheriff shall immediately examine the condition of such prisoner and, if he is of the opinion that the prisoner needs such aid, he shall call in a nurse or physician to attend him. If the prisoner be unable to pay the cost, the account of the nurse or physician, when allowed and certified as required in respect to accounts of sheriffs for keeping prisoners, shall be paid, in like manner, out of the treasury of the county in which a prisoner is charged with the crime for which he is imprisoned. The board of supervisors may contract with a physician for the jail by the year.

(2) The board of supervisors of any county may authorize the sheriff to establish a program under which prisoners expressing the need for non-emergency medical attention will have access to a registered nurse who will evaluate their condition and determine the necessity for treatment by a physician. Charges for such a visit with a registered nurse shall be paid by the prisoner by deductions made by the sheriff out of any funds of the prisoner held by the sheriff or in any other manner satisfactory to the sheriff; however, such prisoner shall not be required to pay out of funds of the prisoner held by the sheriff, more than Ten Dollars ($10.00) per visit. If the prisoner is unable to pay the cost, the cost shall be paid out of the county treasury in the same manner as provided for payment of other medical costs in subsection (1) of this section.

§ 47-1-59

(1) When the sheriff, marshal or any other peace officer of this state has in his lawful custody a prisoner who, through accident, injury or illness, is in need of hospitalization, such officer may take such prisoner to the nearest hospital in the county or if there be no hospital in that county, to the nearest hospital in an adjacent county and if upon arrival at such hospital any physician licensed to practice medicine in this state certifies that in his opinion such prisoner is in need of hospitalization, such prisoner shall be hospitalized in such hospital for as long as in the opinion of such physician it is necessary to so hospitalize such prisoner. If, in the opinion of the sheriff or other peace officer having custody of such prisoner at the time he is delivered to the aforesaid hospital, or in the opinion of the director of the university hospital if the prisoner be brought to that institution, it is necessary that he be placed under guard while a patient at such hospital, the sheriff of the county in which the crime he was placed in custody for committing was alleged to have taken place, shall furnish the aforesaid guard. When the aforesaid physician or other reputable physician shall certify that hospitalization no longer is needed, the prisoner shall be returned to the original place of detention.

(2) The actual expense of guarding the prisoner in the hospital shall be paid out of the general funds of the county where the prisoner was originally confined or arrested. The expense contracted incident to the hospitalization aforesaid shall be paid by the prisoner; otherwise he may be hospitalized as a state aid patient. However, if the prisoner is ineligible for state aid or the amount available for hospitalization as a state aid patient is inadequate to pay all such hospital expense of a prisoner who is financially unable to pay his own expenses, the board of supervisors of the county where the prisoner was originally confined or arrested shall, upon presentation of the certificate of the physician certifying that said prisoner was in need of hospitalization, pay from the general funds of the county the reasonable and customary charges for such services or as much thereof as is not paid by state aid. Any such payment to a hospital shall be discretionary with the board of supervisors if its county supports the hospital involved by a special tax levy for its operation and maintenance.

§ 47-1-61

Any sheriff or other person having lawful custody of any convict who shall fail to discharge such convict when he shall have served the full time of his sentence and fully paid his fine and the costs charged against him, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished accordingly.

§ 47-1-63

No person shall be deemed to be a resident of a county solely because of being incarcerated in a facility under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections that is located in such county.

Chapter 3 Removal of Prisoners

§ 47-3-1

When the accused is not entitled to bail, or where he fails to give bail, and there is no county jail or the jail of the county in which the offense is committed, or where the case stands for trial is, in the opinion of the committing officer or of the court having jurisdiction of the case or of the presiding judge, insufficient for the accommodation of the prisoners, or where the judge having jurisdiction of the case shall think it expedient, on grounds of public policy, so to do, it shall be the duty of the officer of the court, or circuit judge, to make an order for the removal of the accused to a convenient and safe jail of some convenient county, there to be kept until the court shall sit for the trial of the accused. It shall be the duty of the sheriff of the county to which the prisoner is so removed, to receive and safely keep him, according to the order of the court or officer having jurisdiction thereof; and it shall further be the duty of said sheriff to have the body of the accused, without further order, before the proper court of the proper county, at its next term thereafter, on the first day of the term, unless he shall have been discharged by due course of law. The county in which the offense is committed, or where the case stands for trial, shall pay all the expenses of such removal and safekeeping and return of the accused for trial.

§ 47-3-3

A person committed or in custody on a criminal charge shall not be removed from the place of his confinement into the custody of any other officer, unless it be by habeas corpus or some other legal writ, except for trial, or in case of fire or infection, or other necessity, or in accordance with express provision of law. If any person, after such commitment, shall make out or issue any warrant or process for such removal except as authorized, it shall be void.

§ 47-3-5

It shall be unlawful for any officer, convict manager, or other person to remove any convict to the state farm, county farm, road or other place where convicts may be worked before the expiration of five (5) days from the date of conviction, unless said convict may express himself so ready to go at an earlier date and such consent be entered on the minutes by order of the court. Any officer or other person violating this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) or more than five hundred dollars ($500.00), or be imprisoned in the county jail not less than thirty (30) days or more than six (6) months, or both such fine and imprisonment.

§ 47-3-7

If any infectious or contagious disease shall appear in the vicinity of any jail, or if the appearance of such disease be apprehended, the board of supervisors of the county, or, if it should not meet in time, the sheriff of the county, with the concurrence of two (2) members of such board, or of a circuit judge or chancellor, expressed in writing, may cause the prisoners confined in such jail to be removed to some suitable place of security, for safekeeping, until the threatened danger shall be over, when they shall be returned to the jail.

§ 47-3-9

Removal of prisoners pursuant to Section 47-3-7 may be to some place in the county, or to the jail of another county. The jailer of such other county shall receive the prisoners and keep them safely, and surrender them when called for by the authority of the sheriff of the county from which they were removed. All the expenses of any such removal of prisoners and their imprisonment anywhere else, shall be borne by the county chargeable with the expense of imprisonment and trial of prisoners.

§ 47-3-11

When a treaty is in effect between the United States of America and a foreign country providing for the transfer of convicted offenders to the country of which they are citizens or nationals, the Governor, on behalf of the State of Mississippi, is authorized, subject to the terms of the treaty, to consent to the transfer of the convicted offender. The Governor is authorized to develop any policies and procedures which may be necessary to carry out the mandates of this section.

Chapter 4 Privately Operated Correctional Facilities

§ 47-4-1

(1) It is lawful for there to be located within Wilkinson County and Leflore County a correctional facility operated entirely by a private entity pursuant to a contractual agreement between such private entity and the federal government, any state, or a political subdivision of any state to provide correctional services to any such public entity for the confinement of inmates subject to the jurisdiction of such public entity. Any person confined in such a facility pursuant to the laws of the jurisdiction from which he is sent shall be considered lawfully confined within this state. The private entity shall assume complete responsibility for the inmates and shall be liable to the State of Mississippi for any illegal or tortious actions of such inmates.

(2) The Department of Corrections shall contract with the Board of Supervisors of Leflore County for the private incarceration of not more than one thousand (1,000) state inmates at a facility in Leflore County. Any contract must comply with the requirements of Section 47-5-1211 through Section 47-5-1227.

(3) It is lawful for any county to contract with a private entity for the purpose of providing correctional services for the confinement of federal inmates subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Any person confined in such a facility pursuant to the laws of the United States shall be considered lawfully confined within this state. The private entity shall assume complete responsibility for the inmates and shall be liable to the county or the State of Mississippi, as the case may be, for any illegal or tortious actions of the inmates.

(4) It is lawful for there to be located within any county a correctional facility operated entirely by a private entity and the federal government to provide correctional services to the United States for the confinement of federal inmates subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Any person confined in a facility pursuant to the laws of the United States shall be considered lawfully confined within this state. The private entity shall assume complete responsibility for the inmates and shall be liable to the State of Mississippi for any illegal or tortious actions of the inmates.

A person convicted of simple assault on an employee of a private correctional facility while such employee is acting within the scope of his or her duty or employment shall be punished by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment for not more than five (5) years, or both.

A person convicted of aggravated assault on an employee of a private correctional facility while such employee is acting within the scope of his or her duty or employment shall be punished by a fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or by imprisonment for not more than thirty (30) years, or both.

(5) The Department of Corrections may contract with the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility authorized in Chapter 904, Local and Private Laws of 1999, for the private incarceration of not more than one thousand (1,000) state inmates at a facility in Tallahatchie County. Any contract must comply with the requirements of Section 47-5-1211 through Section 47-5-1227. No state inmate shall be assigned to the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility unless the inmate cost per day is at least ten percent (10%) less than the inmate cost per day for housing a state inmate at a state correctional facility.

(6) If a private entity houses state inmates, the private entity shall not displace state inmate beds with federal inmate beds unless the private entity has obtained prior written approval from the Commissioner of Corrections.

(7) It is lawful for there to be located within Leflore County a correctional facility operated entirely by a private entity pursuant to a contractual agreement between such private entity and the federal government, the State of Mississippi, or Leflore County for the incarceration of federal inmates. Such correctional facility may include a separate Leflore County jail which may be located on or adjacent to the correctional facility site. To further the provisions of this subsection:

(a) Any private entity, the State of Mississippi, or Leflore County may enter into any agreement regarding real property or property, including, but not limited to, a lease, a ground lease and leaseback arrangement, a sublease or any other lease agreement or arrangement, as lessor or lessee. Such agreements shall not exceed forty (40) years. The Department of Corrections may enter such agreements or arrangements on behalf of the State of Mississippi;

(b) The powers conferred under this subsection shall be additional and supplemental to the powers conferred by any other law. Where the provisions of this subsection conflict with other law, this subsection shall control; and

(c) The private entity shall assume complete responsibility for the inmates and shall be liable to the State of Mississippi for any illegal or tortious actions of the inmates.

§ 47-4-3

(1) Before a private correctional facility may be located in the county, the board of supervisors shall by resolution duly adopted and entered on its minutes specify the location of the facility, the nature and size of the facility, the type of inmates to be incarcerated and the identity of the private entity which will operate the facility. The board shall publish a notice as hereinafter set forth in a newspaper having general circulation in such county. Such notice shall include location of the facility, the nature and size of the facility, the type of inmates to be incarcerated and the identity of the entity which will operate the facility. Such notice shall include a brief summary of the provisions of this section pertaining to the petition for an election on the question of the location of the private correctional facility in such county. Such notice shall be published not less than one (1) time each week for at least three (3) consecutive weeks in at least one (1) newspaper having general circulation in the county.

(2) If a petition signed by twenty percent (20%), or fifteen hundred (1500), whichever is less, of the qualified electors of the county is filed within sixty (60) days of the date of the last publication of the notice with the board of supervisors requesting that an election be called on the question of locating such facility, then the board of supervisors shall adopt a resolution calling an election to be held within such county upon the question of the location of such facility. Such election shall be held, as far as practicable, in the same manner as other elections are held in counties. At such election, all qualified electors of the county may vote, and the ballots used at such election shall have printed thereon a brief statement of the facility to be constructed and the words “For the construction of the private correctional facility in (here insert county name) County” and “Against the construction of the private correctional facility in (here insert county name) County.” The voter shall vote by placing a cross (x) or check mark (✓) opposite his choice on the proposition. When the results of the election on the question of the construction of the facility shall have been canvassed by the election commissioners of the county and certified by them to the board of supervisors, it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors to determine and adjudicate whether or not a majority of the qualified electors who voted thereon in such election voted in favor of the construction of the facility in such county. If a majority of the qualified electors who voted in such election vote against the construction of the facility, then the facility shall not be constructed in the county.

(3) If no petition as prescribed in subsection (2) of this section is filed with the board of supervisors within sixty (60) days of the date of the last publication of the notice, the board of supervisors shall by a resolution duly adopted and entered on its minutes, state that no petition was timely filed and the board may give final approval to the location of the facility.

§ 47-4-5

Any local unit of government, or any local unit of government in cooperation with other local units of government, may enter into agreements with private sources for the operation and supervision of juvenile detention centers.

§ 47-4-7

(1) All private guards and jailers at private or public facilities shall have the same authority, power and jurisdiction as contractor's employees under the Special Needs Prison Program of 1994, if they meet the minimum training requirements for state employees performing similar duties at public correctional and detention facilities.

(2) Any inmate or person confined in a facility as provided for under subsection (1) of this section who escapes or attempts to escape from any such facility, and any person who aids or assists in such escape or attempted escape, shall be subject to the penalties as prescribed in Sections 97-9-25 through 97-9-49. Any guard or jailer at any such facility shall be authorized to pursue and assist in the capture of any such escapee.

§ 47-4-9

The board of supervisors of any county, with the approval of the sheriff, may contract, with a private entity for the management, operation and maintenance of a county jail.

§ 47-4-11

In order for the Mississippi Department of Corrections to manage funds budgeted and allocated in its Contractual Services budget category, the commissioner of the department shall have the authority to amend, extend and/or renew the term of any lease agreement or any inmate housing agreement in connection with a private correctional facility. Notwithstanding any statutory limits to the contrary, such amendment, extension and/or renewal may be for a length of time up to and including ten (10) years as is necessary for the continued operations of such facilities and implementation of the department's duties and responsibilities in accordance with Title 47 of the Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended.

Chapter 5 Correctional System

§ 47-5-1

It shall be the policy of this state, in the operation and management of the correctional system, to so manage and conduct the same in that manner as will be consistent with the operation of a modern correctional system and with the view of making the system self-sustaining. Those convicted of violating the law and sentenced to a term in the state correctional system shall have humane treatment, and be given opportunity, encouragement and training in the manner of reformation.

It shall be the policy of this state that the correctional system shall be operated and managed in the most efficient and economical manner possible. The Mississippi Department of Corrections shall so manage and operate the correctional system in that manner in order to make the system self-sustaining and to conserve state general fund revenues. The Mississippi Department of Corrections shall provide leadership to bring about the earliest possible construction of satisfactory prison inmate facilities, and shall utilize existing state resources, including inmates for prison construction labor, when and wherever practicable, in order to minimize the need for state general funds for prison construction.

It shall be the policy of this state that periodic independent internal investigations of the department shall be conducted to ensure the implementation of state correctional policies.

§ 47-5-2

(1) There is hereby created the Corrections Investigative Taskforce which shall consist of the following members: the Attorney General; State Auditor; the Chief Executive Officer of the Bureau of Narcotics, or his designee; the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Public Safety, or his designee; the Chairman of the Senate Corrections Committee and the Chairman of the House Penitentiary Committee.

(2) The taskforce shall:

(a) Conduct or cause to be conducted periodic investigation of the Department of Corrections;

(b) Study and make recommendations on correctional policies, including, but not limited to:

(i) Drug trafficking;

(ii) Inmate gang activity;

(iii) Internal accounting and control procedures; and

(iv) Correction services and programs.

(c) Request assistance from the Department of Audit, Office of the Attorney General, Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Narcotics and any other state agency. Any state agency shall comply with a request for assistance to the fullest extent possible.

(3) The taskforce shall submit its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature no later than January 15 of each year.

§ 47-5-3

The plantation known as Parchman owned by the state in Sunflower and Quitman Counties, and in such other places as are now or may be hereafter owned or operated by the state for correctional purposes shall constitute the facilities of the correctional system for the custody, punishment, confinement at hard labor and reformation of all persons convicted of felony in the courts of the state and sentenced to the custody of the department, and whenever the term “penitentiary” or “state penitentiary” appears in the laws of the State of Mississippi, it shall mean any facility under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections which is used for the purposes described herein.

§ 47-5-4

For purposes of this chapter, the following words shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context shall otherwise require:

(a) “Adult” shall mean a person who is eighteen (18) years of age or older, or any person convicted of any crime not subject to the provisions of the Youth Court Law, or any person “certified” to be tried as an adult by any youth court in the state.

(b) “Juvenile,” “minor” or “youthful” shall mean a person less than eighteen (18) years of age.

(c) “Offender” shall mean any person convicted of a crime or offense under the laws and ordinances of the state and its political subdivisions.

(d) “Facility or institution” shall mean any facility for the custody, care, treatment and study of offenders which is under the supervision and control of the Department of Corrections, including but not limited to the State Penitentiary property located in Sunflower and Quitman Counties.

(e) “Detention” shall mean the temporary care of juveniles and adults who require secure custody for their own or the community's protection in a physically restricting facility prior to adjudication, or retention in a physically restricting facility upon being taken into custody after an alleged parole or probation violation.

(f) “Unit of local government” shall mean a county, city, town, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of the state.

(g) “Department” shall mean the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

(h) “Commissioner” shall mean the Commissioner of Corrections.

(i) “Correctional system” shall mean the facilities, institutions, programs and personnel of the Department of Corrections utilized for adult offenders who are committed to the custody of the department.

§ 47-5-5

The commissioner, as soon as possible after passage of this section, shall prepare a plan to bring about the limited centralization of facilities within the state correctional system grounds at Parchman, Mississippi. The commissioner is authorized and empowered to use any state funds appropriated for such purposes, together with any available federal funds appropriated by the United States Congress for improvement of correctional institutions to construct modern security facilities for housing of offenders to the end that the state correctional system achieves the greatest degree of security for said offenders. Provided, however, that no new facility to house offenders shall be constructed within two-fifths ( 2/5 ) of a mile of any other offender camp. The commissioner shall bring about centralization of food facilities, recreational activities, utility services and other related facilities and correctional services that are presently decentralized within the correctional system.

It is the intent of the Mississippi Legislature that the commissioner shall fully utilize existing knowledge, architectural plans and expertise currently available with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration to the end that the State of Mississippi shall have an efficient, modern, and properly secure state correctional system.

The commissioner is authorized to receive and disburse private and public grants, gifts and bequests which may be available to this state for correctional facilities, offender rehabilitation purposes and related purposes, which said sum so received shall be subject to all of the laws applicable to the State Fiscal Management Board.

§ 47-5-6

(1) There is hereby established a committee to be known as the Corrections and Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force, hereinafter called the Oversight Task Force, which must exercise the powers and fulfill the duties described in this chapter.

(2) The Oversight Task Force shall be composed of the following members:

(a) The Lieutenant Governor shall appoint two (2) members;

(b) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint two (2) members;

(c) The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, or his designee;

(d) The Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court shall appoint one (1) member of the circuit court;

(e) The Governor shall appoint one (1) member from the Parole Board;

(f) The Director of the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review, or his designee;

(g) The Attorney General shall appoint one (1) member representing the victims' community;

(h) The Mississippi Association of Supervisors shall appoint one (1) member to represent the association;

(i) The Mississippi Chief of Police Association shall appoint one (1) member to represent the association.

(j) The President of the Mississippi Prosecutors' Association;

(k) The President of the Mississippi Sheriffs' Association, or his designee;

(l) The Office of the State Public Defender shall appoint one (1) member to represent the public defender's office; and

(m) The Governor shall appoint one (1) advocate for offenders and families who have been directly affected by the prison justice system. The appointment made pursuant to this paragraph (m) shall occur on July 1, 2020.

(3) The task force shall meet on or before July 15, 2015, at the call of the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and organize itself by electing one (1) of its members as chair and such other officers as the task force may consider necessary. Thereafter, the task force shall meet at least biannually and at the call of the chair or by a majority of the members. A quorum consists of seven (7) members.

(4) The task force shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) Track and assess outcomes from the recommendations in the Corrections and Criminal Justice Task Force report of December 2013;

(b) Prepare and submit an annual report no later than the first day of the second full week of each regular session of the Legislature on the outcome and performance measures to the Legislature, Governor and Chief Justice. The report shall include recommendations for improvements, recommendations on transfers of funding based on the success or failure of implementation of the recommendations, and a summary of savings. The report may also present additional recommendations to the Legislature on future legislation and policy options to enhance public safety and control corrections costs;

(c) Monitor compliance with sentencing standards, assess their impact on the correctional resources of the state and determine if the standards advance the adopted sentencing policy goals of the state;

(d) Review the classifications of crimes and sentences and make recommendations for change when supported by information that change is advisable to further the adopted sentencing policy goals of the state;

(e) Develop a research and analysis system to determine the feasibility, impact on resources, and budget consequences of any proposed or existing legislation affecting sentence length;

(f) Request, review, and receive data and reports on performance outcome measures as related to Chapter 457, Laws of 2014;

(g) To undertake such additional studies or evaluations as the Oversight Task Force considers necessary to provide sentencing reform information and analysis;

(h) Prepare and conduct annual continuing legal education seminars regarding the sentencing guidelines to be presented to judges, prosecuting attorneys and their deputies, and public defenders and their deputies, as so required;

(i) The Oversight Task Force shall use clerical and professional employees of the Department of Corrections for its staff;

(j) The Oversight Task Force may employ or retain other professional staff, upon the determination of the necessity for other staff;

(k) The Oversight Task Force may employ consultants to assist in the evaluations and, when necessary, the implementation of the recommendations of the Corrections and Criminal Justice Task Force report of December 2013;

(l) The Oversight Task Force is encouraged to apply for and may expend grants, gifts, or federal funds it receives from other sources to carry out its duties and responsibilities.

§ 47-5-7

The department shall procure a United States lock-seal, to be styled “Mississippi Department of Corrections” of which the commissioner shall be the custodian. Such seal shall be used to authenticate all the written official acts, orders and process executed and issued from the department, and especially on all orders dispatched to the county jails for offenders who have been sentenced to the custody of the department.

§ 47-5-8

(1) There is created the Mississippi Department of Corrections, which shall be under the policy direction of the Governor. The chief administrative officer of the department shall be the Commissioner of Corrections. Effective July 1, 2028, the commissioner shall be appointed by the Governor in the manner provided in Section 47-5-24 with the advice and consent of the Senate, not less than every four (4) years. All appointment procedures specifically provided for in Section 7-1-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall be fully applicable to appointments to the position of Commissioner of Corrections.

(2)(a) There shall be an Executive Deputy Commissioner who shall be directly responsible to the Commissioner of Corrections within the department who shall serve as the Commissioner of Corrections in the absence of the commissioner and shall assume any and all duties that the Commissioner of Corrections assigns, including, but not limited to, supervising all other deputy commissioners. The salary of the Executive Deputy Commissioner shall not exceed the salary of the Commissioner of Corrections.

(b) There shall be a Division of Administration and Finance within the department, which shall have as its chief administrative officer a Deputy Commissioner for Administration and Finance who shall be appointed by the commissioner, and shall be directly responsible to the commissioner.

(c) There shall be a Division of Community Corrections within the department, which shall have as its chief administrative officer a Deputy Commissioner for Community Corrections, who shall be appointed by the commissioner, and shall be directly responsible to the commissioner. The Probation and Parole Board shall continue to exercise the authority as provided by law, but after July 1, 1976, the Division of Community Corrections shall serve as the administrative agency for the Probation and Parole Board.

(d) There shall be a Division of Workforce Development within the department, which shall have as its chief administrative officer a Deputy Commissioner for Workforce Development, who shall be appointed by the commissioner, and shall be directly responsible to the commissioner.

(3) The department shall succeed to the exclusive control of all records, books, papers, equipment and supplies, and all lands, buildings and other real and personal property now or hereafter belonging to or assigned to the use and benefit or under the control of the Mississippi State Penitentiary and the Mississippi Probation and Parole Board, except the records of parole process and revocation and legal matters related thereto, and shall have the exercise and control of the use, distribution and disbursement of all funds, appropriations and taxes now or hereafter in possession, levied, collected or received or appropriated for the use, benefit, support and maintenance of these two (2) agencies except as otherwise provided by law, and the department shall have general supervision of all the affairs of the two (2) agencies herein named except as otherwise provided by law, and the care and conduct of all buildings and grounds, business methods and arrangements of accounts and records, the organization of the administrative plans of each institution, and all other matters incident to the proper functioning of the two (2) agencies.

(4) The commissioner may lease the lands for oil, gas, mineral exploration and other purposes, and contract with other state agencies for the proper management of lands under such leases or for the provision of other services, and the proceeds thereof shall be paid into the General Fund of the state.

§ 47-5-10

(1) The department shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) To accept adult offenders committed to it by the courts of this state for incarceration, care, custody, treatment and rehabilitation;

(b) To provide for the care, custody, study, training, supervision and treatment of adult offenders committed to the department;

(c) To maintain, administer and exercise executive and administrative supervision over all state correctional institutions and facilities used for the custody, training, care, treatment and after-care supervision of adult offenders committed to the department; provided, however, that such supervision shall not extend to any institution or facility for which executive and administrative supervision has been provided by law through another agency;

(d) To plan, develop and coordinate a statewide, comprehensive correctional program designed to train and rehabilitate offenders in order to prevent, control and retard recidivism;

(e) To maintain records of persons committed to it, and to establish programs of research, statistics and planning:

(i) An offender's records shall include a single cover sheet that contains the following information about the offender: name, including any aliases; department inmate number; social security number; photograph; court of conviction; cause number; date of conviction; date of sentence; total number of days in the department's custody or number of days creditable toward time served on each charge; date of actual custody; and date of any revocation of a suspended sentence;

(ii) The department shall maintain an offender's cover sheet in the course of its regularly conducted business activities and shall include an offender's cover sheet in each request from a court, prosecutor or law enforcement agency for a summary of an offender's records with the department, also known as a “pen-pack.” The cover sheet shall conform to Rules 803(6) and 803(8) of the Mississippi Rules of Evidence for admission as an exception to the hearsay rule and may be admissible when properly authenticated according to evidentiary rules and when offered for the purpose of enhanced sentencing under Section 41-29-147, 99-19-81 or 99-19-83 or other similar purposes; and

(iii) This subsection is not intended to conflict with an offender's right of confrontation in criminal proceedings under the state or federal constitution;

(f) To investigate the grievances of any person committed to the department, and to inquire into any alleged misconduct by employees; and for this purpose it may issue subpoenas and compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of writings and papers, and may examine under oath any witnesses who may appear before it;

(g) To administer programs of training and development of personnel of the department;

(h) To develop and implement diversified programs and facilities to promote, enhance, provide and assure the opportunities for the successful custody, training and treatment of adult offenders properly committed to the department or confined in any facility under its control. Such programs and facilities may include, but not be limited to, institutions, group homes, halfway houses, diagnostic centers, work and educational release centers, technical violation centers, restitution centers, counseling and supervision of probation, parole, suspension and compact cases, presentence investigating and other state and local community-based programs and facilities;

(i) To receive, hold and use, as a corporate body, any real, personal and mixed property donated to the department, and any other corporate authority as shall be necessary for the operation of any facility at present or hereafter;

(j) To provide those personnel, facilities, programs and services the department shall find necessary in the operation of a modern correctional system for the custody, care, study and treatment of adult offenders placed under its jurisdiction by the courts and other agencies in accordance with law;

(k) To develop the capacity and administrative network necessary to deliver advisory consultation and technical assistance to units of local government for the purpose of assisting them in developing model local correctional programs for adult offenders;

(l) To cooperate with other departments and agencies and with local communities for the development of standards and programs for better correctional services in this state;

(m) To administer all monies and properties of the department;

(n) To report annually to the Legislature and the Governor on the committed persons, institutions and programs of the department;

(o) To cooperate with the courts and with public and private agencies and officials to assist in attaining the purposes of this chapter and Chapter 7 of this title. The department may enter into agreements and contracts with other departments of federal, state or local government and with private agencies concerning the discharge of its responsibilities or theirs. The department shall have the authority to accept and expend or use gifts, grants and subsidies from public and private sources;

(p) To make all rules and regulations and exercise all powers and duties vested by law in the department;

(q) The department may require a search of all persons entering the grounds and facilities at the correctional system;

(r) To submit, in a timely manner, to the Oversight Task Force established in Section 47-5-6 any reports required by law or regulation or requested by the task force; and

(s) To discharge any other power or duty imposed or established by law.

(2) The department is hereby established as a Local Educational Agency and an Educational Service Agency both as defined in 34 CFR Section 300, to receive Title I, Part B funding and other available funding and to provide educational services to eligible incarcerated students. The department is authorized, if necessary, to adopt policies and procedures to carry out its responsibilities as a Local Educational Agency and an Educational Service Agency.

§ 47-5-11

(1) The Mississippi Department of Corrections shall collect the following information:

(a) Prison data shall include:

(i) The number of offenders entering prison on a new offense;

(ii) The number of offenders entering prison as a revocation of supervision;

(iii) The average sentence length for new prison sentences by offense type;

(iv) The average sentence length for offenders entering prison for a probation revocation;

(v) The average sentence length for offenders entering prison for a parole revocation;

(vi) The average percentage of prison sentence served in prison by offense type;

(vii) The average length of stay by offense type;

(viii) Recidivism rates. For the purposes of this report, “recidivism” means conviction of a new felony offense within three (3) years of release from prison;

1. Recidivism rates by offense type;

2. Recidivism rates by risk level;

(ix) Total prison population;

1. By offense type;

2. By type of admission into prison.

(b) Probation data shall include:

(i) The number of offenders supervised on probation;

(ii) The number of offenders placed on probation;

(iii) The number of probationers revoked for a technical violation and sentenced to a term of imprisonment in a technical violation center;

(iv) The number of probationers revoked for a technical violation and sentenced to a term of imprisonment in another type of department of correction;

(v) The number of probationers who are convicted of a new felony offense and sentenced to a term of imprisonment;

(vi) The number of probationers held on a violation in a county jail awaiting a revocation hearing; and

(vii) The average length of stay in a county jail for probationers awaiting a revocation hearing.

(c) Post-release supervision data shall include:

(i) The number of offenders supervised on post-release supervision;

(ii) The number of offenders placed on post-release supervision;

(iii) The number of post-release probationers revoked for a technical violation and sentenced to a term of imprisonment in a technical violation center;

(iv) The number of post-release probationers revoked for a technical violation and sentenced to a term of imprisonment in another type of department of correction facility;

(v) The number of post-release probationers who are convicted of a new felony offense and sentenced to a term of imprisonment;

(vi) The number of post-release probationers held on a violation in a county jail awaiting a revocation hearing; and

(vii) The average length of stay in a county jail for post-release probationers awaiting a revocation hearing.

(2) The Department of Corrections shall semiannually report information required in subsection (1) of this section to the Oversight Task Force, and upon request, shall report the information to the PEER Committee.

§ 47-5-20

The commissioner shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) To establish the general policy of the department;

(b) To approve proposals for the location of new facilities, for major renovation activities, and for the creation of new programs and divisions within the department as well as for the abolition of the same; provided, however, that the commissioner shall approve the location of no new facility unless the board of supervisors of the county or the governing authorities of the municipality in which the new facility is to be located shall have had the opportunity with at least sixty (60) days' prior notice to disapprove the location of the proposed facility. If either the board of supervisors or the governing authorities shall disapprove the facility, it shall not be located in that county or municipality. Said notice shall be made by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the members of the board or governing authorities and to the clerk thereof;

(c) Except as otherwise provided or required by law, to open bids and approve the sale of any products or manufactured goods by the department according to applicable provisions of law regarding bidding and sale of state property, and according to rules and regulations established by the State Fiscal Management Board;

(d) To adopt administrative rules and regulations including, but not limited to, offender transfer procedures, award of administrative earned time, personnel procedures, employment practices.

§ 47-5-23

The department shall be vested with the exclusive responsibility for management and control of the correctional system, and all properties belonging thereto, subject only to the limitations of this chapter, and shall be responsible for the management of affairs of the correctional system and for the proper care, treatment, feeding, clothing and management of the offenders confined therein. The commissioner shall have final authority to employ and discharge all employees of the correctional system, except as otherwise provided by law.

§ 47-5-24

(1) The Governor shall appoint a Commissioner of Corrections, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Such commissioner may be removed by the Governor. The commissioner shall be the chief executive, administrative and fiscal officer of the department.

(2) The commissioner shall receive an annual salary fixed by the Governor, not to exceed the maximum authorized by law, in addition to all actual, necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of official duties, including mileage as authorized by law.

(3) The commissioner shall possess the following minimum qualifications:

(a) A master's degree in corrections, criminal justice, guidance, social work, or some related field, and at least six (6) years full-time experience in corrections, including at least three (3) years of correctional management experience; or

(b) A bachelor's degree in a field described in subparagraph (a) of this subsection and at least ten (10) years full-time work in corrections, five (5) years of which shall have been in correctional management; or

(c) Shall possess relevant experience in the private or public sector.

(4) The commissioner shall be required, upon assuming the duties of his office, to execute a good and sufficient bond payable to the State of Mississippi in the sum of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00), conditioned upon an accurate accounting for all monies and property coming into his hands. The commissioner, upon approval by the Governor, may require of other officers, employees and agents of the department a good and sufficient bond in such sum as he may determine, subject to the minimum requirements set forth herein, payable to the State of Mississippi upon like condition. The bonds shall be approved by the Governor and filed with the Secretary of State, and shall be executed by a surety company authorized to do business under the laws of this state. The premium on any such bond shall be paid by the state out of the support and maintenance fund of the department.

§ 47-5-26

(1) The commissioner shall employ the following personnel:

(a) A Deputy Commissioner for Administration and Finance, who shall supervise and implement all fiscal policies and programs within the department, supervise and implement all hiring and personnel matters within the department, supervise the department's personnel director, supervise and implement all purchasing within the department and supervise and implement all data processing activities within the department, and who shall serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the Division of Administration and Finance. He shall possess either:

(i) A master's degree from an accredited four-year college or university in public or business administration, accounting, economics or a directly related field, and four (4) years of experience in work related to the above-described duties, one (1) year of which must have included line or functional supervision; or

(ii) A bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university in public or business administration, accounting, economics or a directly related field, and six (6) years of experience in work related to the above-described duties, one (1) year of which must have included line or functional supervision. Certification by the State of Mississippi as a certified public accountant may be substituted for one (1) year of the required experience.

(b) A Deputy Commissioner for Community Corrections, who shall initiate and administer programs, including, but not limited to, supervision of probationers, parolees and suspensioners, counseling, community-based treatment, interstate compact administration and enforcement, prevention programs, halfway houses and group homes, technical violation centers, restitution centers, presentence investigations, and work and educational releases, and shall serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the Division of Community Services. The Deputy Commissioner for Community Corrections is charged with full and complete cooperation with the State Parole Board and shall make monthly reports to the Chairman of the Parole Board in the form and type required by the chairman, in his discretion, for the proper performance of the probation and parole functions. After a plea or verdict of guilty to a felony is entered against a person and before he is sentenced, the Deputy Commissioner for Community Corrections shall procure from any available source and shall file in the presentence records any information regarding any criminal history of the person such as fingerprints, dates of arrests, complaints, civil and criminal charges, investigative reports of arresting and prosecuting agencies, reports of the National Crime Information Center, the nature and character of each offense, noting all particular circumstances thereof and any similar data about the person. The Deputy Commissioner for Community Corrections shall keep an accurate and complete duplicate record of this file and shall furnish the duplicate to the department. This file shall be placed in and shall constitute a part of the inmate's master file. The Deputy Commissioner for Community Corrections shall furnish this file to the State Parole Board when the file is needed in the course of its official duties. He shall possess either: (i) a master's degree in counseling, corrections psychology, guidance, social work, criminal justice or some related field and at least four (4) years' full-time experience in such field, including at least one (1) year of supervisory experience; or (ii) a bachelor's degree in a field described in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph and at least six (6) years' full-time work in corrections, one (1) year of which shall have been at the supervisory level.

(c) A Deputy Commissioner for Institutions, who shall administer institutions, reception and diagnostic centers, prerelease centers and other facilities and programs provided therein, and shall serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the Division of Institutions. He shall possess either: (i) a master's degree in counseling, criminal justice, psychology, guidance, social work, business or some related field, and at least four (4) years' full-time experience in corrections, including at least one (1) year of correctional management experience; or (ii) a bachelor's degree in a field described in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph and at least six (6) years' full-time work in corrections, four (4) years of which shall have been at the correctional management level.

(d) A Deputy Commissioner for Programs, Education and Reentry, who shall initiate and administer programs, including but not limited to, education services, religious services, moral rehabilitation, alcohol and drug rehabilitation, and court reentry. The Deputy Commissioner for Programs, Education and Reentry may coordinate with any educational institution to develop a program for moral rehabilitation with an emphasis on promoting effective programs for release. The Deputy Commissioner for Programs, Education and Reentry shall focus on reentry programs aimed at reducing recidivism. The programs shall incorporate a moral component focused on providing offenders with an opportunity to make positive changes while incarcerated that will enable them to be productive members of society upon their release. Such deputy commissioner shall possess either:

(i) A master's degree in counseling, corrections, psychology, guidance, social work, criminal justice or some related field and at least four (4) years' full-time experience in such field, including at least one (1) year of supervisory experience; or

(ii) A bachelor's degree in a field described in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph and at least six (6) years full-time work in corrections, one (1) year of which shall have been at the supervisory level.

(2) The commissioner shall employ an administrative assistant for parole matters who shall be selected by the State Parole Board who shall be an employee of the department assigned to the State Parole Board and who shall be located at the office of the State Parole Board, and who shall work under the guidance, supervision and direction of the board.

(3) The administrative assistant for parole matters shall receive an annual salary to be established by the Legislature. The salaries of department employees not established by the Legislature shall receive an annual salary established by the State Personnel Board.

(4) The commissioner shall employ a superintendent for the Parchman facility, Central Mississippi Correctional Facility and South Mississippi Correctional Institution of the Department of Corrections. The Superintendent of the Mississippi State Penitentiary shall reside on the grounds of the Parchman facility. Each superintendent shall appoint an officer in charge when he is absent.

Each superintendent shall develop and implement a plan for the prevention and control of an inmate riot and shall file a report with the Chairman of the Senate Corrections Committee and the Chairman of the House Penitentiary Committee on the first day of each regular session of the Legislature regarding the status of the plan.

In order that the grievances and complaints of inmates, employees and visitors at each facility may be heard in a timely and orderly manner, each superintendent shall appoint or designate an employee at the facility to hear grievances and complaints and to report grievances and complaints to the superintendent. Each superintendent shall institute procedures as are necessary to provide confidentiality to those who file grievances and complaints.

(5) For a one-year period beginning July 1, 2016, any person authorized for employment under this section shall not be subject to the rules, regulations and procedures of the State Personnel Board, except as otherwise provided under Section 25-9-127(5).

§ 47-5-28

The commissioner shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) To implement and administer laws and policy relating to corrections and coordinate the efforts of the department with those of the federal government and other state departments and agencies, county governments, municipal governments, and private agencies concerned with providing offender services;

(b) To establish standards, in cooperation with other state agencies having responsibility as provided by law, provide technical assistance, and exercise the requisite supervision as it relates to correctional programs over all state-supported adult correctional facilities and community-based programs;

(c) To promulgate and publish such rules, regulations and policies of the department as are needed for the efficient government and maintenance of all facilities and programs in accord insofar as possible with currently accepted standards of adult offender care and treatment;

(d) To provide the Parole Board with suitable and sufficient office space and support resources and staff necessary to conduct Parole Board business under the guidance of the Chairman of the Parole Board;

(e) To contract for transitional reentry center beds that will be used as noncorrections housing for offenders released from the department on parole, probation or post-release supervision but do not have appropriate housing available upon release. At least one hundred (100) but no more than eight hundred (800) transitional reentry center beds contracted by the department and chosen by the Parole Board shall be available for the Parole Board to place parolees without appropriate housing;

(f) To designate deputy commissioners while performing their officially assigned duties relating to the custody, control, transportation, recapture or arrest of any offender within the jurisdiction of the department or any offender of any jail, penitentiary, public workhouse or overnight lockup of the state or any political subdivision thereof not within the jurisdiction of the department, to the status of peace officers anywhere in the state in any matter relating to the custody, control, transportation or recapture of such offender, and shall have the status of law enforcement officers and peace officers as contemplated by Sections 45-6-3, 97-3-7 and 97-3-19.

For the purpose of administration and enforcement of this chapter, deputy commissioners of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, who are certified by the Mississippi Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training, have the powers of a law enforcement officer of this state. Such powers shall include to make arrests and to serve and execute search warrants and other valid legal process anywhere within the State of Mississippi while performing their officially assigned duties relating to the custody, control, transportation, recapture or arrest of any offender within the jurisdiction of the department or any offender of any jail, penitentiary, public workhouse or overnight lockup of the state or any political subdivision thereof not within the jurisdiction of the department in any matter relating to the custody, control, transportation or recapture of such offender;

(g) To make an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature reflecting the activities of the department and make recommendations for improvement of the services to be performed by the department;

(h) To cooperate fully with periodic independent internal investigations of the department and to file the report with the Governor and the Legislature;

(i) To contract with licensed special care facilities for paroled inmates to provide authorized medical services and support services for medically frail inmates who have been paroled and who have voluntary submitted to the Department of Corrections an address to one of the licensed care facilities to receive such services; and

(j) To perform such other duties necessary to effectively and efficiently carry out the purposes of the department as may be directed by the Governor.

§ 47-5-30

(1) The Commissioner of Corrections shall develop a strategic plan for its operation of the state correctional system. The strategic plan shall cover a five-year period. The plan shall include, at a minimum, the following:

(a) A clearly defined comprehensive statement of the mission, goals and objectives of the agency;

(b) Performance effectiveness objectives for each facility under the jurisdiction of the department;

(c) A description of the department's internal management system used to evaluate its performance in relation to projected levels;

(d) Detailed plans and strategies for meeting current and future needs and achieving goals and objectives established for the state correctional system;

(e) A detailed analysis of the use of current agency resources in meeting current needs and expected future needs, and additional resources that may be necessary to meet future needs;

(f) An analysis of factors affecting projected prison populations including impact of juveniles on prison populations and how populations are expected to change within the period of the plan;

(g) A plan to remove inmates from county jails.

(2) The department shall revise the plan annually.

(3) Upon completion of the initial plan and each revision, the department shall provide copies to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chairman of the Senate Corrections Committee, the Chairman of the House Penitentiary Committee, the Legislative Budget Office, the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee, the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration and the Legislative Reference Bureau.

(4) The commissioner shall develop the strategic plan before September 23, 1994.

§ 47-5-31

The commissioner shall monthly make to the Governor and to the State Fiscal Management Board and to the Chairmen of the Corrections Committee of the Senate and Penitentiary Committee of the House of Representatives full and complete reports of the fiscal affairs of such correctional system and of the general conditions with relation thereto. Not more than thirty (30) days after the end of each fiscal year said commissioner shall give a full and complete inventory of all property of every description belonging to the correctional system, and there shall be set opposite each item the book value of same. Such inventory shall further include a statement of the fiscal affairs of such system as of the last day of the fiscal year; and a sufficient number of copies of such inventory and report shall be printed to give general publicity thereto.

§ 47-5-33

The commissioner, in the discharge of his duties, is authorized to administer oaths, to summon and examine witnesses, and take such other steps as may be necessary to ascertain the truth of any matter about which he may have the right to inquire.

§ 47-5-35

The Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) shall appoint an auditor to audit the correctional system, and provide sufficient office facilities in the Jackson office, who shall be a certified public accountant or an experienced accountant, whose duty shall be to audit all accounts of the state correctional system for the purpose of reporting to the Legislative Budget Office. He shall report whether supplies and products bought and sold are handled in accordance with law and when bought on samples and specifications whether they measure up to such samples and specifications when the goods are received. The auditor shall report on the letting of bids and shall make a determination that all bids are advertised and let in accordance with law and shall render a report on same. The auditor shall be responsible to make a periodic inventory on all goods, machinery, livestock, farm produce or any other property of the correctional system and make a report thereon to the Legislative Budget Office on such terms and conditions and as often as required by the committee. The salaries and expenses of such auditor or his employees shall be paid from funds appropriated for support of the Legislature or its committees.

Such auditor shall make, at least, a monthly report to the Legislative Budget Office and the Chairman of the Corrections Committee of the Senate and the Chairman of the Penitentiary Committee in the House of Representatives.

The auditor shall attend all the meetings of the board and shall be notified by the board of all meetings or specially called meetings. The Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review shall provide the auditor with a secretary and such personnel as it deems necessary.

§ 47-5-37

The commissioner shall employ a qualified fiscal comptroller who shall be a certified public accountant and who shall be charged with the responsibility of maintaining a modern accounting system which shall accurately reflect all fiscal transactions in such manner and in such form as shall be recommended by the State Fiscal Management Board. The commissioner shall employ such qualified bookkeepers and other clerical personnel as required to maintain the accounting system who shall devote their full time to their duties as employees of the correctional system. The fiscal comptroller shall make a monthly report to the Governor and Chairmen of Corrections Committee of the Senate and the Penitentiary Committee of the House of Representatives. The fiscal comptroller shall countersign all checks. The fiscal comptroller shall have sole responsibility for all purchases and the signing of all purchase orders issued by the correctional system. Such fiscal comptroller shall execute a good and sufficient bond payable to the State of Mississippi in the sum of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00), conditioned for the satisfactory performance of the duties of his office, and the accurate accounting of any moneys and properties coming into his hands.

The commissioner or his designee shall sign all requisitions for issuance of warrant authorizing any disbursement of any sum or sums on account of the correctional system, and no money shall be paid out on any account of the correctional system except on a requisition for issuance of warrant signed by him or his designee.

§ 47-5-39

(1) As used in this section, “fiscal note” means the estimated dollar cost to the state for the first year and the annual cost thereafter. The term “ten-year fiscal note” means the estimated dollar cost to the state over the ten-year period following passage or adoption of the subject of the fiscal note.

(2) Whenever legislation is introduced in the Legislature, which would establish a new criminal offense or would amend the sentencing provisions of an existing criminal offense, the Department of Corrections shall provide a fiscal note and a ten-year fiscal note on the proposed legislation upon the request of any member of the Legislature. The fiscal note shall be published in electronic form on the Mississippi Legislature website as provided in Section 5-1-85.

(3) State agencies and political subdivisions shall cooperate with the department in preparing fiscal notes and the ten-year fiscal notes. Such agencies and political subdivisions shall submit requested information to the department in a timely fashion.

(4) In preparing fiscal notes and the ten-year fiscal notes, the department must accurately report to the Legislature information provided to the department by state agencies and political subdivisions.

(5) The department may request information from nongovernmental agencies and organizations to assist in preparing the fiscal note and the ten-year fiscal note.

§ 47-5-41

All employees, before entering upon their duties, shall take and subscribe the following oath to be filed and preserved by the commissioner:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully and diligently perform all the duties required of me as __________ of the correctional system, and will observe and execute the laws, rules and regulations passed and prescribed for the government thereof so far as the same concerns or pertains to any employment, and that I will not ill-treat or abuse any offender under my care contrary to the law and the rules and regulations prescribed by legal authority. So help me God.”

§ 47-5-43

The commissioner shall purchase workers' compensation insurance with coverage for all personnel employed by the department as authorized by law, and all personnel shall be entitled to the benefits prescribed by the operation of law, Sections 71-3-1 through 71-3-111, as the same is now or may hereafter be amended, cited as the “Workers' Compensation Law.”

§ 47-5-47

It shall be unlawful for any person related by affinity or consanguinity within the third degree computed according to the rules of the civil law to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor or commissioner to accept any employment in the state correctional system, neither shall the commissioner or other officer or employee of the state correctional system be directly or indirectly interested in any contract, purchase or sale for or in behalf of or on account of the state correctional system.

§ 47-5-49

Neither the commissioner nor any other employee, save physicians and chaplains not employed for all their time, shall have or engage in any other business during his normal hours of employment that may require his personal attention or time. The Governor, in the case of the commissioner, and the commissioner in the case of any other employee shall receive prior notification and approve outside employment and the respective parties named herein shall punish a violation of this provision by the dismissal of the employee if the offense justifies such dismissal.

§ 47-5-54

Employees assigned to the canine unit of the department may, upon request, assist law enforcement agencies by using specially trained dogs in any matter relating to the tracking, discovery or capture of any person in the enforcement of criminal statutes pertaining to the possession, sale or use of narcotics or other dangerous drugs, or in the pursuit of suspected felons and, while so doing, shall have the status of peace officers anywhere in the state and shall have the status of law enforcement officers and peace officers as contemplated by Sections 45-6-3, 97-3-7 and 97-3-19.

Employees of the department while performing their officially assigned duties relating to the custody, control, transportation, recapture or arrest of any offender within the jurisdiction of the department or any offender of any jail, penitentiary, public workhouse or overnight lockup of the state or any political subdivision thereof not within the jurisdiction of the department, shall have the status of peace officers anywhere in the state in any matter relating to the custody, control, transportation or recapture of such offender, and shall have the status of law enforcement officers and peace officers as contemplated by Sections 45-6-3, 97-3-7 and 97-3-19.

The commissioner may appoint investigators with the Corrections Investigation Division who have been certified by the Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training and who shall be empowered to investigate and enforce all applicable regulations of the department, which are related to the functions and missions of the department, and all laws of the State of Mississippi and who shall be empowered to investigate and enforce all laws of the State of Mississippi in private correctional facilities and regional county correctional facilities. These employees shall have the status of law enforcement officers and peace officers as contemplated by Sections 45-6-3, 97-3-7 and 97-3-19.

These officers shall be under the supervision of the commissioner. These officers may perform any service of process required to be performed at any facility owned by the Department of Corrections, at any private correctional facility or at any regional county correctional facility.

The commissioner may promulgate rules regulating the speed of motor vehicles on roads within the grounds of any correctional facility and such restrictions may be enforced by employees of the department by citation or as otherwise prescribed by law.

§ 47-5-55

The officers and employees of the state correctional system are exempt from jury service.

§ 47-5-56

The department shall lease to the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks for a period of twenty (20) years all timberlands in Quitman County for an annual rental of One Dollar ($1.00). The lands so leased to the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks shall be used and maintained as a public game and fish management area. Proceeds from the sale of the timber or from any forest management practice shall be deposited into the Lambert State Forest Revolving Fund created in Section 47-5-78. All costs associated with the management of timber shall be paid from the fund. The remaining funds shall then be deposited in the Prison Agricultural Enterprises Fund, as created in Section 47-5-66. Any timber needed in the building operations carried on by the department may be purchased by the department at a cost not to exceed the cost of the management of that timber. Upon the transfer of the real property described in Section 1 of Chapter 517, Laws of 2001, to the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, the department and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks may terminate or modify as appropriate any lease entered into under this section regarding such property.

§ 47-5-58

The commissary located at any facility of the correctional system shall not sell to any person or agency, any food or other commodities, whether produced by the correctional system or not, for any amount less than the wholesale price of such food or other commodities in the area of the facility.

§ 47-5-64

(1) The commissioner is hereby directed to determine the number of acres and location of land under the department's jurisdiction that are needed for security purposes, for Prison Agricultural Enterprises and for nonagricultural purposes. The commissionershall designate and reserve such additional land for agricultural or nonagricultural enterprise projects of the department, as he deems necessary. Thecommissioner shall then recommend to the Department of Finance and Administration the number of acres of department land that should be leased to private entities and the term of the leases.

(2) The Department of Finance and Administration is authorized to lease for agricultural purposes that Penitentiary land so recommended for not less than three (3) nor more than eight (8) years, with the approval of the Public Procurement Review Board.

(3) The Department of Finance and Administration, with the approval of the Governor, the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, is authorized to lease Penitentiary land for power generation projects or other commercial or industrial projects at the same time that it leases the land as prescribed in subsection (2) of this section. The Department of Finance and Administration is authorized to negotiate all aspects of leases or related agreements executed under this subsection consistent with the following:

(a) The period of the lease term combined with the term of renewal shall not exceed forty (40) years.

(b) Any lease or renewal lease shall:

(i) Provide for periodic rent adjustments throughout the term of the lease; and

(ii) Require the lessee to provide a decommissioning and restoration bond or other security securing the lessee's obligation to remove all aboveground and underground facilities to a depth of at least three (3) feet underground and to restore the surface to a condition similar to its condition before the commencement of the lease.

(c) Any lease or renewal lease may provide for any combination of the following: base rent, bonuses, percentage of income payments, royalty payments or other terms and conditions that the Department of Finance and Administration deems necessary to maintain a fair and equitable return to the state and to protect the leased land throughout the term of the lease or renewal lease.

(d) Oil, gas and mineral rights in the leased land shall be reserved to the State of Mississippi.

(e) This subsection does not authorize the sale or transfer of title to any state lands.

(f) The Department of Finance and Administration may charge fees and expenses, not to exceed costs, incurred in administering this subsection.

(g) Any monies derived from leasing lands under this subsection shall be deposited to the Prison Agricultural Enterprise Fund as provided in Section 47-5-66.

§ 47-5-66

(1) Except as provided in Section 47-5-64(3), it shall be the duty of the Department of Finance and Administration, with the approval of the Public Procurement Review Board, to lease lands at public contract upon the submission of two (2) or more sealed bids to the Department of Finance and Administration after having advertised the land for rent in newspapers of general circulation published in Jackson, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; the county in which the land is located; and contiguous counties for a period of not less than two (2) successive weeks. The first publication shall be made not less than ten (10) days before the date of the public contract, and the last publication shall be made not more than seven (7) days before that date. The Department of Finance and Administration may reject any and all bids. If all bids on a tract or parcel of land are rejected, the Department of Finance and Administration may then advertise for new bids on that tract or parcel of land. Successful bidders shall take possession of their leaseholds at the time authorized by the Department of Finance and Administration. However, rent shall be due no later than the day upon which the lessee shall assume possession of the leasehold, and shall be due on the anniversary date for each following year of the lease. The Department of Finance and Administration may provide in any lease that rent shall be paid in full in advance or paid in installments, as may be necessary or appropriate. In addition, the Department of Finance and Administration may accept, and the lease may provide for, assignments of federal, state or other agricultural support payments, growing crops or the proceeds from the sale thereof, promissory notes, or any other good and valuable consideration offered by any lessee to meet the rent requirements of the lease. If a promissory note is offered by a lessee, it shall be secured by a first lien on the crop of the lessee, or the proceeds from the sale thereof. The lien shall be filed pursuant to Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and Section 1324 of the Food Security Act of 1985, as enacted or amended. If the note is not paid at maturity, it shall bear interest at the rate provided for judgments and decrees in Section 75-17-7 from its maturity date until the note is paid. The note shall provide for the payment of all costs of collection and reasonable attorney's fees if default is made in the payment of the note. The payment of rent by promissory note or any means other than cash in advance shall be subject to the approval of the Public Procurement Review Board, which shall place the approval of record in the minutes of the board.

(2) There is created a special fund to be designated as the “Prison Agricultural Enterprises Fund” and to be used for the purpose of conducting, operating and managing the agricultural and nonagricultural enterprises of the department. Any monies derived from the leasing of Penitentiary lands, from the sales of timber as provided in Section 47-5-56, from the prison's agricultural enterprises or earmarked for the Prison Industries Fund shall be deposited to the special fund. However, fifteen percent (15%) of the monies derived from the leasing of Penitentiary lands under Section 47-5-64(3) shall be deposited to a special fund to be distributed annually on a student pro rata basis to the public schools located in Sunflower County by the Department of Finance and Administration.

(3) All profits derived from prison industries shall be placed in a special fund in the State Treasury to be known as the “Prison Industries Fund,” to be appropriated each year by the Legislature to the nonprofit corporation, which is required to be organized under the provisions of Section 47-5-535, for the purpose of operating and managing the prison industries.

(4) The state shall have the rights and remedies for the security and collection of the rents given by law to landlords.

(5) Lands leased for agricultural purposes under Section 47-5-64(2) shall be subject to a fee-in-lieu of ad valorem taxes, including taxes levied for school purposes. The fee-in-lieu shall be Nine Dollars ($9.00) per acre. Upon the execution of the agricultural leases to private entities as authorized by Section 47-5-64(2), the Department of Finance and Administration shall collect the in lieu fee and shall forward the fees to the tax collector in which the land is located. The tax collector shall disburse the fees to the appropriate county or municipal governing authority on a pro rata basis. The sum apportioned to a school district shall not be less than the school district's pro rata share based upon the proportion that the millage imposed for the school district by the appropriate levying authority bears to the millage imposed by the levying authority for all other county or municipal purposes. Any funds obtained by the corporation as a result of sale of goods and services manufactured and provided by it shall be accounted for separate and apart from any funds received by the corporation through appropriation from the State Legislature. All nonappropriated funds generated by the corporation shall not be subject to appropriation by the State Legislature.

(6) Any land leased, as provided under Section 47-5-64(2), shall not be leased for an amount less than would be received if such land were to be leased under any federal loan program. In addition, all leases shall be subject to the final approval of the Public Procurement Review Board before such leases are to become effective.

§ 47-5-70

As used in this chapter, “board” shall include the Mississippi Board of Corrections or its successor, and “lessee” shall mean the Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service.

§ 47-5-71

The State Highway Commission and the Mississippi Department of Corrections are hereby authorized to enter into and perform agreements to contract together for the construction or the pavement of roads by the State Highway Department in and adjoining to any facility of the correctional system.

§ 47-5-72

The Department of Corrections, counties and municipalities are authorized to develop regional recycling centers at regional correctional facilities. The department may establish a work program for inmates to participate in the recycling program. Inmates that are ineligible to participate in joint state-county programs and public service programs are also ineligible to participate in the program established for regional recycling centers.

§ 47-5-75

The department is authorized to bring and maintain suits for the collection and enforcement of all demands and debts owing to the correctional system. No bond for costs, appeal bond, supersedeas bond or other security shall at any time be required of the department in any civil suit of any kind brought by or against it or its employees in their official capacity, except such suits as may be brought against it or them by the State of Mississippi. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi is hereby directed to assist the department in the filing and prosecution of any suits filed herein.

The department shall have the further power and authority, in its discretion, to take adequate liability insurance on the operation of said correctional system, including liability insurance to protect the commissioner and other regular employees of the correctional system from tort actions in any state or federal court.

§ 47-5-76

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, if an inmate plaintiff files a pauper's affidavit in a civil action and the defendant is an employee of the department and the civil action pertains to the inmate's condition of confinement, the department shall pay, out of any funds available for such purpose, all costs of court assessed against the inmate in the civil action. However, the department shall not pay the costs of court if the inmate has on three (3) or more prior occasions, while incarcerated, brought an action or appeal that was dismissed on the grounds that it was frivolous, malicious, or failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.

An inmate shall not bring a civil action or appeal a judgment in a civil action or proceeding in forma pauperis if the prisoner has, on three (3) or more prior occasions, while incarcerated or detained in any facility, brought an action or appeal in a court that was dismissed on the grounds that it was frivolous, malicious, or failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, unless the prisoner is under imminent danger of serious physical injury.

(2) An inmate who proceeds in forma pauperis in a civil action shall pay twenty percent (20%) per month of the funds in his or her inmate account to the Department of Corrections until all filing fees and costs of his or her litigation are paid to the department. The department may withdraw such funds automatically from the account of any inmate permitted a civil filing as a pauper. If an inmate is allowed an appeal in forma pauperis of a civil action, the inmate shall reimburse all costs and fees to the department by automatic withdrawal each month in the amount of twenty percent (20%) of his or her funds until all state funds are reimbursed.

§ 47-5-77

The commissioner shall remit to the State Treasurer all moneys belonging to the correctional system received by him in accordance with the provisions of Section 7-9-21. All bills and accounts of said correctional system shall be paid from appropriations made by the Legislature upon sworn accounts and warrants drawn by the State Fiscal Management Board on the State Treasurer in the same manner as provided by general law. Each account shall be approved by the commissioner or, in the commissioner's absence, by his designee.

§ 47-5-78

There is established within the State Treasury a revolving fund to fund forest management costs provided under Sections 47-5-56 and 47-5-66 for the Lambert State Forest in Quitman County and shall be disbursed as provided in those sections. The fund shall be called the “Lambert State Forest Revolving Fund,” and moneys for the fund shall accrue from any revenues derived from the Lambert State Forest including, but not limited to, timber sales and any other revenue derived from forest management practices. The State Treasurer shall invest all monies in the fund, and interest earned on the investments shall be paid back into the fund and not into the General Fund. The fund shall be audited annually by the State Auditor.

§ 47-5-79

All contracts for the purchase of materials, supplies, equipment and sustenance for the offenders of the correctional system shall be made under the provisions of the state purchasing law, same being Sections 31-7-1 through 31-7-55.

§ 47-5-85

There shall be provided an area at each facility of the correctional system for religious worship to be conducted by the chaplain's office of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The chaplains will have ingress and egress to all facilities of the Mississippi Department of Corrections for the purpose of providing religious services to the offenders incarcerated therein.

§ 47-5-87

No gasoline or motor oil shall be sold for personal use by the state correctional system to any of its employees. Gasoline shall be delivered only in tank truck or tank car lots in such quantities as the commissioner may deem necessary, and motor oil in such quantities as may be needed.

§ 47-5-89

If any officer or employee of the state or county government, or any employee of the state correctional system, or any other person shall solicit or accept from any employee of the state correctional system, or from any offender therein, any contribution of money or other property for political or election purposes he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be fined not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or imprisoned in the county jail not less than sixty (60) days nor longer than one hundred twenty (120) days, or both, and if an employee of the state correctional system he shall be immediately and permanently removed from further employment with the state correctional system.

§ 47-5-91

The commissioner is authorized and directed to provide for transportation of children of employees of the Mississippi State Penitentiary both in Sunflower County and Quitman County to a public elementary or secondary school located in those counties and to pay for such transportation out of the support and maintenance fund of the department of correction. The commissioner shall further pay to any public elementary or secondary school located in said counties which said children are sent, an amount not to exceed Sixty Dollars ($60.00) per student per month as tuition, which also shall be paid out of the support and maintenance fund of the department of correction. Any student who receives benefits under this section shall not be eligible for any other educational financial state grant or loan.

§ 47-5-93

It shall be the duty of the Governor to make personal inspection of the central facilities of the state correctional system and offenders twice during each and every year at such times as may suit his convenience, and without previous notice to the commissioner, and the commissioner, when required so to do, shall afford all necessary facilities for making such inspection.

§ 47-5-94

The Bureau of Building, Grounds and Real Property Management of the Department of Finance and Administration and the State Board of Health are hereby authorized and directed, upon the passage of this section, to institute permanent annual structural and environmental inspections of institutional housing and service facilities at the State Penitentiary, such inspections to include but not be limited to, structural soundness, repairs and maintenance of buildings; food service; fire and safety hazards; fresh water supply; wastewater system; sewage collection and treatment; solid waste collection, storage and disposal; rodent and pest control and general institutional housekeeping.

All other state agencies, authorities, boards, commissions and departments are hereby directed, upon the request of the Commissioner of Corrections, the Bureau of Building, Grounds and Real Property Management of the Department of Finance and Administration or the State Board of Health, to assist in such inspections with the fullest degree of reasonable cooperation.

Within thirty (30) days of the completion of the inspections provided for herein, the participants shall compile a written report of their findings which shall be submitted to the Governor, the Commissioner of Corrections and the Warden or Superintendent of the State Penitentiary at Parchman.

§ 47-5-95

The members of the executive department, except the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and judicial departments of the state and members of the Legislature, shall with advance notice to the commissioner be admitted into the correctional system or any facility thereof, and other places where offenders are kept and worked, at all proper hours, for the purpose of observing the conduct thereof, and may hold conversations with the offenders apart from all correctional system officials. Other persons may visit a correctional system facility under such rules and regulations as may be established by the commissioner who shall be liable to the state on his bond for negligence in security and in an amount to be determined by the courts.

§ 47-5-99

There are hereby created classification hearing officers and disciplinary hearing officers of the correctional system to be appointed by the commissioner.

§ 47-5-101

The classification and disciplinary hearing officers shall maintain a record of all actions and orders by minutes. The hearing officers shall meet on a regular basis.

§ 47-5-103

(1) The classification hearing officer shall be responsible for assigning a classification to each offender within forty (40) days after the offender's commitment to the custody of the department. The classification shall determine the offender's work duties, living quarters, educational, vocational or other rehabilitation programs, and privileges to be accorded the offender while in custody of the department. The classification hearing officer, in assigning classifications, shall consider the offender's age, offense and surrounding circumstances, the complete record of the offender's criminal history including records of law enforcement agencies or of a youth court regarding that offender's juvenile criminal history, family background, education, practical or employment experience, interests and abilities as evidenced by mental and psychological examination and knowledge obtained by the classification hearing officer in personal interview with the offender. The classification hearing officer shall use the above criteria to assign each offender a classification which will serve and enhance the best interests and general welfare of the offender. The designee or designees of the commissioner shall approve or disapprove each classification. The classification hearing officer shall provide the State Parole Board with a copy of the classification assigned to each offender in the custody of the department who is eligible for parole.

(2) The classification board, consisting of the commissioner, or his designee, deputy commissioner of institutions and the director of offender services may change an action of the classification or disciplinary hearing officer if the board makes a determination that the action of the hearing officer was not supported by sufficient factual information. The commissioner, in emergency situations, may suspend the classification of an offender or offenders for a period of not exceeding fifteen (15) days to relieve the emergency situation. The classification of each offender may be reviewed by a classification hearing officer at least once each year. In no case shall an offender serve as a servant in the home of any employee other than authorized by the commissioner.

(3) The classification board shall establish substantive and procedural rules and regulations governing the assignment and alteration of inmate classifications, and shall make such rules and regulations available to any offender upon request.

§ 47-5-104

The commissioner shall designate a disciplinary hearing officer to hear evidence and to make decisions in all cases when an offender has been issued a rule violation report and is subject to be demoted or having earned time taken from him. All proceedings of a disciplinary hearing officer shall be taped and retained for at least three (3) years. The commissioner shall not attend any hearings whereby an offender is subject to be demoted or having earned time taken away.

§ 47-5-105

The award of all contracts within the purview of the Department of Finance and Administration under Section 27-104-7 in excess of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) entered into by the commissioner shall be approved by the Public Procurement Review Board and shall be entered on the minutes of such board before any funds shall be expended therefor. Provided further, that the entrance of the award of contracts on the minutes of the Public Procurement Review Board shall contain a detailed accounting of all bids entered showing clearly the lowest bid and best bid that was awarded in each and every case and, if the bid accepted is not the lowest, then the reasons and justification for not accepting the lowest bid shall be spread on the minutes. A true copy of the minutes of each meeting of the Public Procurement Review Board shall be sent monthly to the Governor, members of the Legislative Budget Office and Chairmen of the Corrections Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

§ 47-5-107

Any contract entered into by any person, firm or corporation with the department can be cancelled, in the discretion of the commissioner, upon a finding of fact by the correctional system auditor provided for in Section 47-5-35, and entered on the minutes of the Public Procurement Review Board, that the person, firm or corporation doing business with the correctional system has violated either the published regulations of the correctional system or the laws of the State of Mississippi.

§ 47-5-108

The Mississippi Department of Corrections is hereby authorized to provide self-sustaining facilities for the preparation and serving of food for employees and visitors of the Mississippi State Penitentiary, the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, and the South Mississippi Correctional Institution. The commissioner shall promulgate policies and procedures for the operation of such facilities. In addition, the funds derived from these operations shall remain in separate accounts, hereafter known as the “Employee Cafeteria Funds.” The profits, if any, shall be distributed at the direction of the Commissioner of Corrections.

§ 47-5-109

(1) The State Department of Corrections is hereby authorized to operate a facility or facilities to be known as an inmate canteen facility or facilities, the purpose of which is to make available certain goods and other items of value for purchase by offenders confined at the State Penitentiary at Parchman, offenders confined at any other facility of the department, certain employees of the department and certain persons visiting offenders or employees. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations for the operation of such a facility.

(2) Any funds which may be derived from the operation of an inmate canteen facility or facilities shall be deposited into an account to be known as the Canteen Fund. For accounting purposes, certain allocated costs attributable to the operation of such a facility, and as prescribed by the rules and regulations of the board, shall be chargeable as operating costs against profits earned. These costs of operation which are chargeable shall include, but shall not be limited to, rent allocation, utility allocation and employee wages. Any net profits which may accrue from the operation of such a facility and any interest earned thereon shall be deposited into the Inmate Welfare Fund.

§ 47-5-109.1

(1) The Department of Corrections shall contract for the administration of inmate canteen services to a third party. Such contract shall comply with the procedures set forth in this section:

(a) The Department of Corrections shall cause to be prepared a request for proposals. This request for proposals shall be prepared for distribution to any interested third party. Notice of the department's intention to seek proposals shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation at least one time per week for three (3) weeks before closing the period for interested parties to respond. Additional forms of notice may also be used. The newspaper notice shall inform the interested parties of the service to be contracted, existence of a request for proposals, how it can be obtained, when a proposal must be submitted, and to whom the proposal must be submitted. All requests for proposals shall describe clearly what service is to be contracted, and shall fully explain the criteria upon which an evaluation of proposals shall be based. The criteria to be used for evaluations shall, at a minimum, include:

(i) Require interested third parties to describe their qualifications to provide inmate canteen services to correctional facilities in widely dispersed geographical regions; and

(ii) Describe the department's expectations with regard to commissions, pricing and quality assurance for inmate canteen services.

(b) All proposals submitted by interested parties shall be evaluated by the Inmate Welfare Fund Committee, as established in Section 47-5-158, which shall apply the same criteria to all proposals when conducting an evaluation. The results and recommendations of the evaluation shall be presented to the Department of Corrections for review. All evaluations presented to the department shall be retained by the department for at least three (3) years. The department may accept or reject any recommendation of the committee, or it may conduct further inquiry into the proposals. Any further inquiry shall be clearly documented and all methods and recommendations shall be retained by the department and shall spread upon its minutes its choice of the administrator for inmate canteen services and its reasons for making the choice.

(c)(i) The department shall be responsible for preparing a contract that shall be in accordance with all provisions of this section and all other provisions of law. The contract shall also include a requirement that the contractor shall consent to an evaluation of its performance. Such evaluation shall occur after the first six (6) months of the contract, and shall be reviewed at times the department determines to be necessary. The contract shall clearly describe the standards upon which the contractor shall be evaluated.

(ii) The PEER Committee, at the request of the House or Senate Corrections Committee and with funds specifically appropriated by the Legislature for such purpose, shall contract with an accounting firm or with other professionals to conduct a compliance audit of the services provided by the contractor. Such audit shall review the compliance with the performance standards required for inclusion in the administrator's contract. Such audit shall be delivered to the Legislature no later than January 1.

(2) Contracts for the administration of inmate canteen services shall commence at the beginning of the calendar year and shall end on the last day of a calendar year. This shall not apply to contracts provided for in subsection (3) of this section.

(3) If the Department of Corrections determines that it is necessary to not renew the contract of an administrator, or finds it necessary to terminate a contract with or without cause as provided for in the contract of the administrator of inmate canteen services, the department is authorized to select an administrator for inmate canteen services without complying with the bid requirements in subsections (1) and (2) of this section. Such contracts shall be for the balance of the calendar year in which the nonrenewal or termination occurred, and may be for an additional calendar year if the department determines that the best interests of the inmates are served by such. Any contract negotiated on an interim basis shall include a detailed transition plan which shall ensure the orderly transfer of responsibilities between contractors.

(4) Except for contracts executed under the authority of subsection (3) of this section, the department shall select administrators of inmate canteen services at least six (6) months before the expiration of the current administrator's contract. The period between the selection of the new administrator of inmate canteen services and the effective date of the new contract shall be known as the transition period. The Department of Corrections shall furnish the Legislature and Governor with copies of all transition plans and keep them informed of progression on such plans.

§ 47-5-110

(1) Commitment to any institution or facility within the jurisdiction of the department shall be to the department, not to a particular institution or facility. The commissioner shall assign a newly committed offender to an appropriate facility consistent with public safety; provided, however, that any offender who, in the opinion of the sentencing judge, requires confinement in a maximum security unit shall be assigned, upon initial commitment, to the Parchman facility. The commissioner may extend the place of confinement of eligible offenders as provided under subsection (2) of this section. He may transfer an offender from one (1) institution to another, consistent with the commitment and in accordance with treatment, training and security needs. The commissioner shall have the authority to transfer inmates from the various correctional facilities of the department to restitution centers if such inmates meet the qualifications prescribed in Section 99-37-19. The commissioner shall prepare appropriate standards of eligibility for such transfers of offenders from one (1) institution to another institution and transfers of offenders who meet the qualifications for placement in restitution centers. The commissioner shall have the authority to remove the offenders from restitution centers and to transfer them to other facilities of the department. The commissioner shall obtain the approval of the sentencing court before transferring an offender committed to the department to a restitution center. On the request of the chief executive officer of the affected unit of local government, the commissioner may transfer a person detained in a local facility to a state facility. The commissioner shall determine the cost of care for that person to be borne by the unit of local government. The commissioner may assign to a community work center, any offender who is convicted under the Mississippi Implied Consent Law and who is sentenced to the custody of the Department of Corrections, except that if a death or a serious maiming has occurred during the commission of the violation of the Mississippi Implied Consent Law, then the offender so convicted may not be assigned to a community work center.

(2) The department may establish by rule or policy and procedure a community prerelease program which shall be subject to the following requirements:

(a) The commissioner may extend the limits of confinement of offenders serving sentences for violent or nonviolent crimes who have six (6) months or less remaining before release on parole, conditional release or discharge to participate in the program. Parole violators may be allowed to participate in the program.

(b) Any offender who is referred to the program shall remain an offender of the department and shall be subject to rules and regulations of the department pertaining to offenders of the department until discharged or released on parole or conditional release by the State Parole Board.

(c) The department shall require the offender to participate in work or educational or vocational programs and other activities that may be necessary for the supervision and treatment of the offender.

(d) An offender assigned to the program shall be authorized to leave a community prerelease center only for the purpose and time necessary to participate in the program and activities authorized in paragraph (c) of this subsection.

(3) The commissioner shall have absolute immunity from liability for any injury resulting from a determination by the commissioner that an offender shall be allowed to participate in the community prerelease program.

(4)(a) The department may by rule or policy and procedure provide evidence-based programs for the benefit of inmates, with emphasis on those that are targeted at reducing inmate recidivism and prerelease service for offenders at each of its major correctional facilities: Mississippi State Penitentiary, Central Mississippi Correctional Institution and South Mississippi Correctional Institution and other facilities where the department confines state inmates.

(b) The commissioner may establish prerelease programs at the South Mississippi Correctional Institution. The prerelease program may be located on the grounds of this facility or another facility designated by the commissioner.

(c) For purposes of this subsection, the term “evidence-based programs” shall have ascribed to it the meaning in Section 27-103-159.

§ 47-5-110.1

Whenever an offender in the custody of the Department of Corrections is transferred, upon request, from one (1) facility to another, the offender must pay to the department an amount equal to Forty Cents ($.40) per mile for each mile traveled from the transferor facility to the transferee facility or Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00), whichever is greater, to cover the costs of the transfer. An offender may not be required to pay for the costs of any transfer that is initiated by the Department of Corrections.

§ 47-5-110.2

From and after January 1, 2017, no person to be sentenced to the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections shall be ordered to a Regimented Inmate Discipline (RID) program by any court of this state. The Department of Corrections shall either operate RID programs for inmates sentenced to such a program prior to January 1, 2017, or devise and implement suitable alternatives for any such inmates.

§ 47-5-111

The commissioner shall make suitable provision and regulations for the safe and speedy transportation of offenders from counties of their confinement to the appropriate facility of the correctional system by the sheriffs of such respective counties if such sheriffs are willing to perform such services as cheaply as the correctional system can have it done otherwise. Such transportation shall be on state account. In no instance shall the offenders be carried direct from the county jails to a correctional facility, but shall be carried to the appropriate receiving station as designated by the commissioner where the character of labor which each offender may reasonably perform shall be determined. Upon the arrival of each offender at such receiving station, the commissioner shall cause a statement to be made by the offender, giving a brief history of his life, and showing where he has resided, the names and post office addresses of his immediate relatives, and such other facts as will tend to show his past habits and character. The commissioner shall, by correspondence or otherwise, verify or disprove such statements, if practicable, and shall preserve the record and information so obtained for future reference. The commissioner shall have authority to designate such vehicles as are necessary to transport offenders.

§ 47-5-113

The offenders of the courts of the United States sentenced to confinement in the state correctional system shall on delivery to the correctional system be confined in the correctional system according to their several sentences and be treated as other offenders, the United States supporting such offenders and paying the expenses of executing their sentences.

§ 47-5-115

Any offender who has been sentenced to suffer death, and whose sentence has been commuted by the Governor to imprisonment in the state correctional system, shall be confined in the state correctional system on order of the Governor and treated as are other offenders.

§ 47-5-116

(1) The term “Biddle guard” means a device or partition installed in a vehicle operated by a law enforcement officer which separates the front and rear passenger compartments.

(2) It is unlawful to transport a prisoner who is committed to the Department of Corrections in a vehicle which is not equipped with a secure Biddle guard. Each prisoner shall be restrained and a state, county, municipal or private correctional facility shall not release a prisoner into the custody of a law enforcement officer unless the prisoner is being transported in a vehicle equipped in accordance with this section.

(3) The Commissioner of Corrections, sheriff or chief law enforcement officer who is responsible for a vehicle in which any transportation in violation of this section occurs shall be assessed a civil penalty of One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00) which shall be collected by the Attorney General and paid into the State Treasury.

(4) The Commissioner of Corrections, sheriff or chief law enforcement officer who is responsible for a vehicle in which a prisoner is transported in violation of this section shall not be liable personally for any damages arising from injuries to persons or property caused by a prisoner who has escaped while being transported in violation of this section.

(5) This section does not apply to any vehicle used by a correctional officer for transporting prisoners on the grounds of a correctional facility under the jurisdiction of the department, to any vehicle used by a field officer of the Department of Corrections when taking a prisoner into the custody of the Department of Corrections or to any vehicle used to transport prisoners in work release programs.

§ 47-5-119

Offenders, when received into a facility of the correctional system, shall be carefully searched. If money be found on the person of the offender, or received by him at any time, it shall be taken in charge by the commissioner and placed to the offender's credit and expended for the offender's benefit on his written order and under such restrictions as may be prescribed by law or the rules. If an offender with money charged to his credit shall die from any cause while in a facility of the correctional system or be discharged without claiming such money, the commissioner shall make every effort to give notice of such fact to the discharged offender or to the beneficiary or nearest-known relative, if any, of the deceased or discharged offender, and upon a valid claim presented shall pay out such money to such discharged offender, beneficiary or nearest relative. After two (2) years from the date of giving such notice, or a valid attempt to give such notice, or two (2) years after the death of such offender, if the beneficiary or nearest relative is unknown, if such money has not been validly claimed, the commissioner shall make an affidavit of such fact, which sums shall escheat to the correctional system special vocational training program fund to help in offender rehabilitation. Any officer or employee having charge of the offenders' money who misappropriates the same, or any part thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be confined in the correctional system for a term of not more than five (5) years. All sums credited to the account of an offender who shall escape shall immediately, upon the offender's escape, escheat to the special vocational training program fund to help in offender rehabilitation.

§ 47-5-120

(1) Except as otherwise provided by law, the commissioner may transfer an offender for observation, diagnosis and treatment to another appropriate state department or institution, provided that he has given prior written notice to the administrator of the agency.

(2) The department of corrections shall create a board of examiners, hereinafter referred to as the “board,” who shall examine and evaluate the condition of offenders who are apparently suffering from psychosis, other mental illness, or dependency or addiction to drugs. The commissioner shall refer such offenders to the board which shall make a written report of its findings pertaining to each such offender. If all members of the board determine that an offender is in need of mental treatment or can obtain benefit from the programs of treatment for drug dependency or addiction at a facility of the department of mental health, then the board may authorize his transfer for observation, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation after prior written notice to the administrator of the facility of the department of mental health that is to receive the offender.

(3) The board shall be composed of the following:

(a) A physician on the staff of the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield, Mississippi, or the East Mississippi State Hospital at Meridian, Mississippi;

(b) A physician on the staff of the Mississippi Department of Corrections; and

(c) A physician to be selected by the commissioner of corrections who is not an employee of the department of corrections or the department of mental health.

(4) The board shall meet once each month at the correctional facility located at Parchman, Mississippi. All fees, compensation and expenses of the board shall be paid from funds appropriated to or otherwise available to the state department of corrections. The board is authorized to establish such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.

(5) While the offender is in another institution, his sentence shall continue to run. When the director of the institution to which an offender has been transferred determines that the offender is not in need of treatment or has recovered from the condition which occasioned the transfer or has received the maximum benefit of treatment and rehabilitation, the commissioner shall provide for his return to the department, unless his sentence has expired, in which case he shall be issued a discharge in accordance with law.

§ 47-5-121

All female offenders shall be kept separate and apart from male offenders. Where practicable, the commissioner shall keep the female offenders within a separate facility from the male offenders, and shall provide reasonable rules and regulations for the government of same.

§ 47-5-122

The Commissioner of Corrections may provide for agricultural production in connection with disciplinary programs, rehabilitation, inmate work projects, prison agricultural enterprise programs or any similar activity of the department; however, agricultural activities shall be conducted in a manner which are labor intensive and a minimum amount of mechanized or power-driven equipment shall be utilized to the extent practical and economically feasible.

The Department of Corrections is authorized to enter into contracts or agreements with the federal government with respect to agricultural subsidies or payments.

§ 47-5-124

(1) Beginning January 1, 1995, the Department of Corrections shall phase in the following uniform designations for all offenders housed by the Department of Corrections:

(a) Maximum security offenders--Red and white horizontal stripes which are three (3) inches wide;

(b) Medium security offenders--Black and white horizontal stripes which are three (3) inches wide; and

(c) Minimum security offenders--Green and white horizontal stripes which are three (3) inches wide.

No offender may wear any article of clothing that is not issued to the offender by the Department of Corrections. The word “convict” must be written on the back of the shirt or other upper outer garment of clothing.

(2) No convict incarcerated in a state correctional facility or a private correctional facility may be authorized or permitted to operate, use or have in his possession during the term of his incarceration any radio, television, record player, tape player, recorder, compact disc player, stereo or computer, except when such devices are used in a work incentive program authorized and administered by the Department of Corrections. The department shall develop and implement a plan to return such devices owned by inmates to the families of such inmates.

(3) No state correctional facility existing on August 23, 1994, and no correctional facility, public or private, constructed or contracted for under the provisions of this chapter shall include weight lifting equipment, except when such equipment is used in a work incentive program.

(4) An inmate is prohibited from possessing individual air conditioners. However, the Department of Finance and Administration and Department of Corrections shall determine the feasibility and cost effectiveness of heating and refrigerated air conditioning equipment for the cooling and heating of a correctional facility constructed after August 23, 1994.

§ 47-5-126

All inmates, unless physically unable, shall be required to perform such work as may be set out in the policy-making board of the institution.

§ 47-5-129

Sunflower County shall have the use of not over thirty-five (35) offenders six (6) workdays of each week for the purpose of working the roads of Sunflower County. The board of supervisors of Sunflower County shall lay out and designate the roads to be worked by the offenders, and the board of supervisors shall furnish transportation to and from the Parchman facility for the offenders. The supervision and handling of offenders while working on the roads shall be under the road sergeant, it being understood that all offenders so worked on the road shall be returned to the Parchman facility at night.

§ 47-5-131

Quitman County, Mississippi, shall have the use of not over twenty (20) offenders from the Parchman facility for five (5) workdays of each week for the purpose of working the roads of Quitman County. The board of supervisors of Quitman County shall lay out and designate roads to be worked by the offenders, and the board of supervisors shall furnish transportation to and from the Parchman facility for offenders.

§ 47-5-132

(1) In addition to any other powers and duties of the Commissioner of Corrections, the commissioner is authorized to study and develop a plan for rotating bed space, known in military terms as “hot racking,” for adult offenders committed to the Department of Corrections. The plan, as determined by the commissioner, may include rotating shifts of labor, training and sleep.

(2) In addition, the commissioner may:

(a) In his discretion as he deems necessary to address emergency overcrowding situations, utilize military-style temporary housing facilities and infrastructure, for the incarceration of adult offenders committed to the department. Such facilities shall include tents or other temporary structures, any necessary ditches for drainage purposes, any temporary infrastructure and any other improvement or accompaniment to such structures. All such facilities shall be constructed as much as possible by adult offenders in the custody of the Department of Corrections, possessing the minimum constructions skills necessary.

(b) In his discretion, require that any bed in the state correctional system shall be converted to a bunk bed, in order that a space occupied by a bed will consist of a bed on top of a bed, which shall be known as “double-bunking.”

§ 47-5-133

The commissioner is authorized and empowered to use the offenders on or off the property of the correctional system to drain or improve the drainage of any property belonging to the correctional system. Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, no offenders at any time are to work off property of the correctional system except: (a) when some dire calamity or disaster exists or threatens, or (b) those offenders assigned to duty at the Governor's Mansion (eight (8)). The Governor may order offenders to work to avert or control such calamity or disaster.

Provided, however, that the commissioner may authorize the working of offenders in support of any road construction, repair or other project of the State Highway Department upon proper request therefor by the State Highway Commission. In such cases the department shall establish all proper regulations for the working, guarding, safekeeping, clothing, housing and subsistence of offenders while so working.

Provided further, that the commissioner may authorize the working and housing of offenders in support of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics upon proper request therefor by the bureau. In such cases the department shall establish all proper regulations for the working, guarding, safekeeping, clothing, housing and subsistence of offenders while so working.

The commissioner may authorize the working of offenders in support of any aspect of Mississippi state government where such work would be appropriate and useful.

§ 47-5-134

The Commissioner of Corrections may authorize the working of offenders, on a voluntary basis, in support of Habitat for Humanity, Inc., or the Fuller Center for Housing, Inc., which are nonprofit organizations. However, offenders shall only be used to work on construction projects. The Department of Corrections shall establish all proper regulations for the working, guarding, safekeeping, clothing, housing and subsistence of offenders when they are working.

§ 47-5-137

Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, the use of offenders as servants, gardeners, chauffeurs, cooks, baby-sitters or domestic workers of any nature by an employee of the correctional system or by any other person in an individual household is hereby prohibited; provided, however, that the commissioner may use offenders for such work on the grounds of a facility of the correctional system.

§ 47-5-138

(1) The department may promulgate rules and regulations to carry out an earned time allowance program based on the good conduct and performance of an inmate. An inmate is eligible to receive an earned time allowance of one-half ( 1/2 ) of the period of confinement imposed by the court except those inmates excluded by law. When an inmate is committed to the custody of the department, the department shall determine a conditional earned time release date by subtracting the earned time allowance from an inmate's term of sentence. This subsection does not apply to any sentence imposed after June 30, 1995.

(2) An inmate may forfeit all or part of his earned time allowance for a serious violation of rules. No forfeiture of the earned time allowance shall be effective except upon approval of the commissioner, or his designee, and forfeited earned time may not be restored.

(3)(a) For the purposes of this subsection, “final order” means an order of a state or federal court that dismisses a lawsuit brought by an inmate while the inmate was in the custody of the Department of Corrections as frivolous, malicious or for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.

(b) On receipt of a final order, the department shall forfeit:

(i) Sixty (60) days of an inmate's accrued earned time if the department has received one (1) final order as defined herein;

(ii) One hundred twenty (120) days of an inmate's accrued earned time if the department has received two (2) final orders as defined herein;

(iii) One hundred eighty (180) days of an inmate's accrued earned time if the department has received three (3) or more final orders as defined herein.

(c) The department may not restore earned time forfeited under this subsection.

(4) An inmate who meets the good conduct and performance requirements of the earned time allowance program may be released on his conditional earned time release date.

(5) For any sentence imposed after June 30, 1995, an inmate may receive an earned time allowance of four and one-half (4- 1/2 ) days for each thirty (30) days served if the department determines that the inmate has complied with the good conduct and performance requirements of the earned time allowance program. The earned time allowance under this subsection shall not exceed fifteen percent (15%) of an inmate's term of sentence; however, beginning July 1, 2006, no person under the age of twenty-one (21) who has committed a nonviolent offense, and who is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections, shall be subject to the fifteen percent (15%) limitation for earned time allowances as described in this subsection (5).

(6) Any inmate, who is released before the expiration of his term of sentence under this section, shall be placed under earned-release supervision until the expiration of the term of sentence. The inmate shall retain inmate status and remain under the jurisdiction of the department. The period of earned-release supervision shall be conducted in the same manner as a period of supervised parole. The department shall develop rules, terms and conditions for the earned-release supervision program. The commissioner shall designate the appropriate hearing officer within the department to conduct revocation hearings for inmates violating the conditions of earned-release supervision.

(7) If the earned-release supervision is revoked, the inmate shall serve the remainder of the sentence, but the time the inmate served on earned-release supervision before revocation, shall be applied to reduce his sentence.

§ 47-5-138.1

(1) In addition to any other administrative reduction of sentence, an offender in trusty status as defined by the classification board of the Department of Corrections may be awarded a trusty-time allowance of thirty (30) days' reduction of sentence for each thirty (30) days of participation during any calendar month in an approved program while in trusty status, including satisfactory participation in education or instructional programs, satisfactory participation in work projects and satisfactory participation in any special incentive program.

(2) An offender in trusty status shall not be eligible for a reduction of sentence under this section if:

(a) The offender was sentenced to life imprisonment;

(b) The offender was convicted as an habitual offender under Sections 99-19-81 through 99-19-87;

(c) The offender was convicted of a sex crime;

(d) The offender has not served the mandatory time required for parole eligibility, as prescribed under Section 47-7-3, for a conviction of robbery or attempted robbery through the display of a deadly weapon, carjacking through the display of a deadly weapon or a drive-by shooting; or

(e) The offender was convicted of trafficking in controlled substances under Section 41-29-139.

§ 47-5-139

(1) An inmate shall not be eligible for the earned time allowance if:

(a) The inmate was sentenced to life imprisonment; but an inmate, except an inmate sentenced to life imprisonment for capital murder, who has reached the age of sixty-five (65) or older and who has served at least fifteen (15) years may petition the sentencing court for conditional release;

(b) The inmate was convicted as a habitual offender under Sections 99-19-81 through 99-19-87;

(c) The inmate has forfeited his earned time allowance by order of the commissioner;

(d) The inmate was convicted of a sex crime; or

(e) The inmate has not served the mandatory time required for parole eligibility for a conviction of robbery or attempted robbery with a deadly weapon.

(2) An offender under two (2) or more consecutive sentences shall be allowed commutation based upon the total term of the sentences.

(3) All earned time shall be forfeited by the inmate in the event of escape and/or aiding and abetting an escape. The commissioner may restore all or part of the earned time if the escapee returns to the institution voluntarily, without expense to the state, and without act of violence while a fugitive from the facility.

(4) Any officer or employee who shall willfully violate the provisions of this section and be convicted therefor shall be removed from office or employment.

§ 47-5-140

Each county attorney, district attorney, each member of the Parole Board and circuit judge shall be provided a copy of a handbook prepared by the commissioner which shall include a copy of Section 47-5-138 and Section 47-5-139, and shall clearly show how such sections would apply to an offender sentenced to terms of various lengths. Each offender shall be provided a copy of the handbook upon arrival at the correctional system and have it explained to him as a part of his initial orientation.

§ 47-5-142

(1) In order to provide incentive for offenders to achieve positive and worthwhile accomplishments for their personal benefit or the benefit of others, and in addition to any other administrative reductions of the length of an offender's sentence, any offender shall be eligible, subject to the provisions of this section, to receive meritorious earned time as distinguished from earned time for good conduct and performance.

(2) Subject to approval by the commissioner of the terms and conditions of the program or project, meritorious earned time may be awarded for the following: (a) successful completion of educational or instructional programs; (b) satisfactory participation in work projects; and (c) satisfactory participation in any special incentive program.

(3) The programs and activities through which meritorious earned time may be received shall be published in writing and posted in conspicuous places at all facilities of the department and such publication shall be made available to all offenders in the custody of the department.

(4) The commissioner shall make a determination of the number of days of reduction of sentence which may be awarded an offender as meritorious earned time for participation in approved programs or projects; the number of days shall be determined by the commissioner on the basis of each particular program or project.

(5) No offender shall be awarded any meritorious earned time while assigned to the maximum security facilities for disciplinary purposes.

(6) All meritorious earned time shall be forfeited by the offender in the event of escape and/or aiding and abetting an escape.

(7) Any officer or employee of the department who shall willfully violate the provisions of this section and be convicted therefor shall be removed from office or employment.

(8) An offender may forfeit all or any part of his meritorious earned time allowance for just cause upon the written order of the commissioner or his designee. Any meritorious earned time allowance forfeited under this section shall not be restored nor shall it be re-earned by the offender.

§ 47-5-143

For purposes of this section and Section 47-5-145, the following words shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) “Change of name petition” means a petition to change the legal name of an individual.

(b) “Offender” means any physically incarcerated person convicted of a crime or offense under the laws and ordinances of the state and its political subdivisions or the laws and regulations of the federal government.

§ 47-5-145

(1)(a) No offender shall have standing to file a change of name petition with the chancery court;

(b) No chancellor shall grant a change of name petition for an offender; and

(c) No chancery clerk shall file a change of name petition for an offender.

(2) A chancellor may change the name of an offender if:

(a) A district attorney files a change of name petition on behalf of an offender;

(b) A sheriff of a county in which a person is incarcerated files a change of name petition on behalf of an offender;

(c) The Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, or his or her designee, files a change of name petition on behalf of an offender; or

(d) A Mississippi Department of Corrections Chaplain files a change of name petition on behalf of an offender.

§ 47-5-147

When an offender escapes from the custody of the department, the commissioner shall immediately notify the Governor who shall have exclusive power to authorize the payment of a reward, in his discretion, not exceeding Fifty Dollars ($50.00), out of any money available in the state treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the arrest and delivery of such offender to the proper authorities.

§ 47-5-149

If any offender of the United States courts who has been delivered to the custody of the department shall escape or attempt to escape, or shall commit any other crime while in the state correctional system, he shall be liable to the like punishment as if he had been convicted by the courts of the state.

§ 47-5-151

The superintendent (warden) or other person in charge of prisoners, upon the death of any prisoner under his care and control, shall at once notify the county medical examiner or county medical examiner investigator (hereinafter “medical examiner”) of the county in which said prisoner died, of the death of the prisoner, and it shall be the duty of such medical examiner, when so notified of the death of such person, to obtain a court order and notify the State Medical Examiner of the death of such prisoner. It shall be mandatory that the State Medical Examiner cause an autopsy to be performed upon the body of the deceased prisoner. Furthermore, the State Medical Examiner shall investigate any case where a person is found dead on the premises of the correctional system, in accordance with Sections 41-61-51 through 41-61-79. The State Medical Examiner shall make a written report of his investigation, and shall furnish a copy of the same, including the autopsy report, to the superintendent (warden) and a copy of the same to the district attorney of the county in which said prisoner died. The copy so furnished to the district attorney shall be turned over by the district attorney to the grand jury, and it shall be the duty of the grand jury, if there be any suspicion of wrongdoing shown by the inquest papers, to thoroughly investigate the cause of such death.

It shall be the duty of the medical examiner of the county in which said prisoner died to arrange for the remains to be transported to the State Medical Examiner for said autopsy, and accompanying the remains shall be the court order for autopsy and any documents or records pertaining to the deceased prisoner, institutional health records or other information relating to the circumstances surrounding the prisoner's death. The State Medical Examiner shall arrange for the remains to be transported to the county in which said prisoner died following completion of the autopsy. If the remains are not claimed for burial within forty-eight (48) hours after autopsy, then said remains may be delivered to the University of Mississippi Medical Center for use in medical research or anatomical study.

The provisions herein set forth in the first paragraph shall likewise apply to any case in which any person is found dead on the premises of the Mississippi State Penitentiary except that the autopsy to be performed on the body of such a person shall not be mandatory upon a person who is not a prisoner unless the medical examiner determines that the death resulted from circumstances raising questions as to the cause of death, in which case the medical examiner may cause an autopsy to be performed upon the body of such deceased person in the same manner as authorized to be performed upon the body of a deceased prisoner.

Provided further, that the provisions herein shall apply with respect to any deceased prisoner who at the time of death is being detained by duly constituted state authority such as the Oakley Youth Development Center, Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield, East Mississippi State Hospital, or any other state institution.

The provisions of this section shall not apply to a prisoner who was lawfully executed as provided in Sections 99-19-49 through 99-19-55.

Any officer or employee of the prison system or any other officer, employee or person having charge of any prisoner who shall fail to immediately notify the medical examiner of the death of such prisoner, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) and by confinement in the county jail for not more than one (1) year.

§ 47-5-155

There is hereby created a special fund to be known as the “Discharged Offenders Revolving Fund” to be maintained in a bank to be selected by the commissioner. It shall be the duty of the bank, so long as it retains such deposits, to make monthly reports to the State Treasurer of the State of Mississippi as to the condition of the funds on deposit in the depository. Such funds shall be used for the prompt payment in cash to all discharged, pardoned or paroled offenders such amounts as are provided by Section 47-5-157. Upon the passage of this chapter, the Treasurer of the State of Mississippi shall transfer any funds in the State Treasury to the credit of the correctional system an amount which shall not exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) to the Discharged Offenders Revolving Fund. The fund shall be replenished from time to time by the State Treasurer upon requisitions drawn by the commissioner which requisitions shall be supported by statements reflecting the names of the discharged offenders to whom payments have been made in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Upon receipt of adequately supported requisitions, the State Auditor shall draw his warrants made payable to the Discharged Offenders Revolving Fund against any funds in the State Treasury to the credit of the correctional system.

§ 47-5-157

(1) When an offender is entitled to a discharge from the custody of the department, or is released therefrom on parole, pardon, or otherwise, the commissioner or his designee shall prepare and deliver to him a written discharge or release, as the case may be, dated and signed by him with seal annexed, giving the offender's name, the name of the offense or offenses for which he was convicted, the term of sentence imposed and the date thereof, the county in which he was sentenced, the amount of commutation received, if any, the trade he has learned, if any, his proficiency in same, and such description of the offender as may be practicable and the discharge plan developed as required by law. At least fifteen (15) days prior to the release of an offender as described herein, the director of records of the department shall give the written notice which is required pursuant to Section 47-5-177.

(2) The offender shall be furnished:

(a) A Mississippi driver's license, if eligible;

(b) A provisional license under Section 63-1-305; or

(c) A state identification card that is not a department-issued identification card.

The offender shall also be furnished all money held to his credit by any official of the correctional system and, if needed, suitable civilian clothes.

(3) The amount of money which an offender is entitled to receive from the State of Mississippi when he is discharged from the state correctional system shall be determined as follows:

(a) If he has continuously served his sentence in one (1) year or less flat time, he shall be given Fifteen Dollars ($15.00).

(b) If he has served his sentence in more than one (1) year flat time and in less than ten (10) years flat time, he shall be given Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00).

(c) If he has continuously served his sentence in ten (10) or more years flat time, he shall be given Seventy-five Dollars ($75.00).

(d) If he has continuously served his sentence in twenty (20) or more years flat time, he shall be given One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).

(e) There shall be given in addition to the above specified monies in paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) of this subsection, a bus ticket to the county of conviction or to a state line of Mississippi.

§ 47-5-158

(1) The department is authorized to maintain a bank account which shall be designated as the Inmate Welfare Fund. All monies now held in a similar fund or in a bank account or accounts for the benefit and welfare of inmates shall be deposited into the Inmate Welfare Fund. This fund shall be used for the benefit and welfare of inmates in the custody of the department and shall be expended in accordance with any provisions or restrictions in the regulations promulgated under subsection (7) of this section.

(2) There shall be deposited into the Inmate Welfare Fund interest previously earned on inmate deposits, all net profits from the operation of inmate canteens, performances of the Penitentiary band, interest earned on the Inmate Welfare Fund and other revenues designated by the commissioner. All monies shall be deposited into the Inmate Welfare Fund as provided in Section 7-9-21.

(3) All inmate telephone call commissions shall be paid to the department. Monies in the fund may be expended by the department, upon requisition by the commissioner or his designee, only for the purposes established in this subsection.

(a) Twenty-five percent (25%) of the inmate telephone call commissions shall be used to purchase and maintain telecommunication equipment to be used by the department.

(b) Until July 1, 2008, twenty-five percent (25%) of the inmate telephone call commissions shall be deposited into the Prison Agricultural Enterprise Fund. Beginning on July 1, 2008, thirty-five percent (35%) of the inmate telephone call commissions shall be deposited into the Prison Agricultural Enterprise Fund. The department may use these funds to supplement the Prison Agricultural Enterprise Fund created in Section 47-5-66.

(c) Forty percent (40%) of the inmate telephone call commissions shall be deposited into the Inmate Welfare Fund.

(4) The commissioner may invest in the manner authorized by law any money in the Inmate Welfare Fund that is not necessary for immediate use, and the interest earned shall be deposited in the Inmate Welfare Fund.

(5) The Deputy Commissioner for Administration and Finance shall establish and implement internal accounting controls for the Inmate Welfare Fund that comply with generally accepted accounting principles and regulations of the Department of Finance and Administration. The Deputy Commissioner for Administration and Finance shall prepare and issue quarterly consolidated and individual facility financial statements to the prison auditor of the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review. The deputy commissioner shall prepare an annual report which shall include a summary of expenditures from the fund by major categories and by individual facility. This annual report shall be sent to the prison auditor, the Legislative Budget Office, the Chairman of the Corrections Committee of the Senate, and the Chairman of the Corrections Committee of the House of Representatives.

(6)(a) A portion of the Inmate Welfare Fund shall be deposited in the Discharged Offenders Revolving Fund, as created under Section 47-5-155, in amounts necessary to provide a balance not to exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) in the Discharged Offenders Revolving Fund, and shall be used to supplement those amounts paid to discharged, paroled or pardoned offenders from the department. The superintendent of the Parchman facility shall establish equitable criteria for the making of supplemental payments which shall not exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) for any offender. The supplemental payments shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner. The State Treasurer shall not be required to replenish the Discharged Offenders Revolving Fund for the supplemental payments made to discharged, paroled or pardoned offenders.

(b) A portion of the Inmate Welfare Fund shall be deposited into the Inmate Incentive to Work Program Fund, as created under Section 47-5-371, in amounts necessary to provide a balance not to exceed One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) in the fund. Such fund shall be utilized to pay inmates who are participants in the Inmate Incentive to Work Program as created under Section 47-5-371.

(7)(a) The Inmate Welfare Fund Committee is hereby created and shall be composed of nine (9) members: The Deputy Commissioner for Community Corrections, the Deputy Commissioner of Institutions, the Superintendent of the Parchman facility, the Superintendent of the Rankin County facility, the Superintendent of the Greene County facility, the State Treasurer, the State Auditor, and two (2) members to be appointed by the Commissioner of Corrections, one (1) of whom must have a relative incarcerated by the department at the time of appointment and shall be a representative of inmate families. The commissioner shall appoint the chairman of the committee. The committee shall administer and supervise the operations and expenditures from the Inmate Welfare Fund and shall maintain an official minute book upon which shall be spread its authorization and approval for all such expenditures. The committee shall promulgate regulations governing the use and expenditures of the fund.

(b) Regulations adopted shall set out what types of items shall be allowable purchases, and in all cases, the minutes of the committee shall explain which regulation permits any purchase it approves. Additionally, regulations of the committee shall prescribe the number of members necessary to constitute a quorum, minimum attendance requirements for a member to retain a seat on the committee, and a mission statement for the committee.

(c) The committee shall conduct an annual needs assessment to determine what types of items should be purchased for the benefit of inmates. The needs assessments shall be conducted with the assistance of the department personnel, inmates and the families of inmates.

(d) The committee shall evaluate the proposals of interested third parties for the administration of inmate canteen services as provided in Section 47-5-109.1.

(e) The committee shall expend necessary funds to assist parole eligible inmates who have been diagnosed with a mental illness while housed within a state correctional facility so that such inmates may receive outpatient services and community-based services to treat the mental illness of such inmates.

(8) The Department of Audit shall conduct an annual comprehensive special audit of the committee's use of the Inmate Welfare Fund. The department shall incorporate in its special audit report any recommendations it has concerning the financial and management control practices of the committee. The department shall report its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the Senate and House Corrections Committees.

§ 47-5-173

The commissioner, or his designees, may grant leave to an offender and may take into consideration sickness or death in the offender's family or the seeking of employment by the offender in connection with application for parole, for a period of time not to exceed ten (10) days. At least fifteen (15) days prior to the release of an offender on leave, the director of records of the department shall give the written notice required pursuant to Section 47-5-177. However, if an offender is granted leave because of sickness or death in the offender's family, written notice shall not be required but the inmate shall be accompanied by a correctional officer or a law enforcement officer. In all other cases the commissioner, or his designees, shall provide required security when deemed necessary. The commissioner, or his designees, in granting leave, shall take into consideration the conduct and work performance of the offender.

§ 47-5-175

The Commissioner of Corrections, with the concurrence of the Governor, is hereby authorized to enter into agreements with appropriate federal agencies to provide housing and incarceration of persons convicted by the courts of Mississippi and sentenced to the Mississippi Department of Corrections by such courts under such terms and conditions as may be prescribed if a determination is made that the best interest of the State of Mississippi would be served by making such transfer.

§ 47-5-177

At least fifteen (15) days prior to the release of an offender from the custody of the department because of discharge, parole, pardon, temporary personal leave or pass, or otherwise, except for sickness or death in the offender's family, the director of records of the department shall give written or electronic notice of such release to the sheriff of the county and to the chief of police of the municipality where the offender was convicted. If the offender is paroled to a county other than the county of conviction, the director of records shall give written or electronic notice of the release to the sheriff, district attorney and circuit judge of the county and to the chief of police of the municipality where the offender is paroled and to the sheriff of the county and to the chief of police of the municipality where the offender was convicted. The department shall notify the parole officer of the county where the offender is paroled or discharged to probation of any chronic mental disorder incurred by the offender, of any type of infectious disease for which the offender has been examined and treated, and of any medications provided to the offender for such conditions.

The commissioner shall require the director of records to clearly identify the notice of release of an offender who has been convicted of arson at any time. The fact that the offender to be released had been convicted of arson at any time shall appear prominently on the notice of release and the sheriff shall notify all officials who are responsible for investigation of arson within the county of such offender's release and the chief of police shall notify all such officials within the municipality of such offender's release.

§ 47-5-178

The Department of Corrections is authorized to provide for hospice care services for inmates who are confined in facilities under the jurisdiction of the department and who are terminally ill as defined in Section 41-85-3. The department may have those hospice care services provided by properly qualified employees of the department or may contract for the providing of the hospice care services. If the department provides the hospice care services with department employees, the department is not required to have a license under the Mississippi Hospice Law.

§ 47-5-179

(1) The responsibility for paying the expenses of nonemergency medical care, treatment and medicine of an inmate is the responsibility of the inmate receiving the care, treatment and medicine.

(2) The Department of Corrections is authorized to deduct the payment for nonemergency medical care, treatment and medicine from an inmate’s account and accept payment from other reimbursement programs.

§ 47-5-180

(1) The following words and phrases that are used in this section are defined in Section 41-41-203: advance health-care directive, agent, capacity, guardian, health-care decision, individual instruction, person, power of attorney for health care and surrogate.

(2) For an offender who is a resident of Mississippi, the department may petition the chancery court of the county of residence of the offender to appoint the commissioner as guardian for an offender who lacks the capacity to make a health-care decision and who does not have a relative or other person available to make the decision.

(3) The department may, consistent with Sections 41-41-201 through 41-41-229, provide an offender with the forms necessary to execute an advance health-care directive.

(4) The department shall place an original or copy of the directive in the offender's medical record, attach the directive to the offender's commitment report and provide a copy of the directive to case management.

(5) If a department physician determines that an offender's life expectancy is less than one (1) year or that the offender is to undergo certain medical procedures to be determined by the department medical director, the department shall provide the offender with the opportunity to alter or execute a written advance health-care directive.

(6) When the department provides an offender with the forms necessary to execute an advance health-care directive, Sections 41-41-201 through 41-41-229 and the following provisions apply:

(a) Absent a court order to the contrary, an offender in the department's custody shall not act as the agent, guardian or surrogate for the offender executing an advance health-care directive. But the principal offender may designate another offender as the agent, guardian or surrogate without judicial approval if the offenders are related by blood, marriage or adoption.

(b) Absent a court order to the contrary, a department employee shall not act as the agent, guardian or surrogate for the offender executing an advance health-care directive. But the principal offender may designate a department employee as the agent, guardian or surrogate without judicial approval if the offender and the employee are related by blood, marriage or adoption.

(c) In addition to the restrictions in Section 41-41-205, neither an offender in the department's custody nor a department employee shall be used as a witness for a power of attorney for health care that an offender executes while in the department's custody.

§ 47-5-181

(1) The Department of Corrections is authorized to convert four (4) community work centers to pre-release centers. The department shall convert the community work centers as follows: one (1) center in the northern part of the state, two (2) centers in the central part of the state, and one (1) center in the southern part of the state.

(2) The department may place any inmate in a pre-release center if: (a) the inmate is within one (1) year of his or her earliest release date, and (b) the inmate is approved for placement by the classification hearing officer and the commissioner or the commissioner's designee.

(3) The department shall notify, by certified mail, each member of the board of supervisors of the county in which the center is located of the department's intent to convert the community work center to a pre-release center. The board of supervisors shall have thirty (30) days after the date of the mailing to disapprove the conversion of the center. If the board of supervisors disapproves of the pre-release center, the department shall not convert the community work center.

§ 47-5-183

The Mississippi Department of Corrections is authorized, subject to the availability of funds, to secure a biological sample for purposes of DNA identification analysis from every individual convicted of a felony or in its custody before release from or transfer to a state correctional facility or county jail or other detention facility.

§ 47-5-191

As used in Sections 47-5-191 through 47-5-195, “alcoholic beverage” shall have the meaning defined in Section 67-1-5 of the Local Option Alcoholic Beverage Control Law of the State of Mississippi; “controlled substance” means any substance defined as a controlled substance by the Uniform Controlled Substances Law of the State of Mississippi; “narcotic drug” means any substance defined as a narcotic drug by Section 41-29-105; “weapon or deadly weapon” shall mean any weapon or firearm mentioned in Section 97-37-1, and any rifle or shotgun regardless of barrel length; and “contraband” means coin or currency, money orders, traveler's checks, promissory notes, credit cards, personal checks or other negotiable instruments, knives, sharpened instruments, tools, explosives, ammunition and drug paraphernalia as defined in Section 41-29-105(v).

§ 47-5-192

(1) The Commissioner of Corrections may prohibit the possession by employees or officers of the Department of Corrections or any person allowed upon the premises of a correctional facility under his jurisdiction of any item, the possession of which by offenders is prohibited or regulated.

(2) The commissioner may distinguish between classes of employees and visitors and may establish zones or designate areas or facilities where such regulations apply in his discretion and as necessary for security and orderly operation of prison facilities.

(3) The commissioner shall promulgate rules authorized by this section in accordance with the Mississippi Administrative Procedures Act.

(4) Any person who violates a duly enacted rule authorized by this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one (1) year or by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or both.

§ 47-5-193

(1) It is unlawful for any officer or employee of the department, of any county sheriff's department, of any private correctional facility in this state in which offenders are confined, of any municipal or other correctional facility in this state, or for any other person or offender to possess, furnish, attempt to furnish, or assist in furnishing to any offender confined in this state any weapon, deadly weapon, unauthorized electronic device, contraband item, or cell phone or any of its components or accessories to include, but not limited to, Subscriber Information Module (SIM) cards or chargers. It is unlawful for any person or offender to take, attempt to take, or assist in taking any weapon, deadly weapon, unauthorized electronic device, contraband item, cell phone or any of its components or accessories to include, but not limited to, Subscriber Information Module (SIM) cards or chargers on property within the state belonging to the department, a county, a municipality, or other entity that is occupied or used by offenders, except as authorized by law.

(2) The circuit court is authorized to issue an order to disable the contraband cell phone service from the carrier.

§ 47-5-194

(1) It is unlawful for any offender committed to the department to possess:

(a) Coin or currency on his person or in premises assigned to him or under his control;

(b) A money order, traveler's check, promissory note, credit card, personal check or other negotiable instrument.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to offenders who are granted a parole; placed on work release, supervised earned release, earned probation or probation; or granted leave for the duration of such leave; however, these offenders may be restricted by the parole or probation order or by order of the commissioner with respect to amounts or form of money possessed or controlled by the offenders.

(3) A violation of subsection (1) shall be considered a rules violation or a violation of the conditions of parole or probation as the case may be and shall be processed in the manner of similar violations.

(4) Any money possessed by an offender may be confiscated by the corrections officer who discovers the possession. The department shall establish a policy and procedure for the collection and accounting of all confiscated funds. All confiscated coin or currency shall be deposited in a special fund which is created in the State Treasury. The money in this special fund may be appropriated by the Legislature to enhance the security of the department's facilities. Unexpended amounts remaining in the special fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, but funds may be expended only by appropriation approved by the Legislature. Any interest earned on amounts in the special fund shall be deposited to the credit of the special fund.

(5) The possession of coin, currency, money order, traveler's check or other negotiable instrument on the grounds of a facility is prohibited.

(6) The department shall establish a cashless system for facilities no later than July 1, 1996. The department shall provide lockers for visitors to place prohibited items when on grounds of a facility. The department is authorized to charge visitors an hourly rental fee for use of the lockers. Community work centers and restitution centers are exempt unless designated by the commissioner as being included in the cashless system.

§ 47-5-195

Any person who violates any provision of Section 47-5-193 or 47-5-194 shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction shall be punished by confinement in the Penitentiary for not less than three (3) years nor more than fifteen (15) years, and may be fined not more than Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00), or both.

§ 47-5-196

The Department of Corrections shall develop and implement a drug testing program for its employees no later than July 1, 1997. The department shall develop a written policy for alcohol and drug testing of employees to deter the use of alcohol and drugs at its facilities and to ensure an alcohol and drug free environment at correctional facilities. Participation by employees is mandatory and the tests may be conducted in a random manner.

§ 47-5-198

(1) It is unlawful for any person to sell within, bring to, or be in possession of, in any correctional facility or convict camp within the state or any county, municipal or other jail within the state, except as authorized by law, any controlled substance or narcotic drug.

(2) It is unlawful for any person who is the keeper or officer in charge of the facility, camp or jail, or who is employed in or about the facility, camp or jail to knowingly permit any controlled substance or narcotic drug to be sold, possessed or used therein contrary to law.

(3) Any person who violates the provisions of this section and is convicted shall be fined up to Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) and be punished by imprisonment for not less than three (3) years nor more than seven (7) years; and the person is not eligible for probation, parole, suspension of sentence, earned time allowance or any other reduction of sentence.

§ 47-5-301

Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327 may be cited as the “Penitentiary-Made Goods Law of 1978.”

§ 47-5-303

The aims and purposes of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327 are:

(a) To utilize the labor of offenders for self-maintenance and for reimbursing this state for expenses incurred by reason of their crimes and imprisonment; and

(b) To effect the requisitioning and disbursement of penitentiary products directly through established state authorities and to permit the sale of such products to the public.

§ 47-5-305

(1) The State Department of Corrections is authorized to purchase, in the manner prescribed by law, equipment, raw materials and supplies, and to engage the supervisory personnel necessary to establish and maintain for this state at the penitentiary or any penal farm or institution now or hereafter under the control of such department industries for the utilization of services of offenders in the manufacture or production of such articles or products as may be needed for the construction, operation, maintenance or use of any commission, department, institution or other agency supported in whole or in part by this state and the political subdivisions thereof. The State Department of Corrections is further authorized to sell such products to the public.

(2) The Department of Corrections is authorized to contract for work projects from outside sources, including private enterprise, for processing, fabrication or repair; however, preference shall be given to the performance of such work projects for any commission, department, institution or other agency of the state.

(3) The Department of Corrections is further authorized to contract with private or public industrial and business enterprises regarding the location of operations or projects upon any property utilized by the state prison correctional system in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

§ 47-5-307

(1) On and after the establishment of the industries provided for in Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327, all commissions, departments, institutions and other agencies of this state, which are supported in whole or in part by this state, may purchase from the State Department of Corrections all articles or products required by such commissions, departments, institutions or agencies which are produced or manufactured by the State Department of Corrections with the use of penitentiary labor as provided for by Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327. All purchases made by state agencies shall be made through the State Fiscal Management Board upon requisition by the proper authority of the commission, department, institution or agency. Political subdivisions of this state may purchase directly from the State Department of Corrections.

(2) Any article or product manufactured by the State Department of Corrections for sale through the State Fiscal Management Board to any commission, department, institution or agency of the state or to any political subdivision thereof, shall be manufactured and/or produced only upon state specifications developed by and through the State Fiscal Management Board. However, if such specifications have not been developed by the State Fiscal Management Board, then production may be based upon commercial specifications in current use by industry for the manufacture of such articles and products for sale to the state and political subdivisions thereof which have first been approved by the State Fiscal Management Board. For purposes of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327, state specifications and commercial specifications approved by the State Fiscal Management Board shall mean the latest complete version of any specification including amendments thereto.

§ 47-5-311

The State Department of Corrections shall cause to be prepared, at such times as it may determine, catalogues containing an accurate and complete description of all articles and products manufactured or produced by it pursuant to the provisions of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327. Copies of such catalogues shall be sent to all commissions, departments, institutions and agencies of this state and made accessible to all political subdivisions of this state referred to in the preceding sections.

§ 47-5-313

At least thirty (30) days before the beginning of each fiscal year, the State Fiscal Management Board shall provide to the State Department of Corrections, summary reports of the kind and amount of articles and products purchased for state commissions, departments, institutions, agencies and political subdivisions based upon the previous nine (9) months' experience. Not more than one hundred (100) days following the close of each fiscal year, the State Fiscal Management Board shall submit to the State Department of Corrections a report showing the kinds and amounts of such penitentiary-manufactured articles purchased by all state commissions, departments, institutions, agencies and political subdivisions based upon the purchase experience of the entire previous fiscal year. All such reports shall refer, insofar as possible, to the items or products contained in the catalogue as issued by the State Department of Corrections. The State Fiscal Management Board may at any time request the State Department of Corrections to manufacture or produce additional articles or products.

§ 47-5-315

The articles or products manufactured or produced by penitentiary labor in accordance with the provisions of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327 shall be devoted first, to fulfilling the requirements of the commissions, departments, institutions and agencies of this state which are supported in whole or in part by this state; and secondly, to supplying the political subdivisions of this state with such articles and products; and lastly to producing articles and products for sale to the public.

§ 47-5-317

The Industries Division of the State Department of Corrections shall fix and determine the prices at which all articles or products manufactured or produced shall be furnished.

§ 47-5-319

In addition to the information ordinarily required by law in the annual audits of expenditures and operations of the State Department of Corrections made by the state auditor, after March 23, 1978, audit reports shall also include a detailed statement of all materials, machinery or other property procured, and the cost thereof, and the expenditures made during the audited year for manufacturing purposes, together with a statement of all materials on hand to be manufactured, or in process of manufacture, or manufactured, and the values of all machinery, fixtures or other appurtenances for the purpose of utilizing the productive labor of offenders, and the earnings realized therefrom during the year.

§ 47-5-321

The State Board of Corrections shall have the power and authority to prepare and promulgate policies which are necessary to give effect to the provisions of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327 with respect to matters of administration respecting the same which if made shall be in writing, entered on their minutes, and available to the general public for inspection during the regular office hours of the department. Before taking effect, said policies, as well as subsequent amendments thereto, shall be placed on file by the department in the office of the secretary of state in a well-bound book designated by the secretary for that purpose.

§ 47-5-323

(1) In order to carry out the provisions of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327, the department is authorized to expend such monies out of appropriations from the Prison Industries Fund, as established by Section 47-5-66, as may be necessary to erect buildings, to improve existing facilities, to purchase equipment, to procure tools, supplies and materials, to purchase, install or replace equipment and otherwise to defray the necessary expenses incident to the employment of offenders as herein provided.

(2) All monies collected by the State Department of Corrections from the sale or disposition of articles and products manufactured or produced by penitentiary labor in accordance with the provisions of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327 shall be forthwith deposited into the Prison Industries Fund authorized by subsection (1) of this section. The money so collected and deposited shall be used solely for the purchase of raw materials, manufacturing supplies, equipment, machinery and buildings used to carry out the purposes of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327, to otherwise defray the necessary expenses incident thereto, including the employment of such necessary supervisory personnel as is unavailable in the inmate population. All expenditures from such fund shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner; provided, however, that such Prison Industries Fund shall never be maintained in excess of the amount necessary to carry out efficiently and properly the intentions of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327.

§ 47-5-327

The provisions of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327 shall be liberally construed to achieve the primary objective of vocational training and rehabilitation of offenders through work in industrial types of activities which also will best serve the economical and efficient operation of state agencies. The provisions of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327 shall be considered as supplementary, or in addition to, other existing provisions of law relative to the employment of offenders.

§ 47-5-329

(1) The Commissioner of Corrections shall appoint a Prison Industries Advisory Council. The council shall advise the commissioner and the Governor on all aspects of the prison industry program at the State Penitentiary, including, but not limited to, the types and quantity of products to be manufactured and their manner of production.

(2) The council shall consist of the commissioner, who shall be chairman of the council, and six (6) citizens appointed by the commissioner. The members appointed by the commissioner shall be active leaders of business and industry in this state, and one (1) of the members shall be a representative of organized labor. The members shall be familiar, insofar as possible, with the various types of prison industries in operation or contemplated for operation at the State Penitentiary. Of the initial members of the council, one (1) shall be appointed for a term of one (1) year; one (1) for a term of two (2) years; one (1) for a term of three (3) years; one (1) for a term of four (4) years; one (1) for a term of five (5) years; and one (1) for a term of six (6) years. Thereafter, each member shall serve a term of four (4) years. Vacancies shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term and members may be reappointed. Members shall receive such per diem as provided by law for each day actually spent in the performance of their duties, in addition to the actual and necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties. The per diem and expenses shall be paid from the Prison Industries Fund as created in Section 47-5-66.

(3) The council shall meet quarterly and at such other times deemed necessary by the commissioner.

§ 47-5-331

(1) Upon request of the Board of Corrections the Governor's Office of General Services is authorized to lease one or more existing buildings or portions thereof on the grounds of the Parchman facility of the Department of Corrections (a) to a private individual, firm or corporation for the purpose of establishing and operating a factory for the manufacture and processing of products, or (b) to any other commercial enterprise deemed consistent with the aims and purposes of the Penitentiary-Made Goods Law. The leased premises shall include any real estate needed for reasonable access to and access from the leased buildings. The term of the lease shall not exceed twenty (20) years. Money derived from the lease of such buildings and real estate shall be placed in the Prison Industries Fund in the State Treasury.

(2) Each lease negotiated and concluded under subsection (1) of this section shall include and shall be valid only so long as the lessee adheres to the following provisions:

(a) All persons employed in the factory or other commercial enterprise operated in the leased property, except for lessee's supervisory employees and necessary training personnel approved by the warden, shall be inmates of the State Penitentiary and approved for such employment by the warden and the lessee.

(b) The factory or other commercial enterprise operated in the leased property shall observe at all times such practices and procedures regarding security as the lease may specify, or as the warden may temporarily stipulate during periods of emergency.

(c) The factory or other commercial enterprise operated in the leased property shall be deemed a private enterprise and subject to all the laws and lawfully adopted rules of this state governing the operation of similar business enterprises elsewhere.

§ 47-5-351

(1) It is the policy of the State of Mississippi that the Department of Corrections, to the extent practical, make maximum utilization of the farm lands of the various correctional institutions for the purpose of feeding inmates.

(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that the department grow, harvest and process those agricultural products that will directly assist in reducing the reliance of the department upon external sources of supply and that will facilitate the self-sufficiency of the inmates and the department.

(3) The Department of Corrections shall establish, implement and manage prison agricultural enterprises in a manner and form deemed appropriate to ensure a profitable farming operation and self-sufficiency in the feeding of the inmates.

(4) The Legislature finds that the mission of the prison agricultural enterprises is:

(a) To reduce the cost of state government by producing and processing food for use by inmates;

(b) To operate the program primarily with inmate labor;

(c) To serve the security goals of the department through the reduction of idleness of inmates;

(d) To produce and market agricultural products that will aid in maintaining a profitable agricultural operation to the extent possible.

§ 47-5-353

For the purpose of Sections 47-5-351 through 47-5-357, the following terms shall have the following meanings unless the context shall provide otherwise:

(a) “Agricultural commodities” means crops, vegetables, fruits, livestock, domesticated fish, fowl, seafood, animal husbandry, wood and the various processes that any of these commodities may go through subsequent to their removal from the soil or water.

(b) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Corrections;

(c) “Department” means the Department of Corrections;

(d) “Director” means the director of the prison agricultural enterprises;

(e) “Prison agricultural enterprises” means any program operated by the Department of Corrections including, but not limited to, the growing, harvesting, processing and marketing of crops, vegetables, fruits, livestock, domesticated fish, fowl and any product of agriculture, animal husbandry or aquaculture that may be used for the feeding of prisoners for the general welfare of the prisoners or profitably grown on department lands. This term includes any proper method of canning, freezing or preserving such products;

(f) “Products” means any item produced by prison agricultural enterprises.

§ 47-5-355

(1) The Commissioner of Corrections shall employ a director of the prison agricultural enterprises, who shall be directly responsible to the commissioner. The director shall have the following duties and powers:

(a) To implement and manage the prison agricultural enterprises;

(b) To determine, with the advice of the Director of Planning, the type of agricultural, animal husbandry and aquaculture products needed to feed inmates and which may be grown profitably on department lands;

(c) To use inmate labor to meet the labor needs of the programs, subject to the requirements of subsection (2);

(d) To recommend rules and regulations and employ personnel necessary for the operation of the programs;

(e) To determine the proper methods of canning, freezing or preserving that may be used to the best advantage of the programs;

(f) With approval of the commissioner, to do those things necessary and proper to accomplish the purposes of the programs;

(g) To determine and establish priorities on the most appropriate and profitable products to be grown and which department lands should be farmed, taking into consideration the available prison labor, existing equipment and funds available therefor, markets for the products, and other matters consistent with prudent agricultural practices;

(h) To manage the food services of the department at the discretion of the commissioner.

(2) The director shall have the right to use inmate labor to the exclusion of prison industries. The superintendents shall provide the prison agricultural enterprises with sufficient inmate labor. If a superintendent refuses to provide inmate labor because of security concerns, the commissioner shall decide if security requirements preclude use of inmate labor. Upon the request of the director, the superintendents shall provide security for prison agricultural enterprises.

(3) The director shall maintain accurate and complete financial records of all receipts and expenditures of the prison agricultural enterprise programs.

(4) The director shall file a full and complete report with the Legislature before January 1 of each year detailing the costs, inventory and receipts of each program. The report shall also provide the cost or cost savings of such programs.

(5) The department may enter into joint ventures with private businesses related to prison agricultural enterprises.

§ 47-5-357

(1)(a) Due to the unique and time sensitive requirements of growing and harvesting products produced by the prison agricultural enterprises, the Department of Finance and Administration and the department shall establish a prudent purchasing policy which may exempt from bid requirements those commodities, items or services which are needed for the efficient and effective management of the prison agricultural enterprises.

(b) Due to the unique and time sensitive requirements of growing and harvesting products produced by the prison agricultural enterprises, the Department of Finance and Administration and the department shall establish a prudent leasing policy which may exempt from bid requirements agricultural equipment which is needed for the efficient and effective management of the prison agricultural enterprises.

(2) The Department of Finance and Administration shall, by order entered on its minutes, list those commodities, items and services exempted from bid requirements as provided in Section 31-7-12.

§ 47-5-371

(1)(a) The Department of Corrections is authorized to create the Inmate Incentive to Work Program. The program shall be made available for eligible inmates housed in state correctional facilities and shall provide certain pay upon work performed in the program. The work offered by inmates shall consist of a wide range of jobs that require varying skill levels.

(b) The department shall adopt rules and regulations as necessary regarding the eligibility of the program as well as the amount of payment to be received by inmates for their work. Inmates who are unable to work or who are in cell confinement shall not be eligible to participate in the program.

(2) There is hereby created a special fund to be known as the “Inmate Incentive to Work Program Fund” to be maintained in a bank to be selected by the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections. It shall be the duty of the bank, so long as it retains such deposits, to make monthly reports to the State Treasurer of the State of Mississippi as to the condition of the funds on deposit in the depository. Such funds shall be used for the payment of inmates who are participants in the Inmate Incentive to Work Program, and the fund shall be funded as provided under Section 47-5-158(b).

§ 47-5-401

(1) There is hereby authorized, in each county of the state, a public service work program for state inmates in custody of the county. Such a program may be established at the option of the county in accordance with the provisions of Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421. The department shall also recommend rules and regulations concerning the participation of state inmates in the program.

(2) An inmate shall not be eligible to participate in a work program established in accordance with the provisions of Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 if he has been convicted of any crime of violence, including but not limited to murder, aggravated assault, rape, robbery or armed robbery.

(3) The inmates participating in the work program established in accordance with the provisions of Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 are restricted to the performance of public service work for counties, municipalities, the state or nonprofit charitable organizations, as defined by Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, except that the Department of Corrections must approve all requests by nonprofit charitable organizations to use offenders to perform any public service work. Upon request of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, or the board of trustees of a county school district, municipal school district or junior college district, the inmates may be permitted to perform work for such boards.

§ 47-5-403

As used in Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421, the following words and terms have the meanings hereby ascribed to them:

(a) “County inmate” means a person convicted of a crime and sentenced to a term of confinement of one (1) year's duration or less.

(b) “State inmate” means a person convicted of a crime and sentenced to the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of confinement of more than one (1) year's duration.

(c) “Department” means the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

§ 47-5-405

Each county electing to establish a work program under Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 is authorized through its sheriff to adopt regulations and policies for joint state-county work programs, including extending the limits of the place of confinement of an eligible inmate as to whom there is reasonable cause to believe he will know his trust.

Any rules, regulations or policies promulgated by the sheriff shall be filed with the board of supervisors, and shall be left on file for a minimum of thirty (30) days before any such rules, regulations or policies can be implemented or utilized for any inmate pursuant to the provisions of Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421. Provided further, such rules as they pertain to state inmates shall also be submitted to the Department of Corrections for approval which shall be granted or rejected within thirty (30) days of submission. If said rules are rejected the reasons therefor shall be stated in writing.

§ 47-5-407

Any county establishing a work program pursuant to Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 may also establish a work camp to be used in carrying out the program, wherein inmates participating in the program may be housed in lieu of confinement in the county jail.

§ 47-5-409

The willful failure of an inmate to remain within the extended limits of his confinement or to return to the place of confinement within the time prescribed shall be deemed an escape from a state penal institution in the case of a state inmate, and an escape from the custody of the sheriff in the case of a county inmate, and shall be punishable accordingly.

§ 47-5-411

The Department of Corrections and the county shall endeavor to secure public service work for eligible inmates under Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421, subject to the following criteria:

(a) Such work shall not result in the displacement of employed workers.

(b) Inmates eligible for work shall not be employed to impair any existing contracts.

(c) Exploitation of eligible inmates, in any form, is prohibited either as it might affect the community, the inmates, the Department of Corrections or the county.

§ 47-5-413

County inmates performing public service work under Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 shall be eligible for earned time credit in the same manner as other inmates confined or detained in the county jail or other county correctional facility. State inmates performing public service work shall be eligible for earned time credit in the same manner as other inmates confined or detained in state prisons or other state correctional facilities.

§ 47-5-415

The sheriff, in the case of county inmates and state inmates incarcerated in county jails, and the Commissioner of Corrections, in the case of state inmates incarcerated in a Mississippi Department of Corrections facility, may institute a procedure for granting passes and leaves to inmates participating under Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421, and may grant such passes or leaves in deserving cases, not to exceed three (3) days or seventy-two (72) hours.

§ 47-5-417

No inmate granted privileges under the provisions of Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 shall be deemed to be an agent, employee or involuntary servant of the Department of Corrections, the state or any political subdivision thereof, while involved in the free community or while going to and from work or other specified areas or while on furlough pass.

§ 47-5-419

The sheriff may designate any officer or employee of the county to do and perform for the county any act or function Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 empower the county to do or perform; provided, however, no elected official of the county shall be designated to do or perform any act or function for the county unless such elected officer is agreeable to being so designated.

The Commissioner of Corrections may designate any employee of the State Department of Corrections to do and perform for the department any act or function Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 empower the department to do or perform.

§ 47-5-421

The provisions of Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 are cumulative and shall not be construed to repeal or supersede any laws directly inconsistent herewith; and it is specifically provided herein that any work program in operation or functioning pursuant to any local law when Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 become law may be continued pursuant to such local law and shall not be affected in any way by Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421. The county conducting such program may, however, at its option convert the program to a program to be governed by Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421.

§ 47-5-431

(1) The sheriff may, in his discretion, use any person who has been convicted of a nonviolent felony and who is serving all or any part of his sentence in the county jail to pick up trash along public roads and state highways within the county.

(2) County inmates performing work under this section shall be eligible for earned time credit in the same manner as state inmates. State inmates shall be eligible for earned time credit in the same manner as other inmates confined or detained in state prisons or other state correctional facilities.

(3) Any inmate escaping while participating in the work described herein shall receive an additional five-year sentence.

§ 47-5-433

The State Highway Commission may furnish vehicles along state highways to pick up trash bagged by inmates.

§ 47-5-441

(1) Any sheriff, or his designee, may use any person who has been convicted of a nonviolent offense and who is serving all or any part of his sentence in the county jail to clear, clean, stabilize, preserve, maintain and restore historic cemeteries in the county. For the purposes of this section the term “historic cemeteries” means cemeteries that are at least one hundred (100) years old.

(2) Before undertaking work on an historic cemetery, the sheriff, or his designee, shall contact the Department of Archives and History to obtain information on the appropriate procedures for the preservation and restoration of an historical cemetery.

(3) Any sheriff, or his designee, may use any person who has been convicted of a crime and is serving all or part of his sentence in the county jail, who volunteers his time, to prepare or serve food in county or public facilities in conjunction with a nonprofit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

§ 47-5-451

(1) There is hereby authorized, in each county of the state, a public service work program for state inmates in custody of the county. Such a program may be established at the option of the county in accordance with the provisions of Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421. The department shall also recommend rules and regulations concerning the participation of state inmates in the program.

(2) An inmate shall not be eligible to participate in a work program established in accordance with the provisions of Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421, if he has been convicted of any crime of violence, including, but not limited to, murder, aggravated assault, rape, robbery or armed robbery.

(3) The inmates participating in the work program established in accordance with the provisions of Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421, are restricted to the performance of public service work for counties, municipalities, the state, nonprofit charitable organizations or churches, as defined by Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, except that the Department of Corrections must approve all requests by nonprofit charitable organizations or churches to use offenders to perform any public service work. Upon request of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, or the board of trustees of a county school district, municipal school district or junior college district, the inmates may be permitted to perform work for such boards.

§ 47-5-452

Upon written request by a majority of the board of supervisors of any county, the Commissioner of Corrections may authorize offenders committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections to clean abandoned or neglected cemeteries of the county or clean public roads of the county. The offenders shall be under the supervision of the department and the department shall establish all proper regulations for the working, guarding, safekeeping, clothing, housing and subsistence of offenders while working.

§ 47-5-453

Each county board of supervisors electing to establish a work program under Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-469 shall adopt regulations and policies as authorized by the Department of Corrections for joint state-county work programs, including extending the limits of the place of confinement of an eligible inmate as to whom there is reasonable cause to believe he will know his trust. Extending the limits of the place of confinement may include confinement at the residence of the subject inmate wherein the primary maintenance and care of the inmate shall take place, subject to approval by the department and county.

Violations by inmates participating in such programs of any such rules, regulations or policies shall result in the ineligibility of the inmates to participate in such programs, and shall result in the inmate's immediate incarceration.

§ 47-5-455

Any county board of supervisors establishing a work program pursuant to Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-469 may also establish a work camp to be used in carrying out the program, wherein inmates participating in the program may be housed.

§ 47-5-457

The willful failure of an inmate to remain within the extended limits of his confinement or to return to the place of confinement within the time prescribed shall be deemed an escape from a state penal institution and shall be punishable accordingly.

§ 47-5-459

(1) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, the State Department of Corrections and the county board of supervisors shall endeavor to secure public service work or private paid employment for eligible inmates under Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-469, subject to the following criteria:

(a) Such work shall not result in the displacement of employed workers.

(b) Inmates eligible for work shall not be employed to impair any existing contracts.

(c) Exploitation of eligible inmates, in any form, is prohibited either as it might affect the community, the inmates, the department or the county.

(2) In those cases in which inmates have been authorized to engage in paid employment in the private sector which has been approved by the Department of Corrections and a county board of supervisors electing to establish a work program under Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-469, the disposition of funds received by such inmates shall be allocated by the Department of Corrections and the county board of supervisors. The guidelines to be used in the allocation of such funds shall include consideration of the following:

(a) The cost of maintenance of the inmate in his place of confinement and reimbursement for same to the appropriate person or entity;

(b) The operating expenses and costs incurred by the county or Department of Corrections in operating such a work program and reimbursement to such county or to the department; and

(c) Restitution to any victim of the offense for which the inmate was convicted in such amounts and under such conditions as the sentencing court may have imposed.

§ 47-5-461

State inmates performing public service work or private paid employment under Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-469 shall be eligible for earned time credit allowances in the same manner as other inmates confined or detained in state prisons or other state correctional facilities.

§ 47-5-463

The Commissioner of Corrections may institute a procedure for granting passes and leaves to inmates participating under Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-469, and may grant such passes or leaves in deserving cases, not to exceed three (3) days or seventy-two (72) hours.

§ 47-5-465

No inmate granted privileges under Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-469 shall be deemed to be an agent, employee or involuntary servant of the Department of Corrections, any county board of supervisors, the state or any political subdivision thereof, while involved in the free community or while going to and from work or other specified areas or while on furlough pass.

§ 47-5-467

The Commissioner of Corrections may designate any employee of the department to do and perform for the department any act or function which Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-469 empower the department to do or perform.

§ 47-5-469

The provisions of Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-469 of this chapter are cumulative and shall not be construed to repeal or supersede any laws directly inconsistent herewith; and it is specifically provided herein that any work program in operation or functioning pursuant to any local law when Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-469 of this chapter become law may be continued pursuant to such local law and shall not be affected in any way by Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-469 of this chapter. The county board of supervisors conducting such program may, however, at its option, convert the program to a program to be governed by Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-469.

§ 47-5-471

Upon the request of any county for eligible inmates, the Department of Corrections shall make available for participation in the state-county work program in the requesting county any eligible inmates. Upon request and approval of such request by the Department of Corrections, the requesting county shall arrange for transportation of such inmates from the Department of Corrections to such county. Upon receiving any inmates, the county shall be responsible for all expenses related to housing and caring for such inmates but shall be reimbursed by the Department of Corrections at the rate prescribed under Section 47-5-901(2). Regardless of any eligibility criteria established by the Department of Corrections, no inmate convicted of a sex crime, a crime of violence as defined by Section 97-3-2, or any other crime which specifically prohibits parole shall be eligible for participation in the program. The requesting county may, in its sole discretion, refuse any inmate deemed to present an undue risk to such county.

§ 47-5-473

<This section is repealed pursuant to its own terms on July 1, 2027.>

(1) The Sheriffs of Rankin County, Harrison County, Lee County and Hinds County are authorized to establish a Pilot Work Release Program. No person sentenced for a crime listed in Section 97-3-2 shall be eligible for participation in the program established under this section. During the pilot phase of the program, there shall be a limit of twenty-five (25) people in the program at a time.

(2) The sheriff shall collect and maintain data which shall be shared semiannually with the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) and the Corrections and Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force in sortable electronic format. The first report shall be made before January 15, 2022, and in six-month intervals thereafter. The data shall include:

(a) Total number of participants at the beginning of each month by race, gender, and offenses charged;

(b) Total number of participants at the end of each month by race, gender, and offenses charged;

(c) Total number of participants who began the program in each month by race, gender, and offenses charged;

(d) Total number of participants who successfully completed the program in each month by race, gender, and offenses charged;

(e) Total number of participants who left the program in each month and reason for leaving by race, gender, and offenses charged;

(f) Total number of participants who were arrested for a new criminal offense while in the program in each month by race, gender, and offenses charged;

(g) Total number of participants who were convicted of a new crime while in the program in each month by race, gender, and offenses charged;

(h) Total number of participants who completed the program and were convicted of a new crime within three (3) years of completing the program;

(i) Total amount earned by participants and how the earnings were distributed in each month;

(j) Results of any initial risk and needs assessments conducted on each participant by race, gender, and offenses charged; and

(k) Any other data or information as requested by the task force.

(3) Any person who has been sentenced to confinement in jail or who has been sentenced for a felony conviction but is confined in a jail may request assignment to the work release program established under this section. Admission to the program shall be in the discretion of the sheriff. The sheriff may further authorize the offender to participate in educational or other rehabilitative programs designed to supplement his work release employment or to prepare the person for successful reentry. No offender shall be eligible for this program if he or she has more than one (1) year remaining on his or her sentence.

(4) The sheriff shall adopt and publish rules and regulations prior to accepting inmates. These rules and regulations shall at a minimum include all requirements for work release programs established pursuant to Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-471. Participating employers shall pay no less than the prevailing wage for the position and shall under no circumstance pay less than the federal minimum wage.

(5) Any offender assigned to such a program by the sheriff who, without proper authority or just cause, leaves the area to which he has been assigned to work or attend educational or other rehabilitative programs, or leaves the vehicle or route of travel involved in his or her going to or returning from such place, will be guilty of escape as provided in Section 97-9-49. An offender who is found guilty under this section shall be ineligible for further participation in a work release program during his or her current term of confinement.

(6)(a) The offender shall maintain an account through a local financial institution and shall provide a copy of a check stub to the sheriff.

(b) The offender shall be required:

(i) To pay twenty-five percent (25%) of his or her wages after mandatory deductions for the following purposes:

(1.) To pay support of dependents or to the Mississippi Department of Human Services on behalf of dependents as may be ordered by a judge of competent jurisdiction; and

(2.) To pay any fines, restitution, or costs as ordered by the court to include any fines and fees associated with obtaining a valid driver's license upon release.

(ii) To pay fifteen percent (15%) of the offender's wages to the sheriff's department for administrative expenses to include transportation costs.

(iii) To save fifty percent (50%) of the offender's wages in the account required under paragraph (a) of this subsection. Monies under this subparagraph shall be made available to the offender upon parole or release.

(c) The offender shall have access to the remaining ten percent (10%) of the monies in his or her account to purchase incidental expenses.

(d) Any monies remaining under paragraph (a) of this subsection after all mandatory deductions are paid, shall be deposited in the inmate's account established under this subsection. Any monies remaining upon release in paragraph (c) of this subsection shall be released to the inmate.

(7) The Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) shall conduct a review of the work release program established under this section and beginning in 2024 produce an annual report due December 1 each year to the Legislature on the effectiveness of the program. The PEER Committee shall seek the assistance of the Corrections and Criminal Justice Task Force and may seek assistance from any other criminal justice experts it deems necessary during its review.

(8) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2027.

§ 47-5-501

Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, it is hereby declared to be the intent of the Legislature to provide vocational education and training for offenders in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and simultaneously reimburse the state for the expenses of incarcerating such offenders. To implement this goal, the Legislature intends for the Department of Corrections to work in conjunction with private industry to locate viable industries and businesses on property utilized by the State Prison Correctional System and utilize offenders in the custody of the Department of Corrections as the labor force necessary to conduct their operations.

§ 47-5-505

(1) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, the Department of Economic Development, and the Mississippi State University Cooperative Extension Service shall collaborate with the Department of Corrections in an initial evaluation of viable industries and businesses readily found in the present economy and a determination of which of these would effectively function within the correctional industries work program. Special consideration shall be given to those industries and businesses which will provide vocational education and training for offenders so as to assist offenders in functioning more successfully following their release from custody.

(2) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, in conjunction with the initial evaluation and determination described in subsection (1) of this section, the Department of Economic Development shall have the primary responsibility of identifying and evaluating acceptable industries and businesses and of acting as an agent of the Department of Corrections by communicating with such concerns and aggressively soliciting their participation in the correctional industries work program.

(3) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, after an acceptable industry or business has expressed an interest in participating in the correctional industries work program, the Department of Corrections shall negotiate any necessary contractual agreements and arrangements between the concern and the Department of Corrections, including (a) leases of up to twenty-five (25) years, renewable at the option of the lessee for an additional ten-year period at the end of each lease term, of any property utilized by the state prison correctional system, and (b) authorization for such industry or business to develop leased property in a manner necessary to conduct the operation or project.

(4) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, any contracts concerning the leasing of real property by the Board of Corrections, any rules and regulations promulgated by the board and the making of any contract by the Department of Corrections with any private business shall be ratified and approved by the Governor's Office of General Services.

§ 47-5-507

The participating industry or business shall be responsible for providing the offenders with any vocational education or training necessary for employment. Upon an offender's release from custody, the participating industry or business may offer such offender a similar employment opportunity at a free-world location or facility operated by the industry or business.

§ 47-5-509

The department of corrections shall at all times be responsible for the security of the facility being used for the operation or project. No offender granted privileges under the provisions of Section 47-5-501 et seq. shall be deemed to be an agent, employee, or involuntary servant of the participating industry or business while working in the correctional industries work program, or while going to and from employment or other specified areas.

§ 47-5-513

Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, proceeds of funds paid by industries or businesses participating in the correctional industries work program shall be paid into the special fund in the State Treasury to the credit of the Department of Corrections for the operating expenses of the department.

§ 47-5-515

(1) The Department of Corrections shall establish work training programs in conjunction with private industry to provide training to offenders in those trades in which there is a shortage of workers.

(2) The commissioner may cooperate with private industry for the establishment of work training programs.

(3) Private industry shall provide the training at state correctional facilities.

§ 47-5-517

The Department of Corrections shall contract with the Department of Economic and Community Development for a training and work program for inmates to perform data processing entry at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility.

§ 47-5-531

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575 shall be known as the “Mississippi Prison Industries Act of 1990.”

§ 47-5-533

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

(1) It is the finding of the Legislature that prison industry programs of the State Department of Corrections are uniquely different from other programs operated or conducted by other departments in that it is essential to the state that the prison industry programs provide inmates with useful activities that can lead to meaningful employment after release in order to assist in reducing the return of inmates to the system.

(2) It is further the finding of the Legislature that the mission of a prison industry program is:

(a) To reduce the cost of state government by operating prison industries primarily with inmate labor, which industries do not seek to unreasonably compete with private enterprise;

(b) To serve the rehabilitative goals of the state by duplicating as nearly as possible, the operating activities of a free-enterprise type of profit-making enterprise; and

(c) To serve the security goals of the state by reducing the idleness of inmates and by providing an incentive for good behavior while in prison.

§ 47-5-535

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

(1) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, it is the intent of the Legislature that a nonprofit corporation be organized and formed, within sixty (60) days from April 4, 1990, to lease and manage the prison industry programs of the Mississippi Correctional Industries. The corporation created and established shall be a body politic and corporate, may acquire and hold real and personal property, may receive, hold and dispense monies appropriated to it by the Legislature of the State of Mississippi received from the federal government, received from the sale of products, goods, and services which it produces, and received from any other sources whatsoever.

(2) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, it is the further intent of the Legislature that the nonprofit corporation shall create any additional prison industry program as it deems fit, and any such program shall be created in compliance with the provisions of Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575.

(3) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, it is the further intent of the Legislature that such nonprofit corporation shall have exclusive rights to operate any prison industry program and when such corporation is lawfully formed, no other public or private entity shall be allowed to carry out the provisions of Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575.

(4) It is the further intent of the Legislature, that the nonprofit corporation which is required to be organized and formed under Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575 shall locate and operate prison industries at any state correctional facility with the approval of the Commissioner of Corrections. It is the intent of the Legislature that the nonprofit corporation locate and operate such industries in an orderly and expeditious manner. Such corporation may locate and operate prison industries at other prison satellites, at community work centers in the state, at any private correctional facility which houses state inmates and at any regional correctional facility as authorized under Section 47-5-931. No industrial prison program shall be located at a site other than state prison facilities approved by the commissioner.

§ 47-5-537

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

The Secretary of State, or his designee, shall assist the Department of Corrections and the Department of Finance and Administration in the formation of the nonprofit corporation, and within sixty (60) days after the formation of the corporation, the corporation shall apply for exemption from federal tax under the provisions of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Any program of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the State Department of Human Services shall not be classified as prison industries under the provisions Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575.

§ 47-5-539

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

For the purposes of Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575, the following terms shall have the following meaning unless the context shall provide otherwise:

(a) “Chief executive officer” means the chief executive officer of the corporation established under this chapter.

(b) “Corporation” means the private nonprofit corporation which is required to be organized and formed to carry out the provisions of Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575 regarding prison industries.

(c) “Department” means the State Department of Corrections.

(d) “Inmate” means any person under the jurisdiction of the Mississippi Department of Corrections who is incarcerated within any of the following state, regional or private correctional facilities:

(i) Central Mississippi Correctional Facility;

(ii) Marshall County Correctional Facility;

(iii) Mississippi State Penitentiary;

(iv) Delta Correctional Facility;

(v) Mississippi Correctional Institute for Women;

(vi) South Mississippi Correctional Institution;

(vii) Walnut Grove Correctional Facility;

(viii) Alcorn County Regional Correctional Facility;

(ix) Carroll/Montgomery County Regional Correctional Facility;

(x) George/Greene County Correctional Facility;

(xi) Bolivar County Correctional Facility;

(xii) Chickasaw County Regional Correctional Facility;

(xiii) Holmes/Humphreys County Correctional Facility;

(xiv) Issaquena County Correctional Facility;

(xv) Kemper/Neshoba County Regional Correctional Facility;

(xvi) Jefferson/Franklin County Correctional Facility;

(xvii) Leake County Correctional Facility;

(xviii) Marion/Walthall County Correctional Facility;

(xix) Washington County Regional Correctional Facility;

(xx) Yazoo Regional Correctional Facility;

(xxi) Stone County Correctional Facility;

(xxii) Winston/Choctaw County Correctional Facility;

(xxiii) East Mississippi Correctional Facility; and

(xxiv) Wilkinson County Correctional Facility.

(e) “Prison industry program” means any program which is considered to be a part of any prison industry in this state.

(f) “Prison agricultural enterprises” means all agricultural endeavors as defined in Section 47-5-353.

(g) “Work initiative” or “initiative” means the program authorized in Section 47-5-579.

§ 47-5-541

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

(1) The corporation shall be governed by a board of directors. The terms of the board of directors in place before July 1, 2022, shall expire June 30, 2022. From and after July 1, 2022, the board of directors of the nonprofit corporation shall be composed of the following five (5) members:

(a) The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections or his or her designee;

(b) One (1) representative of the faith-based community who is a resident of the State of Mississippi, appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate;

(c) One (1) representative of the business community who is a resident of the State of Mississippi, appointed by the Lieutenant Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate;

(d) The Executive Director of the Office of Workforce Development or his or her designee; and

(e) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Community College Board or his or her designee.

For the initial appointments, the representative of the faith-based community shall serve for a term of one (1) year; the representative of the business community shall serve for a term of two (2) years; the Executive Director of the Office of Workforce Development or his or her designee shall serve for a term of three (3) years and the Executive Director of the Mississippi Community College Board shall serve for a term of four (4) years. All succeeding terms shall be for four (4) years from the expiration date of the previous term. The term of the Commissioner of Corrections shall run concurrent with his or her term or terms as commissioner. Initial appointments shall be made within thirty (30) days after July 1, 2022. Any vacancy on the board prior to the expiration of a term for any reason, including resignation, removal, disqualification, death or disability shall be filled in the manner prescribed in paragraphs (a) through (e) of this subsection for the balance of the unexpired term. The officers of the corporation shall consist of a chairman, vice chairman and a secretary-treasurer. The officers shall be selected by the members of the board. However, the Commissioner of Corrections shall not be eligible to serve as an officer of the corporation.

(2)(a) The board of directors shall select and employ a chief executive officer of the corporation who shall serve at the pleasure of the board. The board shall set the compensation of the chief executive officer. The chief executive officer shall be responsible for the general business and entire operations of the corporation, and shall be responsible for operating the corporation in compliance with the bylaws of the corporation and in compliance with any provision of law. The board shall be authorized and empowered to do only those acts provided by law and by the bylaws of the corporation. Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, such board shall have the authority to establish prison industries, to cease the operation of any industry which it deems unsuitable or unprofitable, to enter into any lease or contract for the corporation and it shall have the full authority to establish prices for any industry good.

(b) The chief executive officer of the corporation shall work in collaboration with the Executive Director of the Office of Workforce Development to implement workforce development programs within the corrections system which align with the strategic plan for an integrated workforce development system for the state, as described in Section 37-153-7.

(c) The chief executive officer of the corporation shall be a person with extensive experience in development of economic, human and physical resources, with an emphasis in the corrections or reentry environments preferred. The chief executive officer of the corporation shall have at least a bachelor's degree from a state-accredited institution and no less than eight (8) years of professional experience related to workforce development.

(d) With the assistance of the Office of Workforce Development, the chief executive officer of the corporation shall:

(i) Inventory and measure the effectiveness of current workforce development programs in the state corrections system, with the goal of eliminating any programs which do not result in desired outcomes, including, but not limited to, an increase in employment in reentering offenders, a better environment within correctional facilities in the state, or a reduction in recidivism;

(ii) Partner with educational institutions to provide additional opportunities in workforce development programs for offenders leading to high-wage, high-skill jobs upon reentry;

(iii) Provide information, as appropriate, to offenders on workforce development programs available within the corrections system;

(iv) Work with industry to identify barriers which inhibit offender reentry and employment and evaluate the responsiveness of the corrections system and other support entities to the needs of industry;

(v) Develop short-term and long-term goals for the state related to workforce development and reentry offender employment within the corrections system; and

(vi) Perform a comprehensive review of workforce development in the corrections system, including the amount expended on programs supported by state or federal money and their outcomes.

(3) No member of the board of directors shall vote on any matter that comes before the board that could result in pecuniary benefit for himself or for any entity in which such member has an interest.

(4) In addition to the board of directors, an advisory board may be set up for the benefit of each industry which is established pursuant to the provisions of Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575. Such boards shall be advisory only, and may be set up in the discretion of the board of directors of the corporation.

(5) Each member of the board of directors of the corporation shall receive per diem as provided in Section 25-3-69 for each day or fraction thereof spent in actual discharge of his official duties and shall be reimbursed for mileage and actual expenses incurred in the performance of his official duties in accordance with the requirements of Section 25-3-41, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(6) The board of directors shall make and publish policies, rules and regulations governing all business functions, including but not limited to accounting, marketing, purchasing and personnel, not inconsistent with the terms of Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575, as may be necessary for the efficient administration and operation of the corporation.

(7) The chief executive officer of the corporation shall:

(a) Employ all necessary employees of the corporation and dismiss them as is necessary;

(b) Administer the daily operations of the corporation, including establishing education, training and workforce development programs in collaboration with the Office of Workforce Development and other relevant state and federal agencies;

(c) Upon approval of the board of directors, execute any contracts on behalf of the corporation; and

(d) Take any further actions which are necessary and proper toward the achievement of the corporation purposes.

(8) A member of the board of directors of the corporation shall not be liable for any civil damages for any personal injury or property damage caused to a person as a result of any acts or omissions committed in good faith in the exercise of their duties as members of the board of directors of the corporation, except where a member of the board engages in acts or omissions which are intentional, willful, wanton, reckless or grossly negligent.

§ 47-5-543

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

(1) Within sixty (60) days after the formation of the corporation pursuant to the provisions of Section 47-5-535, the State Department of Corrections shall lease to the corporation all existing prison industries including the buildings, land, furnishings, equipment and other chattel used in the operation of such industries. Such lease shall be agreed upon by the State Department of Corrections, State Department of Finance and Administration and the corporation. The initial term of such lease shall not exceed six (6) years, provided that such lease may be renewed for additional successive terms of years not to exceed six (6) years in any one (1) renewal. No sublease to the corporation shall be in excess of that amount for which the department is obligated to pay under any lease agreement with any other state agency. Any receivable and remaining funds shall be transferred to the corporation after the payment of any existing liabilities. No operating loss of any type shall be transferred to the corporation. The State Department of Corrections shall continue to manage and operate the prison industries until such industries are leased to the corporation. When leasing any prison industry program to the corporation, the corporation shall exercise a reasonable effort to employ any personnel of the State Department of Corrections who are currently involved in any prison industry program being leased to the corporation. Before the leasing of the prison industries, buildings, lands and other items mentioned herein to the corporation, the State Auditor of Public Accounts shall perform a comprehensive audit of all the items and things mentioned herein which are to be leased by the department to the corporation. The corporation may expand, eliminate, suspend or alter any of its industries as it sees fit.

(2) Any lands, buildings, equipment, furnishings, livestock, supplies and vehicles used in the department's farming operations which were leased or transferred to the nonprofit corporation under subsection (1) shall be transferred to the department. Any personnel in the department's farming operations employed by the nonprofit corporation who desire to be reassigned to the department and who are under state service may be reassigned to the department.

(3) The department is not required to lease land, buildings, equipment, furnishings or other chattel used in its prison agricultural enterprises.

§ 47-5-545

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, after the commissioning and implementation of a marketing feasibility study for any proposed new prison industry, the corporation may establish such prison industry. Before any new industry is established, the corporation shall hold a hearing to determine the impact such industry may have on the private sector market. The corporation shall provide adequate and advance notice regarding the nature, time, date and place of such hearing. After the hearing which is required under this section, the corporation may commence negotiations with the State Department of Corrections, with the Secretary of State, or his designee, serving as a mediator, regarding the leasing of land and other chattels for the purpose of establishing any new industry.

§ 47-5-547

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, any training program or auxiliary program associated with any existing prison industry shall be transferred to the corporation. The corporation is empowered and authorized to establish in participation with any community or junior college or state institution of higher learning, any training or auxiliary program for existing prison industries or for any industries which the corporation might create. Such community or junior college or state institution of higher learning shall provide assistance in business planning, marketing and analysis of existing or projected industries. These industrial services shall be contracted with any appropriate community or junior college or state institution of higher learning when these industries are developed at other correction sites.

§ 47-5-549

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

Any service or item manufactured, processed, grown or produced by the corporation from its prison industries may be furnished or sold to any legislative, executive or judicial branch of the state, any political subdivision or any governing authority of the state, any other state, any school, college or university of the state, any foreign government, any agency of the federal government or to any private entity. The corporation shall make reasonable efforts to purchase raw materials from in-state vendors. The prices for industry-made products shall be established by the board of directors of the corporation or its designee.

§ 47-5-551

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

In the event the corporation is dissolved or its lease of any prison industry program expires or is otherwise terminated, all property relating to such prison industry program which ceases to function because of such termination or dissolution, including all funds, buildings, land, furnishings, equipment and other chattels subsequently purchased or otherwise acquired by the corporation in connection with its continued operation of that program, automatically reverts to full ownership by the department.

§ 47-5-553

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

Before any prison industry may commence operations, the chief executive officer of the corporation must communicate with the Commissioner of Corrections regarding the proper security for the facility. If at anytime the Commissioner of Corrections recognizes a need for improvement in the security at any facility, then he or she shall communicate to the corporation regarding what improvements are needed for the facility to be properly secured. The corporation shall furnish its own security within the parameters of any prison industry work area.

§ 47-5-555

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

The department shall, subject to the necessary security requirements and the needs of the corporation, provide to the corporation sufficient inmate labor for the various prison industry programs. The department may adopt rules and regulations as may be necessary to govern the use of inmates by the corporation. The corporation shall establish policies and procedures, subject to the approval of the department, relating to the use of inmates in the prison industry programs.

§ 47-5-557

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

Any inmate who performs work for the corporation, except those inmates employed by the corporation in the Prison Industry Enhancement Program under Section 47-5-1251, shall not be deemed an agent, employee or involuntary servant of the corporation while performing such work or while going to and from work or other specified areas.

§ 47-5-559

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

The corporation shall submit to the Governor and the Legislature, on or before January 1 of each year, a report on the status of the correctional work programs, including, but not limited to, the programs and funds which have been transferred to the corporation, the programs and funds to be taken over within the next year and the proposed use of the profits from such programs, a breakdown of the amount of noninmate labor used, work subcontracted to other vendors, use of consultants, finished goods purchased for resale, and the number of inmates working in the correctional work programs at the time of the report. In addition, the corporation shall submit to the department, the Governor and the Legislature an annual independently audited financial statement and such other information as may be requested by the Legislature together with recommendations from the corporation relating to provisions for reasonable tax incentives to private enterprises that employ inmates, parolees or former inmates who have participated in correctional work programs. The department shall include, as a portion of its annual report, a report on post-release job placement and the rate of subsequent contact with the correctional system for those inmates who have participated in the correctional work programs operated by the corporation and by the department. Beginning January 1, 1991, the State Auditor shall conduct an annual financial audit of the corporation in conjunction with an independent audit conducted by the corporation's auditors. The State Auditor and the legislative PEER committee shall also conduct a biennial performance audit of the corporation for the period beginning January 1, 1991, through January 1, 1993, and thereafter upon the joint request of the Senate Corrections Committee, House Corrections Committee, Senate Finance Committee, and House Ways and Means Committee.

§ 47-5-561

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

(1) In addition to its other powers, the corporation shall have the power to request, through the department, an appropriation of general revenue funds for the purposes of operation of, addition to or renovation of facilities or correctional work programs at the various correctional institutions; however, upon receipt of such appropriation, the rental paid by the corporation for the operation of or such new remodeled or renovated facilities or the operation of a correctional work program shall be sufficient to amortize its cost over a period of five (5) years.

(2) The corporation shall maintain those prison industries funds in excess of that amount necessary for sustaining quarterly or monthly operations of the corporation in an interest-bearing account best serving the proper management of corporation funds and earning the maximum amount of interest allowed by law. The corporation shall cause monies from the interest-bearing account to be deposited quarterly or monthly into the corporation's checking account in order to pay the legal debts of the corporation, approved for payment by the corporation.

§ 47-5-563

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

(1) The department may adopt such rules as may be necessary to govern the use of inmates by the corporation; however, such rules shall be related only to the need for security, inmate projections, and efficient operation of each institution.

(2) The corporation, with the input of the department, shall establish policies and procedures subject to the approval of the department's legal counsel relating to the use of inmates in the correctional work programs.

(3) All such policies and procedures adopted by the department and the corporation shall be placed on file in the Office of the Secretary of State.

§ 47-5-565

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

To carry out the provisions of Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575, the provisions of Sections 47-5-301 et seq., and 47-5-501 et seq., Mississippi Code of 1972, the corporation shall authorize the transfer and expending of monies from the Prison Industries Fund.

§ 47-5-567

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, no inmate shall be eligible for unemployment compensation or workmen's compensation whether employed by the corporation or by any other private enterprise operating on the grounds of a correctional institution or elsewhere where such employment shall be a part of a correctional work program or work release program of either the corporation or the department.

§ 47-5-569

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

(1) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, if the department leases a single correctional work program at any correctional institution to the corporation, the corporation shall lease all such correctional work programs at that institution. Any rent paid by the corporation to the department shall be deposited in a correctional programs trust fund for enhancement of education and training, post-release job placement, and other correctional purposes related to the purposes of Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575.

(2) All leases of department-owned land for the funding or operations of the corporation shall be subject to the approval of the corporation, the Mississippi Department of Corrections and the Public Procurement Review Board.

(3) This section shall not apply to any program within the prison agricultural enterprises operated by the department.

§ 47-5-571

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, no goods, wares, services or merchandise manufactured, mined or offered in whole or in part by prisoners shall be sold or offered by any person or other authority except by the corporation, as authorized by Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575.

§ 47-5-573

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

(1) In adopting or modifying master plans for correctional work programs, and in the administration of the Department of Corrections, it shall be the objective of the department to develop a logical sequence of vocational training, employment by correctional work programs, and post-release job placement for inmates participating in correctional work programs.

(2) The Department of Corrections shall establish guidelines for the development of correctional work programs.

(3) The needs of the corporation shall be considered by the department when assigning and transferring prisoners to correctional institutions. The following criteria shall be used when assigning and transferring inmates:

(a) Skills of the inmate relevant to the corporation's industries;

(b) Security classification of the inmate relevant to the type of corporation's industry;

(c) Duration of availability of the inmate for employment by the corporation;

(d) Establishment of a concept of potentially rehabilitative inmate.

§ 47-5-575

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of § 47-5-577. >

Any records or reports which relate to the financial aspect or operations of the corporation, with the exception of any trade secrets, shall be considered as public records and shall be subject to the provisions of the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983.

§ 47-5-577

Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575, which create the Mississippi Prison Industries Act of 1990, shall stand repealed from and after July 1, 2027.

§ 47-5-579

(1)(a) The corporation shall operate a work initiative at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, South Mississippi Correctional Institution, Mississippi State Penitentiary and the Mississippi Correctional Institute for Women, and is authorized, in its discretion, to create a work initiative at any other correctional facility listed in Section 47-5-539(d). In lieu of a work initiative created by the corporation, the warden or superintendent or sheriff at any regional and private facility listed in Section 47-5-539 is authorized to create a work initiative at their respective facility consistent with the provisions and requirements of this section. Each initiative shall be limited to no more than twenty-five (25) inmates in the state, regional or private facility at any given time.

(b) The department, with regard to a work initiative in an MDOC facility, shall:

(i) Have the ultimate authority for oversight of the administration of the initiative;

(ii) Delegate the administration of the initiative to the corporation; and

(iii) Oversee the selection of inmates for admission to the initiative.

(c) The sheriff, with regard to a work initiative at a regional facility, shall:

(i) Have the ultimate authority for oversight of the administration of the initiative;

(ii) Oversee the selection of inmates for admission to the initiative; and

(iii) Work with the department and the corporation to establish guidelines for the initiative and develop a report thereon.

(2)(a) An inmate is eligible for participation in the initiative if the inmate has:

(i) No more than two (2) years remaining on the inmate's sentence;

(ii) Not been convicted under Section 97-9-49 within the last five (5) years; and

(iii) Not been sentenced for a sex offense as defined in Section 45-33-23(h).

(b) Any inmate who meets the eligibility requirements of paragraph (a) may request assignment to a work initiative established under this section.

(3)(a) The commissioner, in the case of MDOC facilities, or the warden, superintendent, sheriff or similar leader in the case of regional and private facilities, shall select inmates for admission to the program.

(b) An inmate currently participating in vocational training or a soft skills training program at a facility authorized to operate a work initiative shall have priority in admission to the program.

(4)(a) The chief executive officer, in the case of MDOC facilities, or the warden, superintendent, sheriff or similar leader in the case of regional and private facilities, may authorize the inmate to participate in educational or other rehabilitative programs designed to supplement his work initiative employment or to prepare the person for successful reentry.

(b) Before accepting any participants to the program, the corporation, in consultation with the department, shall adopt and publish rules and regulations to effectuate this section no later than six (6) months after the effective date of this section. These rules and regulations shall include all protection requirements for work release programs established pursuant to Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-471.

(5) Participating employers shall pay no less than the prevailing wage for the position and shall under no circumstance pay less than the federal minimum wage.

(6) Any inmate assigned to the initiative who, without proper authority or just cause, leaves the area to which he has been assigned to work or attend educational or other rehabilitative programs, or leaves the vehicle or route of travel involved in his or her going to or returning from such place, will be guilty of escape as provided in Section 97-9-49. An offender who is convicted under Section 97-9-49 shall be ineligible for further participation in the work initiative during his or her current term of confinement.

(7)(a) The inmate shall maintain an account through a local financial institution and shall provide a copy of a check stub to the chief executive officer, the warden, the superintendent or the sheriff at a regional facility, as the case may be.

(b) The inmate shall be required:

(i) To pay twenty-five percent (25%) of the inmate's wages after mandatory deductions for the following purposes:

1. To pay support of dependents or to the Mississippi Department of Human Services on behalf of dependents as may be ordered by a judge of competent jurisdiction; and

2. To pay any fines, restitution, or costs as ordered by the court to include any fines and fees associated with obtaining a valid driver's license upon release.

(ii) To pay fifteen percent (15%) of the inmate's wages to the corporation for administrative expenses to include transportation costs to be remitted to the state, regional or private facility where the inmate is housed. In the case of state facilities, the administrative expense reimbursement shall be paid to the corporation; in the case of regional facilities, the administrative expense reimbursement shall be paid to the sheriff's department; in the case of private facilities the administrative expense reimbursement shall be paid to the contractor overseeing the facility.

(iii) To save fifty percent (50%) of the inmate's wages in the account required under paragraph (a) of this subsection. Monies under this subparagraph shall be made available to the inmate upon parole or release.

(c) The inmate shall have access to the remaining ten percent (10%) of the monies in the inmate's account to purchase incidental expenses.

(d) Any monies remaining under paragraph (a) of this subsection after all mandatory deductions are paid, shall be deposited in the inmate's account established under this subsection. Any monies remaining upon release in paragraph (c) of this subsection shall be released to the inmate.

(8) The chief executive officer of the corporation shall collect and maintain data which shall be shared semiannually with the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) and the Corrections and Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force in sortable electronic format. The first report shall be made on January 15, 2023, and in six-month intervals thereafter unless PEER establishes a different schedule. The data shall include:

(a) Total number of participants at the end of each month by race, gender, and offenses charged;

(b) Total number of participants who began the program in each month by race, gender, and offenses charged;

(c) Total number of participants who successfully completed the program in each month by race, gender, and offenses charged;

(d) Total number of participants who left the program in each month and reason for leaving by race, gender, and offenses charged;

(e) Total number of participants who were arrested for a new criminal offense while in the program in each month by race, gender and offenses charged;

(f) Total number of participants who were convicted of a new crime while in the program in each month by race, gender and offenses charged;

(g) Total number of participants who completed the program and were convicted of a new crime within three (3) years of completing the program;

(h) Total amount earned by participants and how the earnings were distributed in each month;

(i) Results of any initial risk and needs assessments conducted on each participant by race, gender, and offenses charged;

(j) List of participating employers;

(k) List of jobs acquired by participants;

(l) List of the hourly wage paid to each participant;

(m) Accounting of the manner and use of the ten percent (10%) of the wages paid to the corporation by the inmate for administrative expenses;

(n) Total costs associated with program operations;

(o) List of participating financial institutions;

(p) The number of accounts opened by participants at financial institutions;

(q) The average hourly wage earned in the program; and

(r) Any other data or information as requested by the task force.

(9) The Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) shall conduct a review of the initiative, including any expansion of the initiative authorized under this section, and produce an annual report to the Legislature on their effectiveness by January 1 of each year. The PEER Committee shall seek the assistance of the Corrections and Criminal Justice Task Force and may seek assistance from any other criminal justice experts it deems necessary during its review.

§ 47-5-601

The Mississippi Department of Corrections is authorized to establish a drug identification program and shall have the power and duty to adopt rules not inconsistent with law as it may deem proper and necessary with respect to the establishment, administration and operation of the program.

§ 47-5-603

Any offender on probation or released from a facility of the Department of Corrections on parole or earned probation who remains under the supervision of the Department of Corrections or any offender who is incarcerated in a state correctional facility may be required to participate in the Mississippi Department of Corrections drug identification program. Participation by an offender would consist of submission by the offender, from time to time and upon the request of a parole or probation supervisor, or authorized personnel of the department to any type of breath, saliva or urine chemical analysis test, the purpose of which is to detect the possible presence of alcohol or a substance prohibited or controlled by any law of the State of Mississippi or the United States.

§ 47-5-605

Each time the results of such a chemical analysis test indicate the unauthorized presence of alcohol or a controlled substance in the parolee or probationer, he or she shall be required to pay a fee of Ten Dollars ($10.00) to the Mississippi Department of Corrections drug identification program, which fee shall be used to pay for the cost of administering that particular test. All other costs of the program, including the costs of administering such tests in cases in which the presence of alcohol or a controlled substance is not found, will be paid by expenditures from the community service revolving fund as described in Section 47-7-49.

§ 47-5-701

Sections 47-5-701 through 47-5-729 shall be known and may be cited as the “Prison Overcrowding Emergency Powers Act.”

§ 47-5-703

For the purposes of Sections 47-5-701 through 47-5-729 the following words shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context shall otherwise require:

(a) “Inmate” means every person who at the time of the declaration of a prison system overcrowding state of emergency, or at any time during the continuation of a state of emergency, is incarcerated by the Mississippi Department of Corrections as a result of a commitment to the department, including persons committed to the department and incarcerated in local or county jails or other facilities authorized to house state inmates.

(b) “Operating capacity” means the total number of state inmates which can be safely and reasonably housed in facilities operated by the Department of Corrections and in local or county jails or other facilities authorized to house state inmates as certified by the department, subject to applicable federal and state laws and rules and regulations.

(c) “Parole eligibility date” means the date on which an inmate becomes eligible for release by parole under the provisions of Section 47-7-3, Mississippi Code of 1972. For the purposes of Sections 47-5-701 through 47-5-729, an inmate with a sentence of one (1) year shall be deemed to have a parole eligibility date which shall be the last day of his sentence.

(d) “Prison” means any correctional facility operated by the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

(e) “Prison system” means the prisons operated by the Mississippi Department of Corrections and those local or county jails or other facilities authorized to house state inmates.

(f) “Prison system population” means the total number of state inmates housed in the prisons operated by the Mississippi Department of Corrections and in those local or county jails or other facilities authorized to house state inmates.

(g) “Qualified inmate” means inmates who are not incarcerated for convictions of murder, kidnapping, arson, armed robbery, rape, sexual offenses or any offense involving the use of a deadly weapon and who are within that number of days of their parole eligibility date at the time of the declaration of the state of emergency as is specified to be conditionally advanced under the declaration of the state of emergency. An inmate sentenced as an habitual offender shall not be considered a “qualified inmate.”

(h) “State of emergency” means a prison system overcrowding state of emergency as provided in Section 47-5-711.

§ 47-5-705

The requirements for the declaration of a prison system overcrowding state of emergency are as follows:

(a) Prison system population in excess of ninety-five percent (95%) of the prison system operating capacity for at least thirty (30) consecutive days immediately preceding the declaration of a state of emergency;

(b) Full appropriate utilization by the Mississippi Department of Corrections of powers which tend either to reduce prison system population or expand operating capacity. Such powers include, but are not limited to, earned time allowances as specified in Sections 47-5-138 and 47-5-139, Mississippi Code of 1972, review of offenders for purposes of reclassification, reevaluation of persons eligible for consideration for work release, supervised earned release or other release programs authorized by law and arrangements for housing inmates of the Department of Corrections in local or county jails or other facilities authorized to house state inmates; and

(c) Full appropriate utilization by the State Parole Board of those powers which tend to reduce the prison system population. Such powers include, but are not limited to, parole as provided in Section 47-7-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, the review of inmates who have had their parole revoked and the reevaluation of inmates previously denied parole.

§ 47-5-707

Whenever the prison system population exceeds ninety-five percent (95%) of operating capacity, the Commissioner of Corrections shall immediately notify the Governor and the State Parole Board of this fact. The notice shall include the current prison system population and the prison system operating capacity. A report must be made within ten (10) days after the thirtieth day of operating in excess of ninety-five percent (95%) of operating capacity. The report shall include the prison system operating capacity, the prison system population during the relevant time period, and may include a recommended specific term of advancement of the parole eligibility dates.

§ 47-5-709

If the prison system population exceeds ninety-five percent (95%) of operating capacity for thirty (30) consecutive days, the State Parole Board shall meet to determine whether there has been full appropriate exercise of the powers of the State Parole Board which tend to reduce the prison system population. The State Parole Board shall report its findings to the Governor within ten (10) days after the thirtieth day of operating in excess of ninety-five percent (95%) of prison operating capacity. The report shall include the determination of the State Parole Board regarding its utilization of powers described in paragraph (c) of Section 47-5-705.

§ 47-5-711

Upon receipt of the report from the Commissioner of Corrections and the report of the State Parole Board, the Governor has the power to:

(a) Determine to be in error the determination that there had been full appropriate exercise of powers which tends to reduce prison population, in which case no state of emergency shall commence;

(b) Determine that commencement of a state of emergency would be injurious to the public good, or raises the potential of threatening the safety of the public in the state as a whole or in a particular community, in which case no state of emergency shall commence; or

(c) Determine that the reports establish the existence of the conditions for a declaration of a prison system overcrowding state of emergency as described in Section 47-5-705 and declare a state of emergency, specifying an amount of advancement of parole eligibility dates from thirty (30) to ninety (90) days.

If fourteen (14) days after the receipt of the reports to the Governor pursuant to Sections 47-5-707 and 47-5-709 the Governor has not exercised any of the powers specified in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of this section, action under Sections 47-5-701 through 47-5-729 is considered terminated.

If the Governor exercises a power under paragraph (a) or (b) of this section, he shall state the reasons for the exercise of such power in the notification of his action to the Commissioner of Corrections and the State Parole Board.

§ 47-5-713

Upon the declaration of a state of emergency, the parole eligibility dates of qualified inmates shall be conditionally advanced. The amount of advancement of parole eligibility dates must be specified in the declaration by the Governor. When the state of emergency has been terminated, the parole eligibility dates which were conditionally advanced shall be reset to the parole eligibility date set prior to the emergency for those inmates who were not released on parole under the provisions of Sections 47-5-701 through 47-5-729.

§ 47-5-715

During the continuation of a state of emergency, the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections shall weekly certify to the Governor the prison system population for each day of the preceding week. The Governor shall declare the state of emergency terminated upon notification that the prison system population has been at or below ninety-five percent (95%) of operating capacity for seven (7) consecutive days.

If no declaration of termination is issued within seven (7) days after the certification of conditions for termination of the state of emergency, the state of emergency is considered terminated as of the seventh day after the certification.

§ 47-5-717

If sixty (60) days after the declaration of a prison system overcrowding state of emergency or of an additional advancement of the parole eligibility dates the prison system population continues to be in excess of ninety-five percent (95%) of operating capacity, the Commissioner of Corrections shall report to the Governor indicating whether an additional advancement of the parole eligibility dates is necessary in order to reduce the prison system population to ninety-five percent (95%) of operating capacity and indicating the amount of any recommended additional advancement of the parole eligibility dates. The recommended amount must be no less than thirty (30) days nor more than ninety (90) days. The report shall include those factors which would tend to indicate that the prison system population is likely to increase above operating capacity within ninety (90) days. The report shall discuss the availability of field supervisors, the currently existing supervision case loads, and the measures that could be taken and the resources that would be needed to provide appropriate supervision of persons released early as a result of an additional advancement of the parole eligibility dates.

§ 47-5-719

Upon receipt of the report from the Commissioner of Corrections as provided in Section 47-5-717, the Governor has the power to:

(a) Determine to be in error any conclusion of the Commissioner of Corrections that an additional advancement of the parole eligibility dates is necessary in order for the prison system population to be reduced to ninety-five percent (95%) of operating capacity, in which case no additional advancements of the parole eligibility dates shall occur;

(b) Determine that the ordering of additional advancements of the parole eligibility dates would be injurious to the public good or raises the potential of threatening the safety of the public in the state as a whole or in a particular community, in which case no additional advancement of parole eligibility dates shall occur; or

(c) Determine that an additional advancement of the parole eligibility dates is necessary in order for the prison system population to be reduced to ninety-five percent (95%) of operating capacity and order additional advancements specifying the amount of additional advancements, which shall be at least thirty (30) and not more than ninety (90) days.

If fourteen (14) days after the receipt of the report to the Governor pursuant to Section 47-5-717 including a determination of the Commissioner of Corrections that an additional advancement of the parole eligibility dates is not necessary in order for the prison system population to be reduced to ninety-five percent (95%) of operating capacity the Governor has not exercised the power provided in paragraph (c) of this section, action initiated under Section 47-5-717 is considered terminated.

If the Governor exercises a power provided under paragraph (a) or (b) of this section, he shall state the reasons for the exercise of such power in the notification of his action to the Commissioner of Corrections and the State Parole Board.

If the Governor orders additional advancements of the parole eligibility dates under this section, the amount of advancement of the parole eligibility dates must be as ordered by the Governor.

§ 47-5-721

If at any time during a state of emergency the Governor determines that the continuation of the state of emergency is injurious to the public good or raises the potential of threatening the safety of the public in the state as a whole or in a particular community, he may order the state of emergency terminated.

§ 47-5-723

Revocation of the conditional advancement of the parole eligibility date is a permissible prison disciplinary action according to the same procedures governing the forfeiture of earned time allowances as a prison disciplinary action.

§ 47-5-725

The State Parole Board shall prescribe conditions of advancement of the parole eligibility date applicable prior to an inmate's release. The State Parole Board shall prescribe conditions of supervision consistent with existing regulations applicable after release on parole. When an inmate is released under the provisions of Sections 47-5-701 through 47-5-729 he shall be considered to be in the legal custody of the Department of Corrections.

§ 47-5-727

Advancement of parole eligibility dates under Sections 47-5-701 through 47-5-729 shall occur independently of all other adjustments of the parole eligibility dates, such as advancing the parole eligibility dates as a result of receiving earned time allowances.

§ 47-5-729

The Commissioner of Corrections shall within thirty (30) days after April 10, 1985, establish the operating capacities of the prison system, and shall at least quarterly certify existing operating capacities or establish changed or new operating capacities.

§ 47-5-731

Sections 47-5-701 through 47-5-729, Mississippi Code of 1972, which create the Prison Overcrowding Emergency Powers Act, shall stand repealed from and after July 1, 2025.

§ 47-5-801

The Department of Corrections is hereby authorized to adopt an administrative review procedure at each of its correctional facilities in compliance with 42 USCS Section 1997, the “Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act,” or CRIPA, and Part 40 of Title 28, Code of Federal Regulations.

§ 47-5-803

(1) Upon approval of the administrative review procedure by a federal court as authorized and required by the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, and the implementation of the procedure within the department, this procedure shall constitute the administrative remedies available to offenders for the purpose of preserving any cause of action such offenders may claim to have against the State of Mississippi, the Department of Corrections or its officials or employees.

(2) No state court shall entertain an offender's grievance or complaint which falls under the purview of the administrative review procedure unless and until such offender shall have exhausted the remedies as provided in such procedure. If at the time the petition is filed the administrative review process has not yet been completed, the court shall stay the proceedings for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days to allow for completion of the procedure and exhaustion of the remedies thereunder.

§ 47-5-805

Any offender who, on July 1, 1994, is a plaintiff in a lawsuit naming the state, the Department of Corrections or an official or an employee of the Department of Corrections as a defendant or defendants shall be furnished notice by certified mail of Sections 47-5-801 through 47-5-807 and the fact and date of the enactment of the administrative review procedure, and proof of notice of service of the offender plaintiff shall be filed in the offender's court record where such lawsuit is pending. Any offender so notified by certified mail shall, within thirty (30) days after receipt of such notice, commence administrative review, under the administrative review procedure, of the complaint which is the subject matter of his lawsuit. Any such pending lawsuit, on July 1, 1994, shall be stayed by the court for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days in order to require exhaustion of the remedies as provided under the administrative review procedure. If an offender fails to completely utilize the administrative review procedure during the period of the stay, then the court may consider this as a factor in deciding whether the case may proceed.

§ 47-5-807

Any offender who is aggrieved by an adverse decision rendered pursuant to any administrative review procedure under Sections 47-5-801 through 47-5-807 may, within thirty (30) days after receipt of the agency's final decision, seek judicial review of the decision.

§ 47-5-901

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of Section 47-5-911.>

(1)(a) Any person committed, sentenced or otherwise placed under the custody of the Department of Corrections, on order of the sentencing court and subject to the other conditions of this subsection, may serve all or any part of his sentence in the county jail of the county wherein such person was convicted if the Commissioner of Corrections determines that physical space is not available for confinement of such person in the state correctional institutions. Such determination shall be promptly made by the Department of Corrections upon receipt of notice of the conviction of such person. The commissioner shall certify in writing that space is not available to the sheriff or other officer having custody of the person. Any person serving his sentence in a county jail shall be classified in accordance with Section 47-5-905.

(b) Any person committed, sentenced or otherwise placed under the custody of the Department of Corrections, on order of the sentencing court and subject to the other conditions of this subsection, may serve all or any part of his or her sentence in the county jail of the county wherein such person was convicted if the sheriff or president of the board of supervisors, requests such inmate or inmates. Upon such request, the department may allow such inmate or inmates to serve all or any part of such inmate's or inmates' sentence(s), as the case may be, in the county of conviction of the inmate or inmates or the county of request of a sheriff or board of supervisors outside the county of conviction. Such determination shall be promptly made by the Department of Corrections upon receipt of notice of the conviction of such person. Whenever a request is denied for an inmate or inmates, then the commissioner shall certify in writing to the sentencing court, sheriff, or president of the board of supervisors of a county, as the case may be, that such inmate or inmates does not qualify to serve the sentence or sentences in the county jail. Any person serving his sentence in a county jail shall be classified in accordance with Section 47-5-905.

(2) If state prisoners are housed in county jails due to a lack of capacity at state correctional institutions, the Department of Corrections shall determine the cost for food and medical attention for such prisoners. The cost of feeding and housing offenders confined in such county jails shall be based on actual costs or contract price per prisoner. In order to maximize the potential use of county jail space, the Department of Corrections is encouraged to negotiate a reasonable per day cost per prisoner, which in no event may exceed Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) per day per offender, except as authorized in Section 47-5-909(2).

(3)(a) Upon vouchers submitted by the board of supervisors of any county housing persons due to lack of space at state institutions, the Department of Corrections shall pay to such county, out of any available funds, the actual cost of food, or contract price per prisoner, not to exceed Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) per day per offender, except as authorized in Section 47-5-909(2), as determined under subsection (2) of this section for each day an offender is so confined beginning the day that the Department of Corrections receives a certified copy of the sentencing order or five (5) days after the sentencing order is sent, in writing, by such county to the department, whichever is earlier, and will terminate on the date on which the offender is released or otherwise removed from the custody of the county jail. The department, or its contracted medical provider, will pay to a provider of a medical service for any and all incarcerated persons from a correctional or detention facility an amount based upon negotiated fees as agreed to by the medical care service providers and the department and/or its contracted medical provider. In the absence of negotiated discounted fee schedule, medical care service providers will be paid by the department, or its contracted medical service provider, an amount no greater than the reimbursement rate applicable based on the Mississippi Medicaid reimbursement rate. The board of supervisors of any county shall not be liable for any cost associated with medical attention for prisoners who are pretrial detainees or for prisoners who have been convicted that exceeds the Mississippi Medicaid reimbursement rate or the reimbursement provided by the Department of Corrections, whichever is greater. This limitation applies to all medical care services, durable and nondurable goods, prescription drugs and medications. Such payment shall be placed in the county general fund and shall be expended only for food and medical attention for such persons.

(b) Upon vouchers submitted by the board of supervisors of any county housing offenders in county jails pending a probation or parole revocation hearing, the department shall pay the reimbursement costs provided in paragraph (a).

(c) If the probation or parole of an offender is revoked, the additional cost of housing the offender pending the revocation hearing shall be assessed as part of the offender's court cost and shall be remitted to the department.

(4) A person, on order of the sentencing court, may serve not more than twenty-four (24) months of his sentence in a county jail if the person is classified in accordance with Section 47-5-905 and the county jail is an approved county jail for housing state inmates under federal court order. The sheriff of the county shall have the right to petition the Commissioner of Corrections to remove the inmate from the county jail. The county shall be reimbursed in accordance with subsection (2) of this section.

(5) The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall defend the employees of the Department of Corrections and officials and employees of political subdivisions against any action brought by any person who was committed to a county jail under the provisions of this section.

(6) This section does not create in the Department of Corrections, or its employees or agents, any new liability, express or implied, nor shall it create in the Department of Corrections any administrative authority or responsibility for the construction, funding, administration or operation of county or other local jails or other places of confinement which are not staffed and operated on a full-time basis by the Department of Corrections. The correctional system under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections shall include only those facilities fully staffed by the Department of Corrections and operated by it on a full-time basis.

(7) An offender returned to a county for post-conviction proceedings shall be subject to the provisions of Section 99-19-42 and the county shall not receive the per-day allotment for such offender after the time prescribed for returning the offender to the Department of Corrections as provided in Section 99-19-42.

§ 47-5-903

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of Section 47-5-911.>

(1) A person committed, sentenced or otherwise placed under the custody of the Department of Corrections, on order of the sentencing court, may serve his or her sentence in any county jail if all of the following conditions are complied with:

(a) The person must be classified in accordance with Section 47-5-905;

(b) The person must not be classified as in need of close supervision;

(c) The sheriff of the county where the person will serve his or her sentence must request in writing that the person be allowed to serve his or her sentence in that county jail;

(d) After the person is classified and returned to the county, the county shall assume the full and complete responsibility for the care and expenses of housing such person; and

(e) The county jail must be an approved county jail for housing state inmates under federal court order.

(2) This section does not apply to inmates housed in county jails due to lack of space at state correctional facilities. The department may reimburse the county for the expense of housing an inmate under this section.

(3) The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall defend the employees of the Department of Corrections and officials and employees of political subdivisions against any action brought by any person who was committed to a county jail under the provisions of this section.

(4) The state, the Department of Corrections, and its employees or agents, shall not be liable to any person or entity for an inmate held in a county jail under this section.

§ 47-5-905

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of Section 47-5-911.>

(1) All persons placed under the custody of the Department of Corrections shall be processed at a reception and diagnostic center of the Department of Corrections and then be assigned to an appropriate correctional facility for a complete and thorough classification, not to exceed ninety (90) days, unless the department determines that a person can be properly processed and classified at the county jail in accordance with the department's classification plan.

(2) The Department of Corrections shall develop a plan for the processing and classification of inmates in county jails and shall implement the plan by January 1, 1993.

§ 47-5-907

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of Section 47-5-911.>

The sheriff of any county in this state shall have the right to petition the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections to remove a state inmate from the county jail in such county to the State Penitentiary. The commissioner shall remove such inmate from such county jail if the sheriff of such county sets forth just cause in his petition indicating why an inmate should be removed from such county jail to the State Penitentiary.

Just cause is established if such sheriff can sufficiently prove that such inmate has a dangerous behavior or sufficiently prove that there is no available or suitable medical facility where such inmate can be provided suitable medical services. The commissioner shall respond in writing to the petition no later than thirty (30) days after the receipt of such petition. If the petition to remove such inmate is denied by the commissioner, such sheriff and his agents shall have from the date of denial absolute immunity from liability for any injury resulting from subsequent behavior or from medical consequences regarding such inmate, provided that such injury resulted from conditions which were set forth in such petition.

§ 47-5-909

<This section is repealed effective July 1, 2027, pursuant to the terms of Section 47-5-911.>

(1) It is the policy of the Legislature that all inmates be removed from county jails as early as practicable.Sections 47-5-901 through 47-5-907 are temporary measures to help alleviate the immediate operating capacity limitations at correctional facilities and are not permanent measures to be included in the long-term operating capacity of the correctional system.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, to expedite the removal of inmates from county jails as early as practicable, absent a contract negotiated between the Department of Corrections and the county jail, the Department of Corrections shall pay county jails for housing state offenders out of any available funds as follows:

(a) Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) per day per offender for days one (1) through thirty (30);

(b) Thirty-two Dollars and Seventy-one Cents ($32.71) per day per offender for days thirty-one (31) or greater when:

(i) An offender remains in the county jail after the Department of Corrections receives a certified copy of the sentencing order or five (5) days after the sentencing order is sent, in writing, by such county to the Department of Corrections, whichever is earlier; or

(ii) An offender remains in the county jail after being revoked from parole or probation or is sentenced to a technical violation center.

(3) The Department of Corrections is additionally responsible for all medical costs related to offenders housed at county jails under subsection (2) of this section.

§ 47-5-911

<This section is repealed by its own terms on July 1, 2027. >

Sections 47-5-901 through 47-5-911 shall stand repealed on July 1, 2027.

§ 47-5-931

(1) The Department of Corrections, in its discretion, may contract with the board of supervisors of one or more counties or with a regional facility operated by one or more counties, to provide for housing, care and control of offenders who are in the custody of the State of Mississippi. Any facility owned or leased by a county or counties for this purpose shall be designed, constructed, operated and maintained in accordance with American Correctional Association standards, and shall comply with all constitutional standards of the United States and the State of Mississippi, and with all court orders that may now or hereinafter be applicable to the facility. If the Department of Corrections contracts with more than one (1) county to house state offenders in county correctional facilities, excluding a regional facility, then the first of such facilities shall be constructed in Sharkey County and the second of such facilities shall be constructed in Jefferson County.

(2) The Department of Corrections shall contract with the board of supervisors of the following counties to house state inmates in regional facilities: (a) Marion and Walthall Counties; (b) Carroll and Montgomery Counties; (c) Stone and Pearl River Counties; (d) Winston and Choctaw Counties; (e) Kemper and Neshoba Counties; (f) Alcorn County and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail; (g) Yazoo County and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail; (h) Chickasaw County and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail; (i) George and Greene Counties and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail; (j) Washington County and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail; (k) Hinds County and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail; (l) Leake County and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail; (m) Issaquena County and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail; (n) Jefferson County and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail; (o) Franklin County and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail; (p) Holmes County and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail; and (q) Bolivar County and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail. The Department of Corrections shall decide the order of priority of the counties listed in this subsection with which it will contract for the housing of state inmates. For the purposes of this subsection, the term “unapproved jail” means any jail that the local grand jury determines should be condemned or has found to be of substandard condition or in need of substantial repair or reconstruction.

(3) In addition to the offenders authorized to be housed under subsection (1) of this section, the Department of Corrections may contract with any regional facility to provide for housing, care and control of not more than seventy-five (75) additional offenders who are in the custody of the State of Mississippi.

(4) The Governor and the Commissioner of Corrections are authorized to increase administratively the number of offenders who are in the custody of the State of Mississippi that can be placed in regional correctional facilities.

§ 47-5-933

The Department of Corrections may contract for the purposes set out in Section 47-5-931 for a period of not more than twenty (20) years. The contract may provide that the Department of Corrections pay a fee of no more than Thirty-two Dollars and Seventy-one Cents ($32.71) per day for each offender that is housed in the facility. The Department of Corrections may include in the contract, as an inflation factor, a three percent (3%) annual increase in the contract price. The state shall retain responsibility for medical care for state offenders to the extent that is required by law; provided, however, the department may reimburse each facility for contract medical services as provided by law in an amount not to exceed Six Dollars and Twenty-five Cents ($6.25) per day per offender.

§ 47-5-934

If a regional facility authorized under Section 47-5-931 experiences a disruption in the housing of state inmates due to a natural disaster in which the Governor has declared a disaster emergency under the laws of this state or the President of the United States has declared an emergency or major disaster to exist in this state, notwithstanding the limitation prescribed in Section 47-5-933, the term of the contract entered into by the Department of Corrections and the board of supervisors of the involved county or counties may be extended for a period not to exceed five (5) years.

§ 47-5-935

Concurrent with the execution of a contract for housing of state offenders as authorized by Sections 47-5-931 through 47-5-941, the sheriff of a county where the facility is located is designated as the Chief Corrections Officer for the facility housing state offenders, and in that capacity, shall assume responsibility for management of the corrections facility and for the provision of the care and control of the state offenders housed therein. The sheriff shall be subject to the direction of the department for management of the correctional facility. In addition to the compensation provided by Section 25-3-25, the sheriff shall receive Fifteen Thousand Six Hundred Dollars ($15,600.00) as compensation for the duties specified in Sections 47-5-931 through 47-5-941.

§ 47-5-937

Sections 47-5-931 through 47-5-941 shall be full and complete authority for the exercise of all powers and authority granted herein and no requirements or restrictions of law which would otherwise be applicable to acts of the county or sheriff or the Department of Corrections shall be applicable except as expressly provided herein. The sheriff is expressly authorized to employ counsel to represent the facility to be paid a salary within the range allowed for a legal assistant to a district attorney with the employment to continue for a period of time not to exceed the duration of the indebtedness incurred for construction of the facility. The county or counties shall pay this cost and other costs incurred in the operation of the facility from the proceeds of the funds derived from the financing of the project and the housing of offenders.

§ 47-5-938

(1) Offenders are encouraged to participate in work programs. The chief corrections officer as created in Section 47-5-935, with ratification of the board of supervisors of the county in which a correctional facility established pursuant to Sections 47-5-931 through 47-5-941, is located, may enter into agreements to provide work for any state offender housed in the facility, with the approval of the Commissioner of Corrections, to perform any work:

(a) Authorized in the Mississippi Prison Industries Act of 1990 as provided in Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575;

(b) Authorized in the Prison Agricultural Enterprises Act as provided in Sections 47-5-351 through 47-5-357;

(c) Authorized in the Penitentiary-Made Goods Law of 1978 as provided in Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-331;

(d) Authorized in the Public Service Work Programs Act as provided in Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421;

(e) Authorized in Section 47-5-431, which authorizes the sheriff to use county or state offenders to pick up trash along public roads and state highways.

(2) The chief corrections officer shall promulgate rules and regulations as may be necessary to govern the work performance of the offenders for the parties to the agreements. Political subdivisions of the State of Mississippi including but not limited to counties, municipalities, school districts, drainage districts, water management districts and joint county-municipal endeavors are to have free use of the offender's labor but are responsible for reimbursing the facility for costs of transportation, guards, meals and other necessary costs when the inmates are providing work for that political body. Offenders may be compensated for work performed if the agreement so provides.

(3) There is created a special fund in the county treasury to be known as the “offender's compensation fund.” All compensation paid to offenders shall be placed in the special fund for use by the offenders to purchase certain goods and other items of value as authorized in Section 47-5-109, for offenders housed in state correctional facilities. As provided in Section 47-5-194, no cash is to be paid to offenders. The agreement shall provide that a certain portion of the compensation shall be used for the welfare of the offenders. All money collected from the regional jail canteen operations shall be placed in a county special fund. Expenditures from that fund can be made by the chief corrections officer for any lawful purpose that is in the best interest and welfare of the offenders. The chief corrections officer, his employees and the county or counties owning the facility are given the authority necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.

(4) The provisions of this section shall be supplemental to any other provisions of law regarding offender labor and work programs.

§ 47-5-939

In addition to housing offenders for the Department of Corrections, the Chief Corrections Officer may house pretrial detainees, county offenders and other persons legally subject to incarceration by order of a court of competent jurisdiction. All offenders are to be housed in accordance with American Corrections Association standards.

§ 47-5-940

(1)(a) The Department of Corrections may contract with the Bolivar County Regional Facility for a five-year pilot program dedicated to an intensive and comprehensive alcohol and other drug treatment program for not more than two hundred fifty (250) inmates. The Bolivar County Regional Facility shall have the option of canceling the contract for the drug treatment program after giving the Department of Corrections thirty (30) days' notice of its intent to cancel. The program shall be a prison-based treatment program designed to reduce substance abuse by inmates, correct dysfunctional thinking and behavioral patterns, and prepare inmates to make a successful and crime-free readjustment to the community.

(b) The Department of Corrections shall reimburse the Bolivar County Regional Facility at the per diem rate allowed under Section 47-5-933.

(2)(a) An inmate who is within eighteen (18) months of his earned release date or parole date may be placed in the program.

(b) The Department of Corrections shall remove any inmate within seventy-two (72) hours after being notified by the Bolivar County Regional Facility that the inmate is violent or refuses to participate in the drug treatment program.

(3) The program shall consist, but is not limited to, the following components:

(a) An assessment and placement component using a recidivism needs assessment of the inmates.

(b) An intensive and comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation component which addresses the specific drug or alcohol problem of the inmate. This component shall include relapse prevention strategies and anger management strategies.

(c) An aftercare post-release component that has a specific transition plan for each inmate. The transition plan must address specific post-release needs such as employment, housing, medical care, relapse prevention and treatment. The plan shall require personnel to assist the inmate with these needs and to assist in finding community-based programs for the inmate. The plan shall require the inmate to be tracked in at least thirty-day intervals to measure compliance with his established transition plan.

(d) A monitoring assessment of recidivism containing post-release history of substance abuse, breaches of trust, arrests, convictions, employment, community functioning, and marital and family interaction.

(4) The department shall file a report annually on the program with specific data on recidivism of inmates including the data required in subsection (3)(d).

(5) The program authorized under this section may be renewed if it meets performance requirements as may be determined by the Legislature.

(6) This section shall be repealed on July 1, 2025.

§ 47-5-941

In addition to any other authority granted by law, the Department of Corrections may contract with the Wilkinson County industrial development or economic development authority for the private incarceration of not more than one thousand (1,000) state inmates at a facility in Wilkinson County. Any such contract must comply with Sections 47-5-1211 through 47-5-1227.

§ 47-5-942

(1) The Department of Corrections, in its discretion, may contract with the board of supervisors of a county to be determined by the department, to house not more than five hundred (500) adult male maximum security state inmates in a maximum security regional correctional facility constructed only with local, federal or private funds.

(2) The Department of Corrections may contract for a period of not more than twenty-five (25) years. The contract shall comply with the cost-savings requirements provided in Section 47-5-1211. The state shall retain responsibility for medical care for state offenders to the extent that is required by law.

§ 47-5-943

The Mississippi Department of Corrections may contract with the Walnut Grove Correctional Authority or the governing authorities of the Municipality of Walnut Grove, Leake County, Mississippi, to provide for the private housing, care and control of not more than one thousand five hundred (1,500) offenders who are in the custody of the Department of Corrections at a maximum security facility in Walnut Grove. A county or circuit judge shall not order any offender to be housed in the correctional facility authorized in Sections 47-5-943 through 47-5-953. Commitment of offenders shall not be to this facility, but shall be to the jurisdiction of the department. The commissioner shall assign newly sentenced offenders to an appropriate facility consistent with public safety. Any facility owned or leased by the Walnut Grove Correctional Authority or the Municipality of Walnut Grove for this purpose shall be designed, constructed, operated and maintained in accordance with American Correctional Association standards, and shall comply with all constitutional standards of the United States and the State of Mississippi and with all court orders that may now or hereinafter be applicable to the facility. The contract must comply with Sections 47-5-1211 through 47-5-1227.

§ 47-5-945

The Department of Corrections shall contract for the purposes set out in Section 47-5-943 for a period of not more than twenty (20) years. The Department of Corrections may include in the contract, as an inflation factor, a three percent (3%) annual increase in the contract price. The state shall retain responsibility for medical care for state offenders to the extent that is required by law.

§ 47-5-949

The correctional facility authorized in Section 47-5-943 shall provide any juvenile offender housed in the facility with continuing education throughout his incarceration which leads to the presentation of a high school diploma or High School Equivalency Diploma equivalent. The facility also shall provide a program of vocational education, which is to be included in the continuing education program for a high school diploma or High School Equivalency Diploma equivalent.

§ 47-5-951

The correctional facility authorized in Section 47-5-943 shall provide each juvenile offender housed in the facility alcohol and drug counseling and treatment throughout his incarceration.

§ 47-5-953

(1) If a second public or private correctional facility for juvenile offenders is constructed, then the facility shall be located in Kemper County. The facility shall comply with the requirements and standards established in Sections 47-5-943 through 47-5-951.

(2) If a third public or private correctional facility for juveniles is constructed, a site in North Mississippi and a site in South Mississippi shall be considered. If a site is chosen in North Mississippi, then preference shall be given to Quitman County. The facility shall comply with the requirements and standards established in Sections 47-5-943 through 47-5-951.

§ 47-5-1001

For purposes of Sections 47-5-1001 through 47-5-1015, the following words shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context shall otherwise require:

(a) “Approved electronic monitoring device” means a device approved by the department which is primarily intended to record and transmit information regarding the offender's presence or nonpresence in the home.

(b) “Correctional field officer” means the supervising probation and parole officer in charge of supervising the offender.

(c) “Court” means a circuit court having jurisdiction to place an offender into the intensive supervision program.

(d) “Department” means the Department of Corrections.

(e) “House arrest” means the confinement of a person convicted or charged with a crime to his place of residence under the terms and conditions established by the department or court.

(f) “Operating capacity” means the total number of state offenders which can be safely and reasonably housed in facilities operated by the department and in local or county jails or other facilities authorized to house state offenders as certified by the department, subject to applicable federal and state laws and rules and regulations.

(g) “Participant” means an offender placed into an intensive supervision program.

§ 47-5-1003

(1) An intensive supervision program may be used as an alternative to incarceration for offenders who are not convicted of a crime of violence pursuant to Section 97-3-2 as selected by the court and for juvenile offenders as provided in Section 43-21-605. Any offender convicted of a sex crime shall not be placed in the program.

(2) The court may place the defendant on intensive supervision, except when a death sentence or life imprisonment is the maximum penalty which may be imposed by a court or judge.

(3) To protect and to ensure the safety of the state's citizens, any offender who violates an order or condition of the intensive supervision program may be arrested by the correctional field officer and placed in the actual custody of the Department of Corrections. Such offender is under the full and complete jurisdiction of the department and subject to removal from the program by the classification hearing officer.

(4) When any circuit or county court places an offender in an intensive supervision program, the court shall give notice to the Mississippi Department of Corrections within fifteen (15) days of the court's decision to place the offender in an intensive supervision program. Notice shall be delivered to the central office of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and to the regional office of the department which will be providing supervision to the offender in an intensive supervision program.

The courts may not require an offender to participate in the intensive supervision program during a term of probation or post-release supervision.

(5) The Department of Corrections shall provide to the Oversight Task Force all relevant data regarding the offenders participating in the intensive supervision program including the number of offenders admitted to the program annually, the number of offenders who leave the program annually and why they leave, the number of offenders who are arrested or convicted annually and the circumstances of the arrest and any other information requested.

§ 47-5-1005

(1) The department shall promulgate rules that prescribe reasonable guidelines under which an intensive supervision program shall operate. These rules shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(a) The participant shall remain within the interior premises or within the property boundaries of his or her residence at all times during the hours designated by the correctional field officer.

(b) Approved absences from the home may include, but are not limited to, the following:

(i) Working or employment approved by the court or department and traveling to or from approved employment;

(ii) Unemployed and seeking employment approved for the participant by the court or department;

(iii) Undergoing medical, psychiatric, mental health treatment, counseling or other treatment programs approved for the participant by the court or department;

(iv) Attending an educational institution or a program approved for the participant by the court or department;

(v) Participating in community work release or a community service program approved for the participant by the court or department; or

(vi) For another compelling reason consistent with the public interest, as approved by the court or department.

(c) Except in case of a medical emergency and approval by the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, or his designee, or by circuit court order for medical purposes, no participant in the intensive supervision program may leave the jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi.

(2) The department shall select and approve all electronic monitoring devices used under Sections 47-5-1001 through 47-5-1015.

(3) The department may lease the equipment necessary to implement the intensive supervision program and to contract for the monitoring of such devices. The department is authorized to select the lowest price and best source in contracting for these services.

§ 47-5-1007

(1) Any participant in the intensive supervision program who engages in employment shall pay a monthly fee to the department for each month such person is enrolled in the program. The department may waive the monthly fee if the offender is a full-time student or is engaged in vocational training. Juvenile offenders shall pay a monthly fee of not less than Ten Dollars ($10.00) but not more than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) based on a sliding scale using the standard of need for each family that is used to calculate TANF benefits. Money received by the department from participants in the program shall be deposited into a special fund which is hereby created in the State Treasury. It shall be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of helping to defray the costs involved in administering and supervising such program. Unexpended amounts remaining in such special fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and any interest earned on amounts in such special fund shall be deposited to the credit of the special fund.

(2) The participant shall admit any correctional officer into his residence at any time for purposes of verifying the participant's compliance with the conditions of his detention.

(3) The participant shall make the necessary arrangements to allow for correctional officers to visit the participant's place of education or employment at any time, based upon the approval of the educational institution or employer, for the purpose of verifying the participant's compliance with the conditions of his detention.

(4) The participant shall acknowledge and participate with the approved electronic monitoring device as designated by the department at any time for the purpose of verifying the participant's compliance with the conditions of his detention.

(5) The participant shall be responsible for and shall maintain the following:

(a) A working telephone line in the participant's home;

(b) A monitoring device in the participant's home, or on the participant's person, or both; and

(c) A monitoring device in the participant's home and on the participant's person in the absence of a telephone.

(6) The participant shall obtain approval from the correctional field officer before the participant changes residence.

(7) The participant shall not commit another crime during the period of home detention ordered by the court or department.

(8) Notice shall be given to the participant that violation of the order of home detention shall subject the participant to prosecution for the crime of escape as a felony.

(9) The participant shall abide by other conditions as set by the court or the department.

§ 47-5-1009

(1) The department shall have absolute immunity from liability for any injury resulting from a determination by a judge or correctional officer that an offender shall be allowed to participate in the electronic home detention program.

(2) The Department of Audit shall annually audit the records of the department to ensure compliance with Sections 47-5-1001 through 47-5-1015.

§ 47-5-1011

(1) Before entering an order for commitment for electronic house arrest, the department shall inform the participant and other persons residing in the home of the nature and extent of the approved electronic monitoring devices by doing the following:

(a) Securing the written consent of the participant in the program to comply with the rules and regulations of the program.

(b) Advising adult persons residing in the home of the participant at the time an order or commitment for electronic house arrest is entered and asking such persons to acknowledge the nature and extent of approved electronic monitoring devices.

(c) Insuring that the approved electronic devices are minimally intrusive upon the privacy of other persons residing in the home while remaining in compliance with Sections 47-5-1001 through 47-5-1015.

(2) The participant shall be responsible for the cost of equipment and any damage to such equipment. Any intentional damage, any attempt to defeat monitoring, any committing of a criminal offense or any associating with felons or known criminals, shall constitute a violation of the program.

(3) Any person whose residence is utilized in the program shall agree to keep the home drug and alcohol free and to exclude known felons and criminals in order to provide a noncriminal environment.

§ 47-5-1013

Participants enrolled in an intensive supervision program shall be required to:

(a) Maintain employment if physically able, or full-time student status at an approved school or vocational trade, and make progress deemed satisfactory to the correctional field officer, or both, or be involved in supervised job searches.

(b) Pay restitution and program fees as directed by the department. Program fees shall not be less than Eighty-eight Dollars ($88.00) per month. The sentencing judge may charge a program fee of less than Eighty-eight Dollars ($88.00) per month in cases of extreme financial hardship, when such judge determines that the offender's participation in the program would provide a benefit to his community. Juvenile offenders shall not pay a program fee but shall pay a monthly fee as provided in Section 47-5-1007. Program fees shall be deposited in the special fund created in Section 47-5-1007.

(c) Establish a place of residence at a place approved by the correctional field officer, and not change his residence without the officer's approval. The correctional officer shall be allowed to inspect the place of residence for alcoholic beverages, controlled substances and drug paraphernalia.

(d) Remain at his place of residence at all times except to go to work, to attend school, to perform community service and as specifically allowed in each instance by the correctional field officer.

(e) Allow administration of drug and alcohol tests as requested by the field officer.

(f) Perform not less than ten (10) hours of community service each month.

(g) Meet any other conditions imposed by the court to meet the needs of the offender and limit the risks to the community.

§ 47-5-1014

(1) Participants who have been in the intensive supervision program since July 1, 2004, whether placed into the program before or after July 1, 2004, shall pay a Fifty Dollar ($50.00) monthly supervision fee to the Mississippi Department of Corrections for their supervision from July 1, 2004, or from the date the participant entered the program after July 1, 2004, until completion of the program, or April 6, 2005, or whichever occurs first. From and after April 6, 2005, all participants of the intensive supervision program shall pay the fee as established in Section 47-5-1013.

(2) The Department of Corrections shall use its best effort to collect the monthly supervision fees in arrearage under this section.

(3) A participant's failure to pay the monthly fees in arrearage shall not be deemed a violation of a condition of the program, and the participant shall not be removed from the program for failure to pay the monthly fees in arrearage.

(4) This section shall not apply to any fees incurred after April 6, 2005.

(5) Any arrearage remaining under this section at the end of the offender's participation in the program shall automatically be reduced to a civil judgment and upon notice by the Department of Corrections shall be recorded with the circuit court clerk in the county wherein the participant resides. The Department of Corrections and/or the district attorney shall use best efforts to collect the judgment.

§ 47-5-1015

Sections 47-5-1001 through 47-5-1015 shall stand repealed after June 30, 2025.

§ 47-5-1101

Sections 47-5-1101 through 47-5-1123 shall be cited as the “Special Needs Prison Program of 1994.”

§ 47-5-1103

As used in Sections 47-5-1101 through 47-5-1123, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Corrections.

(b) “Contractor” means any private entity entering into a contractual agreement with the commissioner to provide special needs facilities or correctional services to inmates under the custody of the department.

(c) “Department” means the Department of Corrections.

(d) “Special needs” means an inmate with diminished mental or physical health requiring specialized healthcare facilities or services. This does not include HIV positive inmates.

§ 47-5-1105

(1) The commissioner is authorized to enter into contracts for a special needs correctional facility and services only as provided in Sections 47-5-1101 through 47-5-1123.

(2) No contract shall be entered into unless it offers cost savings of at least ten percent (10%) to the department.

(3) Any inmate sentenced to the custody of the department identified as having a special need may be eligible to be incarcerated in a special needs correctional facility in which a contractor is providing correctional services.

(4) The rates and benefits for correctional services shall be negotiated by the commissioner based upon American Correction Association Standards, state law and court orders.

(5) The special needs facility or the site for a proposed facility must comply with all local zoning ordinances and regulations.

(6) The department may contract for the construction or leasing of a special needs facility. Any facility operated by a private contractor must house medium or maximum security inmates.

§ 47-5-1107

All facilities that are governed by this chapter shall be designed, constructed, and at all times maintained and operated in accordance with the American Correctional Association Standards in force at the time of contracting, as well as with subsequent ACA Standards to the extent that they are approved by the contracting agency. The facility shall meet the percentage of standards required for accreditation by the American Correctional Association.

In addition, all facilities shall at all times comply with all federal and state constitutional standards, federal, state and local laws, and all court orders.

§ 47-5-1109

The initial contract for the operation of a facility or for incarceration of prisoners or inmates therein shall be for a period of not more than five (5) years with an option to renew for an additional period of two (2) years. Contracts for construction, purchase, or lease of a facility shall not exceed a term of fifteen (15) years. Any contract for housing beyond the initial five (5) years shall be subject to annual appropriation by the Legislature if public funds are used to finance the construction.

§ 47-5-1111

(1) A contractor's employees serving as “correctional officers” shall be allowed to use force only while on the grounds of a facility, while transporting inmates, and while pursuing escapees from a facility.

(2) A contractor shall be authorized to use only such nondeadly force as the circumstances require in the following situations: to prevent the commission of a felony or misdemeanor, including escape; to defend oneself or others against physical assault; to prevent serious damage to property; to enforce institutional regulations and orders; and to prevent or quell a riot.

(3) A contractor's employees, while performing their officially assigned duties relating to the custody, control, transportation, recapture or arrest of any escaped offender assigned to a contract prison, shall be authorized to use force and firearms as necessary to pursue and recapture escapees.

(4) Private correctional officers who have been appropriately certified as determined by the contracting agency and trained pursuant to the provisions of subsection (5) shall have the right to carry and use firearms and shall exercise such authority and use deadly force only as a last resort, and then only to prevent an act that could result in death or serious bodily injury to oneself or to another person.

(5) Private correctional officers shall be trained in the use of force and the use of firearms, in accordance with ACA Standards and shall be trained, at the contractor's expense, for at least the minimum number of hours that public personnel are currently trained.

§ 47-5-1113

All employees of a facility operated pursuant to Sections 47-5-1101 through 47-5-1123 must receive, at a minimum, the same quality and quantity of training as that required by the state, for employees of public correctional and detention facilities. All training expenses shall be the responsibility of the contractor.

§ 47-5-1115

A contract for correctional services shall not be entered into unless the following requirements are met:

(a) The contractor provides an adequate plan of insurance, specifically including insurance for civil rights claims, as determined by an independent risk management/actuarial firm with demonstrated experience in public liability for state governments. In determining the adequacy of the plan, such firm shall determine whether:

(i) The insurance is adequate to protect the state from any and all actions by a third party against the contractor or the state as a result of the contract;

(ii) The insurance is adequate to protect the state against any and all claims arising as a result of any occurrence during the term of the contract; that is, the insurance is adequate on an occurrence basis, not on a claims-made basis;

(iii) The insurance is adequate to assure the contractor's ability to fulfill its contract with the state in all respects, and to assure that the contractor is not limited in this ability because of financial liability which results from judgments; and

(iv) The insurance is adequate to satisfy such other requirements specified by the independent risk management/actuarial firm.

(b) The sovereign immunity of the state shall not apply to the contractor. Neither the contractor nor the insurer of the contractor may plead the defense of sovereign immunity in any action arising out of the performance of the contract.

§ 47-5-1117

A plan shall be developed and certified by the commissioner which demonstrates the method by which the state would resume control of the prison upon contract termination. Such plan shall be submitted for review and comment to law enforcement agencies, the district attorney and circuit judges in the county in which the prison is located.

§ 47-5-1119

(1) The commissioner shall monitor any contracts with prison contractors providing correctional services and shall report at least annually, or as requested, to the Senate Committee on Corrections and the House Penitentiary Committee on the performance of the contractor.

(2) The medical director of the department shall be responsible for monitoring all aspects of the facility. The medical director may designate a person to assist in monitoring at the facility, as the medical director determines to be necessary. The medical director shall be provided an on-site work area, shall be on-site on a daily basis, and shall have access to all areas of the facility and to inmates and staff at all times. The contractor shall provide any and all data, reports and other materials that the medical director determines are necessary to carry out monitoring responsibilities under this section.

§ 47-5-1121

No contract for private correctional facilities or services shall authorize, allow, or imply a delegation of the authority or responsibility of the state to a prison contractor to:

(a) Classify inmates or place inmates in less restrictive custody or more restrictive custody;

(b) Transfer an inmate, although the contractor may recommend in writing that the department transfer a particular inmate;

(c) Grant, deny, or revoke sentence credits;

(d) Recommend that the parole board either deny or grant parole, although the contractor may submit written reports that have been prepared in the ordinary course of business;

(e) Develop and implement procedures for calculating sentence credits or inmate release and parole eligibility dates;

(f) Require an inmate to work, except on department-approved projects; approve the type of work that inmates may perform; or award or withhold wages or sentence credits based on the manner in which individual inmates perform such work; or

(g) Determine inmate eligibility for furlough and work release.

§ 47-5-1201

The purpose of this legislation is to alleviate the immediate and the projected operating capacity needs of the state correctional system by providing for the immediate and long-term addition of correctional facilities. It is the intent of the Legislature that agencies expedite the procurement of facilities to alleviate the short-term emergency capacity needs of the correctional system.

§ 47-5-1205

(1) The State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board shall provide for the construction and shall equip additional housing and necessary support facilities for one thousand two hundred sixteen (1,216) medium security male offenders and for two hundred (200) male offenders sentenced to evidence-based programs for the benefit of inmates at the South Mississippi Correctional Institution. The department may house offenders not sentenced to such programs in the two hundred (200) beds reserved for the program as it deems appropriate.

(2) The State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board shall provide for the construction and shall equip additional housing and support facilities for seven hundred (700) medium security male offenders at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility.

(3) The State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board shall use funds from the “Corrections Facilities Emergency Construction Fund.”

(4) The Department of Finance and Administration shall use its emergency powers to expedite the construction of these facilities. In the planning, design, procurement and construction of these facilities, the board shall make maximum utilization of plans, specifications and processes used in, completed or on-going construction projects for the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

§ 47-5-1207

(1) The State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board shall select a suitable site or sites for a public or private facility not to exceed one thousand (1,000) beds in any of the following counties: Lauderdale, Quitman, Perry and Sharkey.

(2) The State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board may contract for the construction, lease, acquisition, improvement, operation and management of a private correctional facility in Marshall County or Wilkinson County for the private incarceration of not more than one thousand (1,000) state inmates at the facility.

(3) The State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board may contract with any county industrial or economic development authority or district for the construction, lease, acquisition, improvement, operation and management of a private correctional facility to be sited or constructed under Chapter 26, Laws of 1994 First Extraordinary Session.

(4) The State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board may contract for the construction, lease, acquisition, improvement and operation of two (2) private restitution centers, one of which may be in Bolivar County. The capacity of each restitution center shall not exceed seventy-five (75) state inmates.

(5)(a) The State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board may contract for the special needs facility and services authorized in Sections 47-5-1101 through 47-5-1123.

(b) No later than September 15, 1994, the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review shall determine the state medical cost per inmate day to use as a basis for measuring the validity of ten percent (10%) savings of the contractor cost.

(6) Each private contractor and private facility housing state inmates must meet the requirements of Section 47-5-1211 through Section 47-5-1227.

(7) No additional emergency prisons shall be located in any city and/or county, except upon the submission to the State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board, of a resolution signed by a majority of the governing authorities of the city and/or county, wherein the proposed prison site is to be located, approving and/or requesting that a prison facility be located at the proposed site.

§ 47-5-1209

(1) There is created the Noxubee County Prison Work Program, to be located at the Industrial Park in Macon, Mississippi. The Noxubee County Prison Work Program shall be established pursuant to the authority granted in Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-469 that provide for the joint state-county work programs, in order to achieve the legislative intent as set out in Section 47-5-351, making maximum utilization of the farmlands for the purpose of feeding offenders.

(2) The State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board, subject to such funding as the Legislature may make available, may modify any existing facility or construct and equip one (1) seventy-five-bed correctional work camp in accordance with Section 47-5-455, on the site of the Industrial Park in Macon, Mississippi. The purpose of constructing this work camp is to provide housing and necessary support in order that the offenders may be available to work for the municipalities and counties in the surrounding areas in addition to working at the Industrial Park.

(3) In the construction and renovation of a work camp, the State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board, in conjunction with the Mississippi Department of Corrections, shall utilize offenders in the custody of the Department of Corrections for construction to the extent such labor is available. The Mississippi Department of Corrections shall: establish, maintain and implement a program for training and utilizing offenders in construction projects; determine and provide to the State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board the name, the number and construction skills of offenders; and provide security officers to be in attendance during all hours when offenders are involved in construction. When necessary construction skills are not available from the offender population, the State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board may contract with private contractors or mechanics to perform necessary construction work.

(4) In the planning, design, procurement and construction of a work camp, the State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board shall make maximum utilization of plans and specifications prepared for, and processes employed in, completed or ongoing construction projects for the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

§ 47-5-1211

(1) A contract for private correctional facilities or services shall not be entered into unless the contractor has demonstrated that it has:

(a) The qualifications, experience and management personnel necessary to carry out the terms of the contract.

(b) The ability to expedite the siting, design and construction of correctional facilities.

(c) The ability to comply with applicable laws, court orders and national correctional standards.

(d) Demonstrated history of successful operation and management of other correctional facilities.

(2) A facility shall at all times comply with all federal and state laws, and all applicable court orders.

(3)(a) No contract for private incarceration shall be entered into unless the cost of the private operation, including the state's cost for monitoring the private operation, offers a cost savings of at least ten percent (10%) to the Department of Corrections for at least the same level and quality of service offered by the Department of Corrections.

(b) Beginning in 2012, and every two (2) years thereafter, the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) shall contract with a certified public accounting firm to establish a state inmate cost per day using financial information of the Department of Corrections for the most recently completed fiscal year. The state inmate cost per day shall be certified as required by this section. The certified cost shall be used as the basis for measuring the validity of the ten percent (10%) savings of the contractor costs.

(c) Prior to engaging a certified public accountant, the PEER Committee, in conjunction with the Department of Corrections, shall develop a current cost-based model that will serve as a basis for the report produced as authorized by this section.

(4) The rates and benefits for correctional services shall be negotiated based upon American Correction Association standards, state law and court orders.

§ 47-5-1213

The initial contract for the operation of a facility or for incarceration of inmates therein shall be for a period of not more than five (5) years with an option to renew for an additional period of two (2) years. Contracts for construction, purchase, or lease of a facility shall not exceed a term of twenty (20) years. Such contracts shall provide that the contractor shall convey the facility to the state, at the option of the state, for a total consideration of One Dollar ($1.00). Any contract for housing shall be subject to annual appropriation by the Legislature.

§ 47-5-1215

(1) A contractor's employees serving as “correctional officers” shall be allowed to use force only while on the grounds of a facility, while transporting inmates, and while pursuing escapees from a facility.

(2) Private correctional officers shall be authorized to use only such non-deadly force as the circumstances require in the following situations: to prevent the commission of a felony or misdemeanor, including escape; to defend oneself or others against physical assault; to prevent serious damage to property; to enforce institutional regulations and orders; and to prevent or quell a riot.

(3) A contractor's employees, while performing their officially assigned duties relating to the custody, control, transportation, recapture or arrest of any escaped offender assigned to a contract prison, shall be authorized to use force and firearms as necessary to pursue and recapture escapees.

(4) Private correctional officers who have been appropriately certified as determined by the contracting agency and trained pursuant to the provisions of subsection (5) shall have the right to carry and use firearms and shall exercise such authority and may use deadly force to prevent an act that could result in death or serious bodily injury to oneself or to another person.

(5) Private correctional officers shall be trained in the use of force and the use of firearms, in accordance with ACA Standards and shall be trained, at the private contractor's expense, for at least the minimum number of hours that public personnel are currently trained.

§ 47-5-1217

All employees of a facility operated pursuant to Sections 47-5-1201 through 47-5-1229 must receive, at a minimum, the same quality and quantity of training as that required by the state, for employees of public correctional and detention facilities. All training expenses shall be the responsibility of the contractor.

§ 47-5-1219

A contract for correctional services shall not be entered into unless the following requirements are met:

(a) In addition to fire and casualty insurance, the contractor provides at least Ten Million Dollars ($10,000,000.00) of liability insurance, specifically including insurance for civil rights claims. The liability insurance shall be issued by an insurance company with a rating of at least an A- according to A.M. Best standards. In determining the adequacy of such insurance, the Department of Finance and Administration shall determine whether:

(i) The insurance is adequate to protect the state from any and all actions by a third party against the contractor or the state as a result of the contract;

(ii) The insurance is adequate to protect the state against any and all claims arising as a result of any occurrence during the term of the contract;

(iii) The insurance is adequate to assure the contractor's ability to fulfill its contract with the state in all respects, and to assure that the contractor is not limited in this ability because of financial liability which results from judgments; and

(iv) The insurance is adequate to satisfy such other requirements specified by the independent risk management/actuarial firm.

(b) The sovereign immunity of the state shall not apply to the contractor. Neither the contractor nor the insurer of the contractor may plead the defense of sovereign immunity in any action arising out of the performance of the contract.

(c) The contractor shall post a performance bond to assure the contractor's faithful performance of the specifications and conditions of the contract. The bond is required throughout the term of the contract. The terms and conditions must be approved by the Department of Corrections and the Department of Finance and Administration and such approval is a condition precedent to the contract taking effect.

(d) The contractor shall defend any suit or claim brought against the State of Mississippi arising out of any act or omission in the operation of a private facility, and shall hold the State of Mississippi harmless from such claim or suit. The contractor shall be solely responsible for the payment of any legal or other costs relative to any such claim or suit. The contractor shall reimburse the State of Mississippi for any costs that it may incur as a result of such claim or suit immediately upon being submitted a statement therefor by the Attorney General.

The duties and obligations of the contractor pursuant to this subsection shall include, but not be limited to, any claim or suit brought under any federal or state civil rights or prisoners rights statutes or pursuant to any such rights recognized by common law or case law, or federal or state constitutions.

Any suit brought or claim made arising out of any act or omission in the operation of a private facility shall be made or brought against the contractor and not the State of Mississippi.

The Attorney General retains all rights and emoluments of his office which include direction and control over any litigation or claim involving the State of Mississippi.

§ 47-5-1221

A plan shall be developed and certified by the commissioner which demonstrates the method by which the state would resume control of the prison upon contract termination. Such plan shall be submitted for review and comment to law enforcement agencies, the district attorney and circuit judges in the county in which the prison is located.

§ 47-5-1223

(1) The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections shall designate an existing employee of the Department of Corrections as a contract compliance officer within the department which shall monitor any contracts between the state and private entities for the operation and management of correctional facilities, and shall assure contractor compliance with its performance work statement and assure the provision of prisoner care requirements.

(2) The contract compliance officer shall be responsible for monitoring all aspects of each privatized correctional facility. The officer shall be provided an on-site work area, shall be on-site on a daily basis, and shall have access to all areas of the facilities and to offenders and staff at all times. The private contractor or contractors shall provide any and all data, reports and other materials that the contract compliance officer determines are necessary to carry out monitoring responsibilities under this section.

(3) The contract compliance officer shall report at least annually, or as requested, to the Governor, the Senate Committee on Corrections, the House Penitentiary Committee and the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review on the performance of the private contractor or contractors.

(4) The salary and expenses of the contract compliance officer shall be reimbursed to the Department of Corrections by the private entity that has contracted to operate or manage a correctional facility.

§ 47-5-1225

No contract for private correctional facilities or services shall authorize, allow, or imply a delegation of the authority or responsibility of the state to a prison contractor to:

(a) Classify inmates or place inmates in less restrictive custody or more restrictive custody;

(b) Transfer an inmate, although the contractor may recommend in writing that the department transfer a particular inmate;

(c) Grant, deny, or revoke sentence credits;

(d) Recommend that the parole board either deny or grant parole, although the contractor may submit written reports that have been prepared in the ordinary course of business;

(e) Develop and implement procedures for calculating sentence credits or inmate release and parole eligibility dates;

(f) Require an inmate to work, except on department-approved projects; approve the type of work that inmates may perform; or award or withhold wages or sentence credits based on the manner in which individual inmates perform such work; or

(g) Determine inmate eligibility for furlough and work release.

§ 47-5-1227

(1) No public official or an employee of a state agency who has duties or responsibilities related to the contracting, constructing, leasing, acquiring or operating a private correctional facility may become an employee, consultant or contract vendor to a private entity providing such facility or services to the state within one (1) year after the termination of his service or employment.

(2) Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished by a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) but not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).

§ 47-5-1229

There is hereby created a special fund to be designated as the “Correctional Facilities Emergency Construction Fund.” Any monies as may be appropriated by the Legislature shall be deposited into the fund. The expenditure of monies out of the fund shall be under the direction of the State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board as spread on its minutes and such funds shall be paid by the State Treasurer upon warrants issued by the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration.

§ 47-5-1251

<This section is repealed pursuant to its own terms on effective July 1, 2027. >

(1) There is created the “Prison Industry Enhancement Program,” through which the Department of Corrections may contract with the nonprofit corporation organized and formed under the “Mississippi Prison Industries Act of 1990” to employ offenders within the custody of the department or prison industries.

(2) Except as provided in Section 47-5-579, which is the provision authorizing a work initiative, the offenders must be under the supervision of the department at all times while working. The offenders shall be paid, by the entity or entities, wages at a rate which is not less than that paid for similar work in the locality in which the work is performed. The wages may be subject to deductions which shall not, in the aggregate, exceed eighty percent (80%) of gross wages. The deductions shall be limited to the following:

(a) To pay federal, state and local taxes;

(b) To pay reasonable charges for room and board as determined by regulations issued by the Commissioner of Corrections;

(c) To support the offender's family pursuant to state statute, court order or agreement by the offender; and

(d) To pay contributions equaling not less than five percent (5%) but not more than twenty percent (20%) of the offender's gross wages into the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund as created in Section 99-41-29.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law to the contrary, the offenders shall not be qualified to receive any payments for unemployment compensation while incarcerated. However, the offenders shall not solely by their status as offenders be deprived of the right to participate in benefits made available by the federal or state government to other individuals on the basis of their employment, such as workers' compensation.

(4) Offenders who participate in the employment must do so voluntarily and must agree in advance to the specific deductions made from gross wages pursuant to this section and to all other financial arrangements or benefits resulting from participation in the employment.

(5) The Department of Corrections shall develop rules and regulations to meet the criteria established by the Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program.

(6) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2027.

§ 47-5-1301

Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, as a supplementary method for granting concurrent jurisdiction to the United States, the Governor of the State of Mississippi may grant to the United States full civil and criminal jurisdiction concurrent with the State of Mississippi over any correctional facility and the grounds of the facility in which are housed or located inmates committed to the custody of the United States or over any correctional facility and the grounds of the facility which are owned by a private entity that has entered into a contract for the confinement of inmates committed to the custody of the United States.

§ 47-5-1351

The Governor, on behalf of this state may execute the Interstate Corrections Compact, with any and all states legally joining therein, in substantially the following form and the Legislature signifies in advance its approval and ratification of such compact:

INTERSTATE CORRECTIONS COMPACT

Article I

Purpose and Policy

The party states, desiring by common action to fully utilize and improve their institutional facilities and provide adequate programs for the confinement, treatment and rehabilitation of various types of offenders, declare that it is the policy of each of the party states to provide such facilities and programs on a basis of cooperation with one another, thereby serving the best interests of such offenders and of society and effecting economies in capital expenditures and operational costs. The purpose of this compact is to provide for the mutual development and execution of such programs of cooperation for the confinement, treatment and rehabilitation of offenders with the most economical use of human and material resources.

Article II

Definitions

As used in this compact, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(a) “State” means a state of the United States, the United States of America, a territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;

(b) “Sending state” means a state party to this compact in which conviction or court commitment was had;

(c) “Receiving state” means a state party to this compact to which an inmate is sent for confinement other than a state in which conviction or court commitment was had;

(d) “Inmate” means a male or female offender who is committed, under sentence to or confined in, a penal or correctional institution; and

(e) “Institution” means any penal or correctional facility, including, but not limited to, a facility for the mentally ill or mentally defective, in which inmates defined in (d) above may lawfully be confined.

Article III

Contracts

(1) Each party state may make one or more contracts with any one or more of the other party states for the confinement of inmates on behalf of a sending state in institutions situated within receiving states. Any such contract shall provide for:

(a) Its duration;

(b) Payments to be made to the receiving state by the sending state for inmate maintenance, extraordinary medical and dental expenses, and any participation in or receipt by inmates of rehabilitative or correctional services, facilities, programs or treatment not reasonably included as part of normal maintenance.

(c) Participation in programs of inmate employment, if any; the disposition or crediting of any payments received by inmates on account thereof; and the crediting of proceeds from or disposal of any products resulting therefrom;

(d) Delivery and retaking of inmates; and

(e) Such other matters as may be necessary and appropriate to fix the obligations, responsibilities and rights of the sending and receiving states.

(2) The terms and provisions of this compact entered into by the authority of or pursuant thereto, and nothing in any such contract shall be inconsistent therewith.

Article IV

Procedures and Rights

(1) Whenever the duly constituted authorities in a state party to this compact, and which has entered into a contract pursuant to Article III, shall decide that confinement in, or transfer of an inmate to, an institution within the territory of another party state is necessary or desirable in order to provide adequate quarters and care or an appropriate program of rehabilitation or treatment, said officials may direct that the confinement be within an institution within the territory of said other party state, the receiving state to act in that regard solely as agent for the sending state.

(2) The appropriate officials of any state party to this compact shall have access, at all reasonable times, to any institution in which it has a contractual right to confine inmates for the purpose of inspecting the facilities thereof and visiting such of its inmates as may be confined in the institution.

(3) Inmates confined in an institution pursuant to the terms of this compact shall at all times be subject to the jurisdiction of the sending state and may at any time be removed therefrom for transfer to a prison or other institution within the sending state, for transfer to another institution in which the sending state may have a contractual or other right to confine inmates, for release on probation or parole, for discharge or for any other purpose permitted by the laws of the sending state, provided, that the sending state shall continue to be obligated to such payments as may be pursuant to the terms of any contract entered into under the terms of Article III.

(4) Each receiving state shall provide regular reports to each sending state on the inmates of that sending state in institutions pursuant to this compact including a conduct record of each inmate and certify said record to the official designated by the sending state, in order that each inmate may have official review of his or her record in determining and altering the disposition of said inmate in accordance with the law which may obtain in the sending state and in order that the same may be a source of information for the sending state.

(5) All inmates who may be confined in an institution pursuant to the provisions of this compact shall be treated in a reasonable and humane manner and shall be treated equally with such similar inmates of the receiving state as may be confined in the same institution. The fact of confinement in a receiving state shall not deprive any inmate so confined of any legal rights which said inmate would have had if in an appropriate institution of the sending state.

(6) Any hearing or hearings to which an inmate confined pursuant to this compact may be entitled by the laws of the sending state may be had before the appropriate authorities of the sending state, or of the receiving state if authorized by the sending state. The receiving state shall provide adequate facilities for such hearings as may be conducted by the appropriate officials of a sending state. In the event such hearing or hearings are had before officials of the receiving state, the governing law shall be that of the sending state and a record of the hearing or hearings as prescribed by the sending state shall be made. Said record together with any recommendations of the hearing officials shall be transmitted forthwith to the official or officials before whom the hearing would have been had if it had taken place in the sending state. In any and all proceedings had pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision, the officials of the receiving state shall act solely as agents of the sending state and no final determination shall be made in any matter except by the appropriate officials of the sending state.

(7) Any inmate confined pursuant to this compact shall be released within the territory of the sending state unless the inmate, and the sending and receiving states, shall agree upon release in some other place. The sending state shall bear the cost of such return to its territory.

(8) Any inmate confined pursuant to the terms of this compact shall have any and all rights to participate in and derive any benefits or incur or be relieved of any obligations, or have such obligations modified or his status changed on account of any action or proceedings in which he could have participated if confined in any appropriate institution of the sending state located within such state.

(9) The parent, guardian, trustee or other person or persons entitled under the laws of the sending state to act for, advise or otherwise function with respect to any inmate shall not be deprived of or restricted in his exercise of any power in respect of any inmate confined pursuant to the terms of this compact.

Article V

Acts Not Reviewable in Receiving State: Extradition

(1) Any decisions of the sending state in respect of any matter over which it retains jurisdiction pursuant to this compact shall be conclusive upon and not reviewable within the receiving state, but if at the time the sending state seeks to remove an inmate from an institution in the receiving state there is pending against the inmate within such state any criminal charge or if the inmate is formally accused of having committed within such state a criminal offense, the inmate shall not be returned without the consent of the receiving state until discharged from prosecution or other form of proceeding, imprisonment or detention for such offense. The duly accredited officers of the sending state shall be permitted to transport inmates pursuant to this compact through any and all states' party to this compact without interference.

(2) An inmate who escapes from an institution in which he is confined pursuant to this compact shall be deemed a fugitive from the sending state and from the state in which the institution is situated. In the case of an escape to a jurisdiction other than the sending or receiving state, the responsibility for institution of extradition or rendition proceedings shall be that of the sending state, but nothing contained herein shall be construed to prevent or affect the activities of officers and agencies of any jurisdiction directed toward the apprehension and return of an escapee.

Article VI

Federal Aid

Any state party to this compact may accept federal aid for use in connection with any institution or program, the use of which is or may be affected by this compact or any contract pursuant hereto and any inmate in a receiving state pursuant to this compact may participate in any such federally aided program or activity for which the sending or the receiving state have made contractual provision; provided, that if such program or activity is not part of the customary correctional regimen the express consent of the appropriate official of the sending state shall be required therefrom.

Article VII

Entry into Force

This compact shall enter into force and become effective and binding upon the states so acting when it has been enacted into law by any two (2) states. Thereafter, this compact shall enter into force and become effective and binding as to any other of said states upon similar action by such state.

Article VIII

Withdrawal and Termination

This compact shall continue in force and remain binding upon a party state until it shall have enacted a statute repealing the same and providing for the sending of formal written notice of withdrawal from the compact to the appropriate officials of all other party states. An actual withdrawal shall not take effect until one (1) year after the notices provided in said statute have been sent. Such withdrawal shall not relieve the withdrawing state from its obligations assumed hereunder prior to the effective date of withdrawal. Before the effective date of withdrawal, a withdrawing state shall remove to its territory, at its own expense, such inmates as it may have confined pursuant to the provisions of this compact.

Article IX

Other Arrangement Unaffected

Nothing contained in this compact shall be construed to abrogate or impair any agreement or other arrangement which a party state may have with a nonparty state for the confinement, rehabilitation or treatment of inmates nor to repeal any other laws of a party state authorizing the making of cooperative institutional arrangements.

Article X

Construction and Severability

The provisions of this compact shall be liberally construed and shall be severable. If any phrase, clause, sentence or provision of this compact is declared to be contrary to the constitution of any participating state or of the United States or the applicability thereof to any government, agency, person or circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this compact and the applicability thereof to any government, agency, person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby. If this compact shall be held contrary to the constitution of any state participating therein, the compact shall remain in full force and effect as to the remaining states and in full force and effect as to the state affected as to all severable matters.

§ 47-5-1401

(1) The Mississippi Department of Corrections shall establish a Youthful Offender Unit (“YOU”) at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. All youth ages seventeen (17) years of age and under and who are assigned to a Mississippi Department of Corrections prison shall be housed in the YOU, except that nothing in this section shall prohibit the department from housing a youth who is seventeen (17) years of age and under in a community work center or other environments that are less restrictive than a Mississippi Department of Corrections prison.

(2) Youth ages seventeen (17) and under as prescribed in this section shall be housed in the YOU, separate from adult inmates. No individual who is over the age of nineteen (19) shall be housed in the YOU. The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections shall have discretion to house individuals who are eighteen (18) and nineteen (19) years of age and who have been classified as vulnerable in the YOU.

(3) The Mississippi Department of Corrections shall provide youth housed at the YOU with the opportunity for the appropriate amounts of interactive, structured rehabilitative and/or educational programming, recreational and leisure activities outside of their cells on a daily basis, including weekends and holidays. The programming developed, as prescribed in this subsection shall, to the extent possible, be tailored to the developmental needs of adolescents.

§ 47-5-1501

Sections 47-5-1501 through 47-5-1517 may be cited as the “Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act.”

§ 47-5-1503

The Legislature of the State of Mississippi finds that:

(a) The number of incarcerated women in the State of Mississippi has increased by a third ( 1/3 ) since 2001 and at one point in 2008 the rate had grown by forty-four percent (44%);

(b) Nationally, the number of children under age eighteen (18) with a mother in prison more than doubled since 1991;

(c) Children who grow up with parents in prison are six (6) to seven (7) times more likely to become incarcerated themselves;

(d) Prisoners who maintain close contact with their family members while incarcerated have better post-release outcomes and lower recidivism rates;

(e) Children of inmates who are able to visit their imprisoned parents have increased cognitive skills, improved academic self-esteem, greater self-control and change schools much less often;

(f) To mitigate the collateral impact on families and children, the Department of Corrections should consider the location of family;

(g) Nationally, approximately two thousand (2,000) women give birth while incarcerated each year;

(h) Prenatal care significantly improves outcomes for pregnant women and infants;

(i) Participation in post-delivery mother-infant residency or nursery programs is associated with lower recidivism rates, reduced risk of babies entering foster care, and improved odds that mothers and their babies will remain together after the mother's period of incarceration;

(j) Use of restrictive housing and restraints on incarcerated pregnant women may be extremely dangerous to the health of mothers, fetuses and infants; and

(k) Nationally, eighty-six percent (86%) of women in prison were victims of sexual assault prior to entering the prison system.

§ 47-5-1505

(a) “Restraints” means any physical or mechanical device used to restrict or control the movement of a prisoner's body, limbs, or both.

(b) “Body cavity searches” means invasive searches on inmates, conducted by facility employees in search of contraband.

(c) “Flight risk” means an inmate who has shown the desire to escape the facility.

(d) “Restrictive housing” means any type of detention that involves:

(i) Removal from the general inmate population, whether voluntary or involuntary; and

(ii) Inability to leave a room or cell for the vast majority of the day.

(e) “Postpartum recovery” means the eight-week period, or longer as determined by the healthcare professional responsible for the health and safety of the prisoner.

(f) “Menstrual hygiene products” means products that women use during their menstrual cycle. This includes tampons, sanitary napkins and menstrual cups.

(g) “Indigent” means an inmate who has less than an average of Sixteen Dollars ($16.00) in her prison account.

(h) “Correctional facility employee” refers to anyone who is employed by the facility or the Department of Corrections.

(i) “State of undress” refers to a state where a female is partially or fully naked, either in the shower, toilet areas, a medical examination room or having a body cavity search conducted.

§ 47-5-1507

(1) Upon notification and/or diagnosis of an inmate's pregnancy, and for the duration of the pregnancy, and for thirty (30) days following the inmate's delivery, the Department of Corrections and/or a correctional facility employee shall not apply the following restraints on the pregnant inmate unless a correctional facility employee has a reasonable belief that the inmate will harm herself, the fetus, or any other person, or pose a substantial flight risk:

(a) Leg restraints.

(b) Handcuffs or other wrist restraints, except to restrain the inmate's wrists in front of her.

(c) No restraints connected to other inmates.

(2) No restraints shall be used on any pregnant inmate while in labor or during delivery unless a correctional facility employee has a reasonable belief that the inmate will harm herself, the fetus, or any other person, or pose a substantial flight risk. In such case, the correctional facility employee ordering use of restraints on any female inmate while in labor or during delivery shall submit a written report to the warden of the facility within seventy-two (72) hours following the use of restraints, containing the justification for restraining the female inmate during labor and delivery.

(3) No facility employee of the Department of Corrections, other than a certified healthcare professional, shall conduct invasive body cavity searches of pregnant inmates unless the correctional facility employee has a reasonable belief that the female inmate is concealing contraband. In such case, the correctional facility employee shall submit a written report to the warden of the facility within seventy-two (72) hours following the invasive search, containing the justification for the invasive search and what contraband, if any was recovered.

(4) The Department of Corrections shall ensure that pregnant inmates be provided sufficient food and dietary supplements as ordered by a physician, physician staff member, or a facility nutritionist to meet general accepted prenatal nutritional guidelines for pregnant women.

(5) The Department of Corrections shall not place any pregnant inmate, or any female inmate who has given birth within the previous thirty (30) days, in restrictive housing unless a correctional facility employee has a reasonable belief that the inmate will harm herself, the fetus or any other person, or pose a substantial flight risk. In such case, the correctional facility employee authorizing the placement of the inmate in restrictive housing shall submit a written report to the warden of the facility within seventy-two (72) hours following the transfer, containing the justification for confining the female inmate in restrictive housing.

(6) The Department of Corrections shall not assign any pregnant inmate to any bed that is elevated more than three (3) feet from the floor of the facility.

(7) The warden of the facility shall compile a monthly summary of all written reports received pursuant to subsections (2), (3) and (5) of this section and under Section 47-5-1509(1). The warden shall submit the summary to the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections each month.

§ 47-5-1509

(1) No restraints shall be used on any female inmate who has given birth within the last thirty (30) days and is in postpartum recovery, unless the Department of Corrections has a reasonable belief that the female inmate will harm herself, her newborn, or any other person, or pose a substantial flight risk. In such case, the facility employee ordering use of restraints on any inmate while in postpartum recovery shall submit a written report to the warden of the facility within seventy-two (72) hours following the use of restraints, containing the justification for restraining the female inmate during postpartum recovery.

(2) Following the delivery of a newborn, by an inmate, the Department of Corrections shall permit the newborn to remain with the mother for seventy-two (72) hours unless the medical provider has a reasonable belief that remaining with the mother poses a health or safety risk to the newborn.

(3) During that time, the Department of Corrections shall make available the necessary nutritional and hygiene products, including diapers, to care for the newborn.

(4) If the female inmate qualifies as indigent, such products shall be provided without cost to the inmate.

§ 47-5-1511

(1) To the greatest extent practicable, after accounting for security and capacity factors, the Department of Corrections shall place inmates who are parents of minor children within two hundred fifty (250) miles of their permanent address of record.

(2) The Department of Corrections shall promulgate regulations authorizing visitation of inmates who are parents of minor children with low or minimum security classifications by minor dependents, with the minimum following requirements:

(a) Opportunities for dependent children under the age of eighteen (18) to visit their incarcerated parent at least twice per week unless a correctional facility employee has a reasonable belief that the dependent child:

(i) May be harmed during visitation; or

(ii) Poses a security risk due to a gang affiliation, prior conviction or past violation of facility contraband policy.

(b) Eliminating restrictions on the number of dependent children under the age of eighteen (18) that may be permitted visitation privileges.

(c) Authorizing contact visits for inmates who are parents of minor children.

§ 47-5-1513

(1) To the greatest extent practicable, and consistent with safety and order, the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections shall issue regulations that limit inspections by male correctional officers where a female inmate is in a state of undress.

Nothing in this section shall limit the ability of a male correctional officer from conducting inspections where a female may be in a state of undress if no female correctional officers are available.

(2) In such case that a male correctional officer deems it is appropriate to conduct an inspection or search while the female inmate is in a clear state of undress in an area such as the shower, the medical examination room, toilet areas or where a female inmate is having a body cavity search, the male correctional officer shall submit a written report to the warden of the facility within seventy-two (72) hours following the inspection or search, containing the justification for a male correctional officer to inspect the female inmate while in a state of undress.

§ 47-5-1515

The Department of Corrections shall ensure that sufficient personal hygiene products are available at each facility for all incarcerated women.

§ 47-5-1517

(1) The Department of Corrections shall develop and provide to all correctional facility employees and correctional officers who have contact with pregnant inmates training related to the physical and mental health of pregnant inmates and fetuses, including the following:

(a) General care of pregnant women;

(b) The impact of restraints on pregnant inmates and fetuses;

(c) The impact of being placed in restrictive housing on pregnant inmates; and

(d) The impact of invasive searches on pregnant inmates.

(2) The Department of Corrections shall develop and provide educational programming for pregnant inmates related to:

(a) Prenatal care;

(b) Pregnancy-specific hygiene;

(c) Parenting skills;

(d) The impact of alcohol and drugs on the fetus; and

(e) General health of child.

Chapter 7 Probation and Parole

§ 47-7-1

This chapter shall be known as the “Probation and Parole Law.”

§ 47-7-2

For purposes of this chapter, the following words shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context shall otherwise require:

(a) “Adult” means a person who is seventeen (17) years of age or older, or any person convicted of any crime not subject to the provisions of the youth court law, or any person “certified” to be tried as an adult by any youth court in the state.

(b) “Board” means the State Parole Board.

(c) “Parole case plan” means an individualized, written accountability and behavior change strategy developed by the department in collaboration with the parole board to prepare offenders for release on parole at the parole eligibility date. The case plan shall focus on the offender's criminal risk factors that, if addressed, reduce the likelihood of reoffending.

(d) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Corrections.

(e) “Correctional system” means the facilities, institutions, programs and personnel of the department utilized for adult offenders who are committed to the custody of the department.

(f) “Criminal risk factors” means characteristics that increase a person's likelihood of reoffending. These characteristics include: antisocial behavior; antisocial personality; criminal thinking; criminal associates; dysfunctional family; low levels of employment or education; poor use of leisure and recreation; and substance abuse.

(g) “Department” means the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

(h) “Detention” means the temporary care of juveniles and adults who require secure custody for their own or the community's protection in a physically restricting facility prior to adjudication, or retention in a physically restricting facility upon being taken into custody after an alleged parole or probation violation.

(i) “Discharge plan” means an individualized written document that provides information to support the offender in meeting the basic needs identified in the pre-release assessment. This information shall include, but is not limited to: contact names, phone numbers, and addresses of referrals and resources.

(j) “Evidence-based practices” means supervision policies, procedures, and practices that scientific research demonstrates reduce recidivism.

(k) “Facility” or “institution” means any facility for the custody, care, treatment and study of offenders which is under the supervision and control of the department.

(l) “Juvenile,” “minor” or “youthful” means a person less than seventeen (17) years of age.

(m) “Offender” means any person convicted of a crime or offense under the laws and ordinances of the state and its political subdivisions.

(n) “Pre-release assessment” means a determination of an offender's ability to attend to basic needs, including, but not limited to, transportation, clothing and food, financial resources, personal identification documents, housing, employment, education, and health care, following release.

(o) “Special meetings” means those meetings called by the chairman with at least twenty-four (24) hours' notice or a unanimous waiver of notice.

(p) “Supervision plan” means a plan developed by the community corrections department to manage offenders on probation and parole in a way that reduces the likelihood they will commit a new criminal offense or violate the terms of supervision and that increases the likelihood of obtaining stable housing, employment and skills necessary to sustain positive conduct.

(q) “Technical violation” means an act or omission by the probationer that violates a condition or conditions of probation placed on the probationer by the court or the probation officer.

(r) “Transitional reentry center” means a state-operated or state-contracted facility used to house offenders leaving the physical custody of the Department of Corrections on parole, probation or post-release supervision who are in need of temporary housing and services that reduce their risk to reoffend.

(s) “Unit of local government” means a county, city, town, village or other general purpose political subdivision of the state.

(t) “Risk and needs assessment” means the determination of a person's risk to reoffend using an actuarial assessment tool validated on Mississippi corrections populations and the needs that, when addressed, reduce the risk to reoffend.

§ 47-7-3

<This section is repealed by its own terms on July 1, 2027. >

(1) Every prisoner who has been convicted of any offense against the State of Mississippi, and is confined in the execution of a judgment of such conviction in the Mississippi Department of Corrections for a definite term or terms of one (1) year or over, or for the term of his or her natural life, whose record of conduct shows that such prisoner has observed the rules of the department, and who has served the minimum required time for parole eligibility, may be released on parole as set forth herein:

(a) Habitual offenders. Except as provided by Sections 99-19-81 through 99-19-87, no person sentenced as a confirmed and habitual criminal shall be eligible for parole;

(b) Sex offenders. Any person who has been sentenced for a sex offense as defined in Section 45-33-23(h) shall not be released on parole except for a person under the age of nineteen (19) who has been convicted under Section 97-3-67;

(c) Capital offenders. No person sentenced for the following offenses shall be eligible for parole:

(i) Capital murder committed on or after July 1, 1994, as defined in Section 97-3-19(2);

(ii) Any offense to which an offender is sentenced to life imprisonment under the provisions of Section 99-19-101; or

(iii) Any offense to which an offender is sentenced to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole under the provisions of Section 99-19-101, whose crime was committed on or after July 1, 1994;

(d) Murder. No person sentenced for murder in the first degree, whose crime was committed on or after June 30, 1995, or murder in the second degree, as defined in Section 97-3-19, shall be eligible for parole;

(e) Human trafficking. No person sentenced for human trafficking, as defined in Section 97-3-54.1, whose crime was committed on or after July 1, 2014, shall be eligible for parole;

(f) Drug trafficking. No person sentenced for trafficking and aggravated trafficking, as defined in Section 41-29-139(f) through (g), shall be eligible for parole;

(g) Offenses specifically prohibiting parole release. No person shall be eligible for parole who is convicted of any offense that specifically prohibits parole release;

(h)(i) Offenders eligible for parole consideration for offenses committed after June 30, 1995. Except as provided in paragraphs (a) through (g) of this subsection, offenders may be considered eligible for parole release as follows:

1. Nonviolent crimes. All persons sentenced for a nonviolent offense shall be eligible for parole only after they have served twenty-five percent (25%) or ten (10) years, whichever is less, of the sentence or sentences imposed by the trial court. For purposes of this paragraph, “nonviolent crime” means a felony not designated as a crime of violence in Section 97-3-2.

2. Violent crimes. A person who is sentenced for a violent offense as defined in Section 97-3-2, except robbery with a deadly weapon as defined in Section 97-3-79, drive-by shooting as defined in Section 97-3-109, and carjacking as defined in Section 97-3-117, shall be eligible for parole only after having served fifty percent (50%) or twenty (20) years, whichever is less, of the sentence or sentences imposed by the trial court. Those persons sentenced for robbery with a deadly weapon as defined in Section 97-3-79, drive-by shooting as defined in Section 97-3-109, and carjacking as defined in Section 97-3-117, shall be eligible for parole only after having served sixty percent (60%) or twenty-five (25) years, whichever is less, of the sentence or sentences imposed by the trial court.

3. Nonviolent and nonhabitual drug offenses. A person who has been sentenced to a drug offense pursuant to Section 41-29-139(a) through (d), whose crime was committed after June 30, 1995, shall be eligible for parole only after he has served twenty-five percent (25%) or ten (10) years, whichever is less, of the sentence or sentences imposed.

(ii) Parole hearing required. All persons eligible for parole under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph (h) who are serving a sentence or sentences for a crime of violence, as defined in Section 97-3-2, shall be required to have a parole hearing before the Parole Board pursuant to Section 47-7-17, prior to parole release.

(iii) Geriatric parole. Notwithstanding the provisions in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph (h), a person serving a sentence who has reached the age of sixty (60) or older and who has served no less than ten (10) years of the sentence or sentences imposed by the trial court shall be eligible for parole. Any person eligible for parole under this subparagraph (iii) shall be required to have a parole hearing before the board prior to parole release. No inmate shall be eligible for parole under this subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph (h) if:

1. The inmate is sentenced as a habitual offender under Sections 99-19-81 through 99-19-87;

2. The inmate is sentenced for a crime of violence under Section 97-3-2;

3. The inmate is sentenced for an offense that specifically prohibits parole release;

4. The inmate is sentenced for trafficking in controlled substances under Section 41-29-139(f);

5. The inmate is sentenced for a sex crime; or

6. The inmate has not served one-fourth ( 1/4 ) of the sentence imposed by the court.

(iv) Parole consideration as authorized by the trial court. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection, any offender who has not committed a crime of violence under Section 97-3-2 and has served twenty-five percent (25%) or more of his sentence may be paroled by the State Parole Board if, after the sentencing judge or if the sentencing judge is retired, disabled or incapacitated, the senior circuit judge authorizes the offender to be eligible for parole consideration; or if the senior circuit judge must be recused, another circuit judge of the same district or a senior status judge may hear and decide the matter. A petition for parole eligibility consideration pursuant to this subparagraph (iv) shall be filed in the original criminal cause or causes, and the offender shall serve an executed copy of the petition on the District Attorney. The court may, in its discretion, require the District Attorney to respond to the petition.

(2) The State Parole Board shall, by rules and regulations, establish a method of determining a tentative parole hearing date for each eligible offender taken into the custody of the Department of Corrections. The tentative parole hearing date shall be determined within ninety (90) days after the department has assumed custody of the offender. Except as provided in Section 47-7-18, the parole hearing date shall occur when the offender is within thirty (30) days of the month of his parole eligibility date. Any parole eligibility date shall not be earlier than as required in this section.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an inmate shall not be eligible to receive earned time, good time or any other administrative reduction of time which shall reduce the time necessary to be served for parole eligibility as provided in subsection (1) of this section.

(4) Any inmate within forty-eight (48) months of his parole eligibility date and who meets the criteria established by the classification board shall receive priority for placement in any educational development and job-training programs that are part of his or her parole case plan. Any inmate refusing to participate in an educational development or job-training program, including, but not limited to, programs required as part of the case plan, shall be in jeopardy of noncompliance with the case plan and may be denied parole.

(5) In addition to other requirements, if an offender is convicted of a drug or driving under the influence felony, the offender must complete a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program prior to parole, or the offender shall be required to complete a postrelease drug and alcohol program as a condition of parole.

(6) Except as provided in subsection (1)(a) through (h) of this section, all other persons shall be eligible for parole after serving twenty-five percent (25%) of the sentence or sentences imposed by the trial court, or, if sentenced to thirty (30) years or more, after serving ten (10) years of the sentence or sentences imposed by the trial court.

(7) The Corrections and Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force established in Section 47-5-6 shall develop and submit recommendations to the Governor and to the Legislature annually on or before December 1st concerning issues relating to juvenile and habitual offender parole reform and to review and monitor the implementation of Chapter 479, Laws of 2021.

(8) The amendments contained in Chapter 479, Laws of 2021, shall apply retroactively from and after July 1, 1995.

(9) Notwithstanding provisions to the contrary in this section, a person who was sentenced before July 1, 2021, may be considered for parole if the person's sentence would have been parole eligible before July 1, 2021.

(10) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2027.

§ 47-7-3.1

(1) In consultation with the Parole Board, the department shall develop a case plan for all parole-eligible inmates to guide an inmate's rehabilitation while in the department's custody and to reduce the likelihood of recidivism after release.

(2) The case plan shall include, but not be limited to:

(a) Programming and treatment requirements based on the results of a risk and needs assessment;

(b) Any programming or treatment requirements contained in the sentencing order; and

(c) General behavior requirements in accordance with the rules and policies of the department.

(3) With respect to parole-eligible inmates admitted to the department's custody on or after July 1, 2021, the department shall complete the case plan within ninety (90) days of admission. With respect to parole-eligible inmates admitted to the department's custody before July 1, 2021, the department shall complete the case plan by January 1, 2022.

(4) The department shall provide the inmate with a written copy of the case plan and the inmate's caseworker shall explain the conditions set forth in the case plan.

(a) Within ninety (90) days of admission, the caseworker shall notify the inmate of their parole eligibility date as calculated in accordance with Section 47-7-3(3);

(b) At the time a parole-eligible inmate receives the case plan, the department shall send the case plan to the Parole Board for approval.

(5) With respect to parole-eligible inmates admitted to the department's custody after July 1, 2021, the department shall ensure that the case plan is achievable prior to the inmate's parole eligibility date. With respect to parole-eligible inmates admitted to the department's custody before July 1, 2021, the department shall, to the extent possible, ensure that the case plan is achievable prior to the inmate's parole eligibility date or next parole hearing date, or date of release, whichever is sooner.

(6) The caseworker shall meet with the inmate every eight (8) weeks from the date the offender received the case plan to review the inmate's case plan progress.

(7) Every four (4) months the department shall electronically submit a progress report on each parole-eligible inmate's case plan to the Parole Board. The board may meet to review an inmate's case plan and may provide written input to the caseworker on the inmate's progress toward completion of the case plan.

(8) The Parole Board shall provide semiannually to the Oversight Task Force the number of parole hearings held, the number of prisoners released to parole without a hearing and the number of parolees released after a hearing.

(9) If the Department of Corrections fails to adequately provide opportunity and access for the completion of such case plans, the Department of Corrections shall, to the extent possible, contract with regional jail facilities that offer educational development and job-training programs to facilitate the fulfillment of the case plans of parole-eligible inmates.

§ 47-7-3.2

(1) Notwithstanding Section 47-5-138, 47-5-139, 47-5-138.1 or 47-5-142, no person convicted of a criminal offense on or after July 1, 2014, shall be released by the department until he or she has served no less than the percentage of the sentence or sentences imposed by the court as set forth below:

(a) Twenty-five percent (25%) or ten (10) years, whichever is less, for a nonviolent crime;

(b) Fifty percent (50%) or twenty (20) years, whichever is less, for a crime of violence pursuant to Section 97-3-2, except for robbery with a deadly weapon as defined in Section 97-3-79, drive-by shooting as defined in Section 97-3-109, or carjacking as defined in Section 97-3-117;

(c) Sixty percent (60%) or twenty-five (25) years, whichever is less, for robbery with a deadly weapon as defined in Section 97-3-79, drive-by shooting as defined in Section 97-3-109, or carjacking as defined in Section 97-3-117.

(2) This section shall not apply to:

(a) Offenders sentenced to life imprisonment;

(b) Offenders convicted as habitual offenders pursuant to Sections 99-19-81 through 99-19-87;

(c) Offenders serving a sentence for a sex offense; or

(d) Offenders serving a sentence for trafficking pursuant to Section 41-29-139(f).

§ 47-7-4

(1) The commissioner and the medical director of the department may place an offender who has served not less than one (1) year of his or her sentence, except an offender convicted of a sex crime, on conditional medical release. However, a nonviolent offender who is bedridden may be placed on conditional medical release regardless of the time served on his or her sentence. Upon the release of a nonviolent offender who is bedridden, the state shall not be responsible or liable for any medical costs that may be incurred if such costs are acquired after the offender is no longer incarcerated due to his or her placement on conditional medical release. The commissioner shall not place an offender on conditional medical release unless the medical director of the department certifies to the commissioner that (a) the offender is suffering from a significant permanent physical medical condition with no possibility of recovery; (b) that his or her further incarceration will serve no rehabilitative purposes; and (c) that the state would incur unreasonable expenses as a result of his or her continued incarceration. Any offender placed on conditional medical release shall be supervised by the Division of Community Corrections of the department for the remainder of his or her sentence. An offender's conditional medical release may be revoked and the offender returned and placed in actual custody of the department if the offender violates an order or condition of his or her conditional medical release. An offender who is no longer bedridden shall be returned and placed in the actual custody of the department.

(2)(a) The State Parole Board may grant a medical parole and referral to licensed special care facilities for paroled inmates for an inmate determined to be “medically frail” as defined in this subsection.

(b) For purposes of this subsection (2), the term “medically frail” means an individual who has a mental or physical medical condition from which he or she, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, is not expected to recover and as a result cannot perform daily living activities and who is a minimal threat to society as a result of the mental or physical medical condition.

(c) The following conditions apply to a parole granted under this subsection (2):

(i) An inmate who has been sentenced to capital punishment is not eligible;

(ii) An inmate who has been convicted as a criminal sex offender is not eligible;

(iii) An inmate does not pose a public safety risk or risk of flight as determined by the State Parole Board;

(iv) If the prisoner is incapacitated as a result of a mental or physical medical condition as prescribed under paragraph (b) of this subsection, an individual legally entitled to agree to the inmate's placement agrees to the inmate's placement in a licensed special care facility for paroled inmates or in a medical facility where medical care and treatment are determined to be appropriate for the parolee by the State Parole Board;

(v) An inmate shall agree to the release of his or her medical records that are directly relevant to the condition or conditions rendering the inmate medically frail to any prosecuting attorney of the county from which the inmate was committed before the State Parole Board determines whether or not to grant parole under this subsection;

(vi) If the inmate is granted parole under this subsection (2), the inmate shall agree to the quarterly release of his or her medical records that are directly relevant to the condition or conditions rendering the inmate medically frail at the request of any prosecuting attorney of the county from which the inmate was committed;

(vii) The parolee shall adhere to the terms of his or her parole for the length of his or her parole term, and the parole shall be for a term not less than the time necessary to reach the prisoner's earliest release date;

(viii) The department or the State Parole Board shall not retain authority over the medical treatment plan for the inmate granted parole under this subsection (2);

(ix) The department and the State Parole Board shall ensure that the placement and terms and conditions of parole granted under this subsection (2) do not violate any other state or federal regulations;

(x) A facility utilized by the department to facilitate parole under this subsection (2) shall be operated in a manner that ensures the safety of the residents of the facility;

(xi) If the inmate recovers from the mental or physical medical condition that rendered the inmate medically frail under this subsection (2), the State Parole Board shall revoke the parole granted under this subsection (2), and the department shall ensure that the inmate returns to incarceration.

(d) The Mississippi Department of Corrections may enter into contracts to facilitate the housing of paroled inmates under this subsection (2). The Mississippi Department of Corrections shall appoint a specialist in the appropriate field of medicine, who is not employed by the department, to evaluate the condition of the inmate considered for parole under this subsection (2) and to report on that condition to the department and the State Parole Board. The State Parole Board shall determine whether the inmate is medically frail in consultation with the Mississippi Department of Health.

§ 47-7-5

<This section is repealed pursuant to its own terms on July 1, 2027. >

(1) Effective January 1, 2028, the State Parole Board, created under former Section 47-7-5, is hereby created, continued and reconstituted and shall be composed of five (5) members, one (1) appointed from each Mississippi Supreme Court District and two (2) from the state at large. The Governor shall appoint the members to serve at the will and pleasure of the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, not less than every four (4) years, provided that three (3) members shall be appointed in 2028 to a term ending December 31, 2031, and two (2) members shall be appointed in 2030 to a term ending December 31, 2033. Appointments made at the beginning of the four-year cycle shall be made to fill any member's term which actually expires that year and any member's term which expires next until the majority of the membership of the board or commission is reached. Appointments made at the beginning of the third year of the four-year cycle shall be made for the remainder of the membership positions irrespective of the time of their prior appointment. Any question regarding the order of appointments shall be determined by the Secretary of State in accordance with the specific statute. All appointment procedures, vacancy provisions, interim appointment provisions and removal provisions specifically provided for in Section 7-1-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall be fully applicable to appointments to the State Parole Board. Any vacancy shall be filled by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Governor shall appoint a chairman of the board.

(2) Any person who is appointed to serve on the board shall possess at least a bachelor's degree or a high school diploma and four (4) years' work experience. Each member shall devote his full time to the duties of his office and shall not engage in any other business or profession or hold any other public office. A member shall receive compensation or per diem in addition to his or her salary. Each member shall keep such hours and workdays as required of full-time state employees under Section 25-1-98. Individuals shall be appointed to serve on the board without reference to their political affiliations. Each board member, including the chairman, may be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses as authorized by Section 25-3-41. Each member of the board shall complete annual training developed based on guidance from the National Institute of Corrections, the Association of Paroling Authorities International, or the American Probation and Parole Association. Each first-time appointee of the board shall, within sixty (60) days of appointment, or as soon as practical, complete training for first-time Parole Board members developed in consideration of information from the National Institute of Corrections, the Association of Paroling Authorities International, or the American Probation and Parole Association.

(3) The board shall have exclusive responsibility for the granting of parole as provided by Sections 47-7-3 and 47-7-17 and shall have exclusive authority for revocation of the same. The board shall have exclusive responsibility for investigating clemency recommendations upon request of the Governor.

(4) The board, its members and staff, shall be immune from civil liability for any official acts taken in good faith and in exercise of the board's legitimate governmental authority.

(5) The budget of the board shall be funded through a separate line item within the general appropriation bill for the support and maintenance of the department. Employees of the department which are employed by or assigned to the board shall work under the guidance and supervision of the board. There shall be an executive secretary to the board who shall be responsible for all administrative and general accounting duties related to the board. The executive secretary shall keep and preserve all records and papers pertaining to the board.

(6) The board shall have no authority or responsibility for supervision of offenders granted a release for any reason, including, but not limited to, probation, parole or executive clemency or other offenders requiring the same through interstate compact agreements. The supervision shall be provided exclusively by the staff of the Division of Community Corrections of the department.

(7)(a) The Parole Board is authorized to select and place offenders in an electronic monitoring program under the conditions and criteria imposed by the Parole Board. The conditions, restrictions and requirements of Section 47-7-17 and Sections 47-5-1001 through 47-5-1015 shall apply to the Parole Board and any offender placed in an electronic monitoring program by the Parole Board.

(b) Any offender placed in an electronic monitoring program under this subsection shall pay the program fee provided in Section 47-5-1013. The program fees shall be deposited in the special fund created in Section 47-5-1007.

(c) The department shall have absolute immunity from liability for any injury resulting from a determination by the Parole Board that an offender be placed in an electronic monitoring program.

(8)(a) The Parole Board shall maintain a central registry of paroled inmates. The Parole Board shall place the following information on the registry: name, address, photograph, crime for which paroled, the date of the end of parole or flat-time date and other information deemed necessary. The Parole Board shall immediately remove information on a parolee at the end of his parole or flat-time date.

(b) When a person is placed on parole, the Parole Board shall inform the parolee of the duty to report to the parole officer any change in address ten (10) days before changing address.

(c) The Parole Board shall utilize an Internet website or other electronic means to release or publish the information.

(d) Records maintained on the registry shall be open to law enforcement agencies and the public and shall be available no later than July 1, 2003.

(9) An affirmative vote of at least four (4) members of the Parole Board shall be required to grant parole to an inmate convicted of capital murder or a sex crime.

(10) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2027.

§ 47-7-6

(1) The Parole Board, with the assistance of the Department of Corrections, shall collect the following information:

(a) The number of offenders supervised on parole;

(b) The number of offenders released on parole;

(c) The number of parole hearings held;

(d) The parole grant rate for parolees released with and without a hearing;

(e) The average length of time offenders spend on parole;

(f) The number and percentage of parolees revoked for a technical violation and returned for a term of imprisonment in a technical violation center;

(g) The number and percentage of parolees revoked for a technical violation and returned for a term of imprisonment in another type of Department of Corrections' facility;

(h) The number and percentage of parolees who are convicted of a new offense and returned for a term of imprisonment on their current crime as well as the new crime;

(i) The number of parolees held on a violation in county jail awaiting a revocation hearing; and

(j) The average length of stay in a county jail for parolees awaiting a revocation hearing.

(2) The Parole Board shall semiannually report information required in subsection (1) to the Oversight Task Force, and upon request, shall report such information to the PEER Committee.

§ 47-7-9

(1) The circuit judges and county judges in the districts to which Division of Community Corrections personnel have been assigned shall have the power to request of the department transfer or removal of the division personnel from their court.

(2)(a) Division personnel shall investigate all cases referred to them for investigation by the board, the division or by any court in which they are authorized to serve. They shall furnish to each person released under their supervision a written statement of the conditions of probation, parole, earned-release supervision, post-release supervision or suspension and shall instruct the person regarding the same. They shall administer a risk and needs assessment on each person under their supervision to measure criminal risk factors and individual needs. They shall use the results of the risk and needs assessment to guide supervision responses consistent with evidence-based practices as to the level of supervision and the practices used to reduce recidivism. They shall develop a supervision plan for each person assessed as moderate to high risk to reoffend. They shall keep informed concerning the conduct and conditions of persons under their supervision and use all suitable methods that are consistent with evidence-based practices to aid and encourage them and to bring about improvements in their conduct and condition and to reduce the risk of recidivism. They shall keep detailed records of their work and shall make such reports in writing as the court or the board may require.

(b) Division personnel shall complete annual training on evidence-based practices and criminal risk factors, as well as instructions on how to target these factors to reduce recidivism.

(c) The division personnel duly assigned to court districts are hereby vested with all the powers of police officers or sheriffs to make arrests or perform any other duties required of policemen or sheriffs which may be incident to the division personnel responsibilities. All probation and parole officers hired on or after July 1, 1994, will be placed in the Law Enforcement Officers Training Program and will be required to meet the standards outlined by that program.

(d) It is the intention of the Legislature that insofar as practicable the case load of each division personnel supervising offenders in the community (hereinafter field supervisor) shall not exceed the number of cases that may be adequately handled.

(3)(a) Division personnel shall be provided to perform investigation for the court as provided in this subsection. Division personnel shall conduct presentence investigations on all persons convicted of a felony in any circuit court of the state, prior to sentencing and at the request of the circuit court judge of the court of conviction. The presentence evaluation report shall consist of a complete record of the offender's criminal history, educational level, employment history, psychological condition and such other information as the department or judge may deem necessary. Division personnel shall also prepare written victim impact statements at the request of the sentencing judge as provided in Section 99-19-157.

(b) In order that offenders in the custody of the department on July 1, 1976, may benefit from the kind of evaluations authorized in this section, an evaluation report to consist of the information required hereinabove, supplemented by an examination of an offender's record while in custody, shall be compiled by the division upon all offenders in the custody of the department on July 1, 1976. After a study of such reports by the State Parole Board those cases which the board believes would merit some type of executive clemency shall be submitted by the board to the Governor with its recommendation for the appropriate executive action.

(c) The department is authorized to accept gifts, grants and subsidies to conduct this activity.

§ 47-7-11

All salaries and expenses incurred in the carrying out of this chapter shall be paid out of funds appropriated by the legislature for the support and maintenance of the probation and parole board. All accounts, including salaries, shall be approved and allowed by the board, and the board shall keep a complete record thereof.

§ 47-7-13

A majority of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of all business. A decision to parole an offender convicted of murder or a sex-related crime shall require the affirmative vote of three (3) members. The board shall maintain, in minute book form, a copy of each of its official actions with the reasons therefor. Suitable and sufficient office space and support resources and staff necessary to conducting Parole Board business shall be provided by the Department of Corrections. However, the principal place for conducting parole hearings shall be the state penitentiary at Parchman.

§ 47-7-15

The board shall adopt an official seal of which the courts shall take judicial notice. Decisions of the board shall be made by majority vote, except as provided in Section 47-7-5(9).

The board shall keep a record of its acts and shall notify each institution of its decisions relating to the persons who are or have been confined therein. At the close of each fiscal year the board shall submit to the Governor and to the Legislature a report with statistical and other data of its work.

§ 47-7-17

(1) Within one (1) year after his admission and at such intervals thereafter as it may determine, the board shall secure and consider all pertinent information regarding each offender, except any under sentence of death or otherwise ineligible for parole, including the circumstances of his offense, his previous social history, his previous criminal record, including any records of law enforcement agencies or of a youth court regarding that offender's juvenile criminal history, his conduct, employment and attitude while in the custody of the department, the case plan created to prepare the offender for parole, and the reports of such physical and mental examinations as have been made. The board shall furnish at least three (3) months' written notice to each such offender of the date on which he is eligible for parole.

(2) Except as provided in Section 47-7-18, the board shall require a parole-eligible offender to have a hearing as required in this chapter before the board and to be interviewed. The hearing shall be held no later than thirty (30) days prior to the month of eligibility. No application for parole of a person convicted of a capital offense shall be considered by the board unless and until notice of the filing of such application shall have been published at least once a week for two (2) weeks in a newspaper published in or having general circulation in the county in which the crime was committed. The board shall, within thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled hearing, also give notice of the filing of the application for parole to the victim of the offense for which the prisoner is incarcerated and being considered for parole or, in case the offense be homicide, a designee of the immediate family of the victim, provided the victim or designated family member has furnished in writing a current address to the board for such purpose. The victim or designated family member shall be provided an opportunity to be heard by the board before the board makes a decision regarding release on parole. The board shall consider whether any restitution ordered has been paid in full. Parole release shall, at the hearing, be ordered only for the best interest of society, not as an award of clemency; it shall not be considered to be a reduction of sentence or pardon. An offender shall be placed on parole only when arrangements have been made for his proper employment or for his maintenance and care, and when the board believes that he is able and willing to fulfill the obligations of a law-abiding citizen. When the board determines that the offender will need transitional housing upon release in order to improve the likelihood of the offender becoming a law-abiding citizen, the board may parole the offender with the condition that the inmate spends no more than six (6) months in a transitional reentry center. At least fifteen (15) days prior to the release of an offender on parole, the director of records of the department shall give the written notice which is required pursuant to Section 47-5-177. Every offender while on parole shall remain in the legal custody of the department from which he was released and shall be amenable to the orders of the board. Upon determination by the board that an offender is eligible for release by parole, notice shall also be given within at least fifteen (15) days before release, by the board to the victim of the offense or the victim's family member, as indicated above, regarding the date when the offender's release shall occur, provided a current address of the victim or the victim's family member has been furnished in writing to the board for such purpose.

(3) For any hearing where an offender has been convicted of a crime of violence, as set out under Section 97-3-2 or any offense set out under Section 47-7-3(1)(a) through (g), the board shall, within thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled hearing, solicit the written or oral recommendations of the Attorney General, the attorney who prosecuted the case, the judge who presided over the case, the chief of police of the municipality where the offender was convicted and the sheriff of the county where the offender was convicted.

(4) The board shall, within thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled hearing, also give written or electronic notice of the filing of the application for parole to the attorney who prosecuted the case, the judge who presided over the case, the chief of police of the municipality where the offender was convicted and the sheriff of the county where the offender was convicted.

(5) If the attorney who prosecuted the case or the judge who presided over the case is not living or serving, solicitation for recommendations under subsection (3) and notice under subsection (4) shall be given to the district attorney and one of the judges of the court in which the offender was convicted.

(6) Failure to provide notice to the victim or the victim's family member of the filing of the application for parole or of any decision made by the board regarding parole shall not constitute grounds for vacating an otherwise lawful parole determination nor shall it create any right or liability, civilly or criminally, against the board or any member thereof.

(7) A letter of protest against granting an offender parole shall not be treated as the conclusive and only reason for not granting parole.

(8) The board may adopt such other rules not inconsistent with law as it may deem proper or necessary with respect to the eligibility of offenders for parole, the conduct of parole hearings, or conditions to be imposed upon parolees, including a condition that the parolee submit, as provided in Section 47-5-601 to any type of breath, saliva or urine chemical analysis test, the purpose of which is to detect the possible presence of alcohol or a substance prohibited or controlled by any law of the State of Mississippi or the United States. The board shall have the authority to adopt rules related to the placement of certain offenders on unsupervised parole and for the operation of transitional reentry centers. However, in no case shall an offender be placed on unsupervised parole before he has served a minimum of fifty percent (50%) of the period of supervised parole.

§ 47-7-18

(1) No inmate convicted of a sex offense as defined by Section 45-33-23(h), a crime of violence as defined by Section 97-3-2, or both, nor an inmate who is eligible for geriatric parole shall be released on parole without a hearing before the Parole Board as required by Section 47-7-17. All other inmates eligible for parole pursuant to Section 47-7-3 shall be released from incarceration to parole supervision on the inmate's parole eligibility date, without a hearing before the board, if:

(a) The inmate has met the requirements of the parole case plan established pursuant to Section 47-7-3.1;

(b) A victim of the offense has not requested the board conduct a hearing;

(c) The inmate has not received a serious or major violation report within the past six (6) months;

(d) The inmate has agreed to the conditions of supervision; and

(e) The inmate has a discharge plan approved by the board.

(2) At least thirty (30) days prior to an inmate's parole eligibility date, the department shall notify the board in writing of the inmate's compliance or noncompliance with the case plan. If an inmate fails to meet a requirement of the case plan, prior to the parole eligibility date, he or she shall have a hearing before the board to determine if completion of the case plan can occur while in the community.

(3) Any inmate for whom there is insufficient information for the department to determine compliance with the case plan shall have a hearing with the board.

(4) A hearing shall be held with the board if requested by the victim following notification of the inmate's parole release date pursuant to Section 47-7-17.

(5) A hearing shall be held by the board if a law enforcement official from the community to which the inmate will return contacts the board or the department and requests a hearing to consider information relevant to public safety risks posed by the inmate if paroled at the initial parole eligibility date. The law enforcement official shall submit an explanation documenting these concerns for the board to consider.

(6) If a parole hearing is held, the board may determine the inmate has sufficiently complied with the case plan or that the incomplete case plan is not the fault of the inmate and that granting parole is not incompatible with public safety, the board may then parole the inmate with appropriate conditions. If the board determines that the inmate has sufficiently complied with the case plan but the discharge plan indicates that the inmate does not have appropriate housing immediately upon release, the board may parole the inmate to a transitional reentry center with the condition that the inmate spends no more than six (6) months in the center. If the board determines that the inmate has not substantively complied with the requirement(s) of the case plan it may deny parole. If the board denies parole, the board may schedule a subsequent parole hearing and, if a new date is scheduled, the board shall identify the corrective action the inmate will need to take in order to be granted parole. Any inmate not released at the time of the inmate's initial parole date shall have a parole hearing at least every year.

§ 47-7-19

It shall be the duty of all correctional system officials to grant to the members of the board or its properly accredited representatives, access at all reasonable times to any person over whom the board may have jurisdiction under this chapter; to provide for the board or such representatives facilities for communicating with and observing the offender; and to furnish to the board such reports as the board shall require concerning the conduct and character of any offender in the department of corrections custody and any other facts deemed by the board pertinent in determining whether such offender shall be paroled.

It shall be the duty of any judge, district attorney, county attorney, police officer, or other public official of the state, having information with reference to any person eligible for parole, to send such information as may be in his possession or under his control to the board, in writing, upon request of any member or employee thereof.

§ 47-7-21

All information obtained in the discharge of official duty by a field officer as an employee of the Department of Corrections shall be privileged and shall not be disclosed directly or indirectly to anyone other than to (a) the State Parole Board, (b) a judge, or (c) law enforcement agencies when such information is relevant to criminal activity.

§ 47-7-23

Except as otherwise provided by law, the Department of Corrections shall have the power and duty to make rules for the conduct of persons heretofore or hereafter placed on parole under the supervision of the Department of Corrections and for the investigation and supervision of such persons, which supervision may include a condition that such persons submit, as provided in Section 47-5-601, to any type of breath, saliva or urine chemical analysis test, the purpose of which is to detect the possible presence of alcohol or a substance prohibited or controlled by any law of the State of Mississippi or the United States. The department shall not make any rules which shall be inconsistent with the rules imposed by the State Parole Board pursuant to Section 47-7-17 on offenders who are placed on unsupervised parole.

§ 47-7-25

When an offender is placed on parole he shall receive, if needed, from the state, civilian clothing and transportation to the place in which he is to reside. At the discretion of the board the offender may be advanced such sum for his temporary maintenance as the board may allow. The aforesaid gratuities are to be furnished by the commissioner of corrections who is authorized to charge the actual cost of same in his account as commissioner of corrections.

§ 47-7-27

(1) The board may, at any time and upon a showing of probable violation of parole, issue a warrant for the return of any paroled offender to the custody of the department. The warrant shall authorize all persons named therein to return the paroled offender to actual custody of the department from which he was paroled.

(2) Any field supervisor may arrest an offender without a warrant or may deputize any other person with power of arrest by giving him a written statement setting forth that the offender has, in the judgment of that field supervisor, violated the conditions of his parole or earned-release supervision. The written statement delivered with the offender by the arresting officer to the official in charge of the department facility from which the offender was released or other place of detention designated by the department shall be sufficient warrant for the detention of the offender.

(3) The field supervisor, after making an arrest, shall present to the detaining authorities a similar statement of the circumstances of violation. The field supervisor shall at once notify the board or department of the arrest and detention of the offender and shall submit a written report showing in what manner the offender has violated the conditions of parole or earned-release supervision. An offender for whose return a warrant has been issued by the board shall, after the issuance of the warrant, be deemed a fugitive from justice.

(4) Whenever an offender is arrested on a warrant for an alleged violation of parole as herein provided, the board shall hold an informal preliminary hearing within seventy-two (72) hours to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe the person has violated a condition of parole. A preliminary hearing shall not be required when the offender is not under arrest on a warrant or the offender signed a waiver of a preliminary hearing. The preliminary hearing may be conducted electronically.

(5) The right of the State of Mississippi to extradite persons and return fugitives from justice, from other states to this state, shall not be impaired by this chapter and shall remain in full force and effect. An offender convicted of a felony committed while on parole, whether in the State of Mississippi or another state, shall immediately have his parole revoked upon presentment of a certified copy of the commitment order to the board. If an offender is on parole and the offender is convicted of a felony for a crime committed prior to the offender being placed on parole, whether in the State of Mississippi or another state, the offender may have his parole revoked upon presentment of a certified copy of the commitment order to the board.

(6)(a) The board shall hold a hearing for any parolee who is detained as a result of a warrant or a violation report within twenty-one (21) days of the parolee's admission to detention. The board may, in its discretion, terminate the parole or modify the terms and conditions thereof. If the board revokes parole for one or more technical violations the board shall impose a period of imprisonment to be served in a technical violation center operated by the department not to exceed ninety (90) days for the first revocation and not to exceed one hundred twenty (120) days for the second revocation. For the third revocation, the board may impose a period of imprisonment to be served in a technical violation center for up to one hundred and eighty (180) days or the board may impose the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. For the fourth and any subsequent revocation, the board may impose up to the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. The period of imprisonment in a technical violation center imposed under this section shall not be reduced in any manner.

(b) If the board does not hold a hearing or does not take action on the violation within the twenty-one-day time frame in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the parolee shall be released from detention and shall return to parole status. The board may subsequently hold a hearing and may revoke parole or may continue parole and modify the terms and conditions of parole. If the board revokes parole for one or more technical violations the board shall impose a period of imprisonment to be served in a technical violation center operated by the department not to exceed ninety (90) days for the first revocation and not to exceed one hundred twenty (120) days for the second revocation. For the third revocation, the board may impose a period of imprisonment to be served in a technical violation center for up to one hundred eighty (180) days or the board may impose the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. For the fourth and any subsequent revocation, the board may impose up to the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. The period of imprisonment in a technical violation center imposed under this section shall not be reduced in any manner.

(c) For a parolee charged with one or more technical violations who has not been detained awaiting the revocation hearing, the board may hold a hearing within a reasonable time. The board may revoke parole or may continue parole and modify the terms and conditions of parole. If the board revokes parole for one or more technical violations the board shall impose a period of imprisonment to be served in a technical violation center operated by the department not to exceed ninety (90) days for the first revocation and not to exceed one hundred twenty (120) days for the second revocation. For the third revocation, the board may impose a period of imprisonment to be served in a technical violation center for up to one hundred eighty (180) days or the board may impose the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. For the fourth and any subsequent revocation, the board may impose up to the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. The period of imprisonment in a technical violation center imposed under this section shall not be reduced in any manner.

(7) Unless good cause for the delay is established in the record of the proceeding, the parole revocation charge shall be dismissed if the revocation hearing is not held within the thirty (30) days of the issuance of the warrant.

(8) The chairman and each member of the board and the designated parole revocation hearing officer may, in the discharge of their duties, administer oaths, summon and examine witnesses, and take other steps as may be necessary to ascertain the truth of any matter about which they have the right to inquire.

(9) The board shall provide semiannually to the Oversight Task Force the number of warrants issued for an alleged violation of parole, the average time between detention on a warrant and preliminary hearing, the average time between detention on a warrant and revocation hearing, the number of ninety-day sentences in a technical violation center issued by the board, the number of one-hundred-twenty-day sentences in a technical violation center issued by the board, the number of one-hundred-eighty-day sentences issued by the board, and the number and average length of the suspended sentences imposed by the board in response to a violation.

§ 47-7-29

Any prisoner who commits a felony while at large upon parole or earned-release supervision and who is convicted and sentenced therefor shall be required to serve such sentence after the original sentence has been completed.

§ 47-7-31

Upon request of the governor the department of corrections shall investigate and report to him with respect to any case of pardon, commutation of sentence, reprieve, furlough or remission of fine or forfeiture.

Any attorney of record in the state of Mississippi representing any person whose record is before the department shall have the right to inspect such records on file with the department.

§ 47-7-33

(1) When it appears to the satisfaction of any circuit court or county court in the State of Mississippi having original jurisdiction over criminal actions, or to the judge thereof, that the ends of justice and the best interest of the public, as well as the defendant, will be served thereby, such court, in termtime or in vacation, shall have the power, after conviction or a plea of guilty, except in a case where a death sentence or life imprisonment is the maximum penalty which may be imposed, to suspend the imposition or execution of sentence, and place the defendant on probation as herein provided, except that the court shall not suspend the execution of a sentence of imprisonment after the defendant shall have begun to serve such sentence. In placing any defendant on probation, the court, or judge, shall direct that such defendant be under the supervision of the Department of Corrections.

(2) When any circuit or county court places an offender on probation, the court shall give notice to the Mississippi Department of Corrections within fifteen (15) days of the court's decision to place the offender on probation. Notice shall be delivered to the central office of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and to the regional office of the department which will be providing supervision to the offender on probation.

(3) When any circuit court or county court places a person on probation in accordance with the provisions of this section and that person is ordered to make any payments to his family, if any member of his family whom he is ordered to support is receiving public assistance through the State Department of Human Services, the court shall order him to make such payments to the county welfare officer of the county rendering public assistance to his family, for the sole use and benefit of said family.

§ 47-7-33.1

(1) The department shall create a discharge plan for any offender returning to the community, regardless of whether the person will discharge from the custody of the department, or is released on parole, pardon, or otherwise. At least ninety (90) days prior to an offender's earliest release date, the commissioner shall conduct a pre-release assessment and complete a written discharge plan based on the assessment results. The discharge plan for parole eligible offenders shall be sent to the parole board at least thirty (30) days prior to the offender's parole eligibility date for approval. The board may suggest changes to the plan that it deems necessary to ensure a successful transition.

(2) The pre-release assessment shall identify whether an inmate requires assistance obtaining the following basic needs upon release: transportation, clothing and food, financial resources, identification documents, housing, employment, education, health care and support systems. The discharge plan shall include information necessary to address these needs and the steps being taken by the department to assist in this process, including an up-to-date version of the information described in Section 63-1-309(4). Based on the findings of the assessment, the commissioner shall:

(a) Arrange transportation for inmates from the correctional facility to their release destination;

(b) Ensure inmates have clean, seasonally appropriate clothing, and provide inmates with a list of food providers and other basic resources immediately accessible upon release;

(c) Ensure inmates have a provisional driver's license issued pursuant to Title 63, Chapter 1, Article 7, Mississippi Code of 1972, a regular driver's license if eligible, or a state-issued identification card that is not a Department of Corrections identification card;

(d) Assist inmates in identifying safe, affordable housing upon release. If accommodations are not available, determine whether temporary housing is available for at least ten (10) days after release. If temporary housing is not available, the discharge plan shall reflect that satisfactory housing has not been established and the person may be a candidate for transitional reentry center placement;

(e) Refer inmates without secured employment to employment opportunities;

(f) Provide inmates with contact information of a health care facility/provider in the community in which they plan to reside;

(g) Notify family members of the release date and release plan, if the inmate agrees; and

(h) Refer inmates to a community or a faith-based organization that can offer support within the first twenty-four (24) hours of release.

(3) A written discharge plan shall be provided to the offender and supervising probation officer or parole officer, if applicable.

(4) A discharge plan created for a parole-eligible offender shall also include supervision conditions and the intensity of supervision based on the assessed risk to recidivate and whether there is a need for transitional housing. The board shall approve discharge plans before an offender is released on parole pursuant to this chapter.

§ 47-7-34

(1) When a court imposes a sentence upon a conviction for any felony committed after June 30, 1995, the court, in addition to any other punishment imposed if the other punishment includes a term of incarceration in a state or local correctional facility, may impose a term of post-release supervision. However, the total number of years of incarceration plus the total number of years of post-release supervision shall not exceed the maximum sentence authorized to be imposed by law for the felony committed. The defendant shall be placed under post-release supervision upon release from the term of incarceration. The period of supervision shall be established by the court.

(2) The period of post-release supervision shall be conducted in the same manner as a like period of supervised probation, including a requirement that the defendant shall abide by any terms and conditions as the court may establish. Failure to successfully abide by the terms and conditions shall be grounds to terminate the period of post-release supervision and to recommit the defendant to the correctional facility from which he was previously released. Procedures for termination and recommitment shall be conducted in the same manner as procedures for the revocation of probation and imposition of a suspended sentence as required pursuant to Section 47-7-37.

(3) Post-release supervision programs shall be operated through the probation and parole unit of the Division of Community Corrections of the department. The maximum amount of time that the Mississippi Department of Corrections may supervise an offender on the post-release supervision program is five (5) years.

§ 47-7-35

(1) The courts referred to in Section 47-7-33 or 47-7-34 shall determine the terms and conditions of probation or post-release supervision and may alter or modify, at any time during the period of probation or post-release supervision, the conditions and may include among them the following or any other:

That the offender shall:

(a) Commit no offense against the laws of this or any other state of the United States, or of any federal, territorial or tribal jurisdiction of the United States;

(b) Avoid injurious or vicious habits;

(c) Avoid persons or places of disreputable or harmful character;

(d) Report to the probation and parole officer as directed;

(e) Permit the probation and parole officer to visit him at home or elsewhere;

(f) Work faithfully at suitable employment so far as possible;

(g) Remain within a specified area;

(h) Pay his fine in one (1) or several sums;

(i) Support his dependents;

(j) Submit, as provided in Section 47-5-601, to any type of breath, saliva or urine chemical analysis test, the purpose of which is to detect the possible presence of alcohol or a substance prohibited or controlled by any law of the State of Mississippi or the United States;

(k) Register as a sex offender if so required under Title 45, Chapter 33.

(2) When any court places a defendant on misdemeanor probation, the court must cause to be conducted a search of the probationer's name or other identifying information against the registration information regarding sex offenders maintained under Title 45, Chapter 33. The search may be conducted using the Internet site maintained by the Department of Public Safety Sex Offender Registry.

§ 47-7-36

(1) Any person who supervises an individual placed on parole by the Parole Board or placed on probation by the court shall set the times and locations for meetings that are required for parole or probation at such times and locations that are reasonably designed to accommodate the work schedule of an individual on parole or probation who is employed by another person or entity.

(2) To effectuate the provisions of this section, the parole officer or probation officer may utilize technology portals such as Skype, FaceTime or Google video chat, or any other technology portal that allows communication between the individual on parole or probation and the parole or probation officer, as applicable, to occur simultaneously in real time by voice and video in lieu of requiring a face-to-face in person meeting of such individual and the parole or probation officer, as applicable. For individuals who are self-employed, the provisions of this subsection shall only apply with the agreement of their supervising parole or probation officer.

(3) The Department of Corrections shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this section. The rules and regulations promulgated by the department shall include, but are not limited to, minimum standards and guidelines for the authorized technology and how it may be used as well as standards for determining the eligibility and suitability of an individual on parole or probation to meet his or her reporting requirements through the use of such technology. The eligibility and suitability standards shall include consideration of the severity of the individual's underlying criminal conviction and such individual's criminal history, supervision level, and past supervision history.

(4) This section shall not apply to offenders whose employers comply with the requirements of Section 47-7-36.1(1).

§ 47-7-36.1

(1) Any employer of an offender may submit weekly time cards, proof of employment and the results of any required drug tests to the person who supervises an individual placed on parole by the Parole Board or placed on probation by the court in lieu of the meeting requirement described in Section 47-7-36.

(2) Any employer may withhold an amount from an offender's paycheck sufficient to cover the fees described in Section 47-7-49 and pay the amount to the department monthly.

(3) This section shall not apply to offenders who are self-employed.

(4) The board shall coordinate with the department to promulgate rules and regulations to administer this section.

§ 47-7-37

(1) The period of probation shall be fixed by the court, and may at any time be extended or terminated by the court, or judge in vacation. Such period with any extension thereof shall not exceed five (5) years, except that in cases of desertion and/or failure to support minor children, the period of probation may be fixed and/or extended by the court for so long as the duty to support such minor children exists. The time served on probation or post-release supervision may be reduced pursuant to Section 47-7-40.

(2) At any time during the period of probation, the court, or judge in vacation, may issue a warrant for violating any of the conditions of probation or suspension of sentence and cause the probationer to be arrested. Any probation and parole officer may arrest a probationer without a warrant, or may deputize any other officer with power of arrest to do so by giving him a written statement setting forth that the probationer has, in the judgment of the probation and parole officer, violated the conditions of probation. Such written statement delivered with the probationer by the arresting officer to the official in charge of a county jail or other place of detention shall be sufficient warrant for the detention of the probationer.

(3) Whenever an offender is arrested on a warrant for an alleged violation of probation as herein provided, the department shall hold an informal preliminary hearing within seventy-two (72) hours of the arrest to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe the person has violated a condition of probation. A preliminary hearing shall not be required when the offender is not under arrest on a warrant or the offender signed a waiver of a preliminary hearing. The preliminary hearing may be conducted electronically. If reasonable cause is found, the offender may be confined no more than twenty-one (21) days from the admission to detention until a revocation hearing is held. If the revocation hearing is not held within twenty-one (21) days, the probationer shall be released from custody and returned to probation status.

(4) If a probationer or offender is subject to registration as a sex offender, the court must make a finding that the probationer or offender is not a danger to the public prior to release with or without bail. In determining the danger posed by the release of the offender or probationer, the court may consider the nature and circumstances of the violation and any new offenses charged; the offender or probationer's past and present conduct, including convictions of crimes and any record of arrests without conviction for crimes involving violence or sex crimes; any other evidence of allegations of unlawful sexual conduct or the use of violence by the offender or probationer; the offender or probationer's family ties, length of residence in the community, employment history and mental condition; the offender or probationer's history and conduct during the probation or other supervised release and any other previous supervisions, including disciplinary records of previous incarcerations; the likelihood that the offender or probationer will engage again in a criminal course of conduct; the weight of the evidence against the offender or probationer; and any other facts the court considers relevant.

(5)(a) The probation and parole officer after making an arrest shall present to the detaining authorities a similar statement of the circumstances of violation. The probation and parole officer shall at once notify the court of the arrest and detention of the probationer and shall submit a report in writing showing in what manner the probationer has violated the conditions of probation. Within twenty-one (21) days of arrest and detention by warrant as herein provided, the court shall cause the probationer to be brought before it and may continue or revoke all or any part of the probation or the suspension of sentence. If the court revokes probation for one or more technical violations, the court shall impose a period of imprisonment to be served in either a technical violation center or a restitution center not to exceed ninety (90) days for the first revocation and not to exceed one hundred twenty (120) days for the second revocation. For the third revocation, the court may impose a period of imprisonment to be served in either a technical violation center or a restitution center for up to one hundred eighty (180) days or the court may impose the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. For the fourth and any subsequent revocation, the court may impose up to the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. The period of imprisonment in a technical violation center imposed under this section shall not be reduced in any manner.

(b) If the offender is not detained as a result of the warrant, the court shall cause the probationer to be brought before it within a reasonable time and may continue or revoke all or any part of the probation or the suspension of sentence, and may cause the sentence imposed to be executed or may impose any part of the sentence which might have been imposed at the time of conviction. If the court revokes probation for one or more technical violations, the court shall impose a period of imprisonment to be served in either a technical violation center or a restitution center not to exceed ninety (90) days for the first revocation and not to exceed one hundred twenty (120) days for the second revocation. For the third revocation, the court may impose a period of imprisonment to be served in either a technical violation center or a restitution center for up to one hundred eighty (180) days or the court may impose the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. For the fourth and any subsequent revocation, the court may impose up to the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. The period of imprisonment in a technical violation center imposed under this section shall not be reduced in any manner.

(c) If the court does not hold a hearing or does not take action on the violation within the twenty-one-day period, the offender shall be released from detention and shall return to probation status. The court may subsequently hold a hearing and may revoke probation or may continue probation and modify the terms and conditions of probation. If the court revokes probation for one or more technical violations, the court shall impose a period of imprisonment to be served in either a technical violation center operated by the department or a restitution center not to exceed ninety (90) days for the first revocation and not to exceed one hundred twenty (120) days for the second revocation. For the third revocation, the court may impose a period of imprisonment to be served in either a technical violation center or a restitution center for up to one hundred eighty (180) days or the court may impose the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. For the fourth and any subsequent revocation, the court may impose up to the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. The period of imprisonment in a technical violation center imposed under this section shall not be reduced in any manner.

(d) For an offender charged with a technical violation who has not been detained awaiting the revocation hearing, the court may hold a hearing within a reasonable time. The court may revoke probation or may continue probation and modify the terms and conditions of probation. If the court revokes probation for one or more technical violations the court shall impose a period of imprisonment to be served in either a technical violation center operated by the department or a restitution center not to exceed ninety (90) days for the first revocation and not to exceed one hundred twenty (120) days for the second revocation. For the third revocation, the court may impose a period of imprisonment to be served in either a technical violation center or a restitution center for up to one hundred eighty (180) days or the court may impose the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. For the fourth and any subsequent revocation, the court may impose up to the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. The period of imprisonment in a technical violation center imposed under this section shall not be reduced in any manner.

(6) If the probationer is arrested in a circuit court district in the State of Mississippi other than that in which he was convicted, the probation and parole officer, upon the written request of the sentencing judge, shall furnish to the circuit court or the county court of the county in which the arrest is made, or to the judge of such court, a report concerning the probationer, and such court or the judge in vacation shall have authority, after a hearing, to continue or revoke all or any part of probation or all or any part of the suspension of sentence, and may in case of revocation proceed to deal with the case as if there had been no probation. In such case, the clerk of the court in which the order of revocation is issued shall forward a transcript of such order to the clerk of the court of original jurisdiction, and the clerk of that court shall proceed as if the order of revocation had been issued by the court of original jurisdiction. Upon the revocation of probation or suspension of sentence of any offender, such offender shall be placed in the legal custody of the State Department of Corrections and shall be subject to the requirements thereof.

(7) Any probationer who removes himself from the State of Mississippi without permission of the court placing him on probation, or the court to which jurisdiction has been transferred, shall be deemed and considered a fugitive from justice and shall be subject to extradition as now provided by law. No part of the time that one is on probation shall be considered as any part of the time that he shall be sentenced to serve.

(8) The arresting officer, except when a probation and parole officer, shall be allowed the same fees as now provided by law for arrest on warrant, and such fees shall be taxed against the probationer and paid as now provided by law.

(9) The arrest, revocation and recommitment procedures of this section also apply to persons who are serving a period of post-release supervision imposed by the court.

(10) Unless good cause for the delay is established in the record of the proceeding, the probation revocation charge shall be dismissed if the revocation hearing is not held within thirty (30) days of the warrant being issued.

(11) The Department of Corrections shall provide semiannually to the Oversight Task Force the number of warrants issued for an alleged violation of probation or post-release supervision, the average time between detention on a warrant and preliminary hearing, the average time between detention on a warrant and revocation hearing, the number of ninety-day sentences in a technical violation center issued by the court, the number of one-hundred-twenty-day sentences in a technical violation center issued by the court, the number of one-hundred-eighty-day sentences issued by the court, and the number and average length of the suspended sentences imposed by the court in response to a violation.

§ 47-7-37.1

Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, if a court finds by a preponderance of the evidence, that a probationer or a person under post-release supervision has committed a felony or absconded, the court may revoke his probation and impose any or all of the sentence. For purposes of this section, “absconding from supervision” means the failure of a probationer to report to his supervising officer for six (6) or more consecutive months.

§ 47-7-38

(1) The department shall have the authority to impose graduated sanctions as an alternative to judicial modification or revocation, as provided in Sections 47-7-27 and 47-7-37, for offenders on probation, parole, or post-release supervision who commit technical violations of the conditions of supervision as defined by Section 47-7-2.

(2) The commissioner shall develop a standardized graduated sanctions system, which shall include a grid to guide field officers in determining the suitable response to a technical violation. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations for the development and application of the system of sanctions. Field officers shall be required to conform to the sanction grid developed.

(3) The system of sanctions shall include a list of sanctions for the most common types of violations. When determining the sanction to impose, the field officer shall take into account the offender's assessed risk level, previous violations and sanctions, and severity of the current and prior violations.

(4) Field officers shall notify the sentencing court when a probationer has committed a technical violation or the parole board when a parolee has committed a technical violation of the type of violation and the sanction imposed. When the technical violation is an arrest for a new criminal offense, the field officer shall notify the court within forty-eight (48) hours of becoming aware of the arrest.

(5) The graduated sanctions that the department may impose include, but shall not be limited to:

(a) Verbal warnings;

(b) Increased reporting;

(c) Increased drug and alcohol testing;

(d) Mandatory substance abuse treatment;

(e) Loss of earned-discharge credits; and

(f) Incarceration in a county jail for no more than two (2) days. Incarceration as a sanction shall not be used more than two (2) times per month for a total period incarcerated of no more than four (4) days.

(6) The system shall also define positive reinforcements that offenders will receive for compliance with conditions of supervision. These positive reinforcements shall include, but not limited to:

(a) Verbal recognition;

(b) Reduced reporting; and

(c) Credits for earned discharge which shall be awarded pursuant to Section 47-7-40.

(7) The Department of Corrections shall provide semiannually to the Oversight Task Force the number and percentage of offenders who have one or more violations during the year, the average number of violations per offender during the year and the total and average number of incarceration sanctions as defined in subsection (5) of this section imposed during the year.

§ 47-7-38.1

(1) The Department of Corrections shall establish technical violation centers to detain probation and parole violators revoked by the court or parole board.

(2) The department shall place an offender in a violation center for a technical violation as ordered by the board pursuant to Section 47-7-27 and the sentencing court pursuant to Section 47-7-37.

(3) The violation centers shall be equipped to address the underlying factors that led to the offender's violation as identified based on the results of a risk and needs assessment. At a minimum each violation center shall include substance abuse services shown to reduce recidivism and a reduction in the use of illicit substances or alcohol, education programs, employment preparation and training programs and behavioral programs.

(4) As required by Section 47-5-20(b), the department shall notify, by certified mail, each member of the board of supervisors of the county in which the violation center shall be located of the department's intent to convert an existing department facility to a technical violation center.

(5) The department shall establish rules and regulations for the implementation and operation of the technical violation centers.

(6) The Department of Corrections shall provide to the Oversight Task Force semiannually the average daily population of the technical violation centers, the number of admissions to the technical violation centers, and the average time served in the technical violation centers.

§ 47-7-39

If, for good and sufficient reasons, a probationer desires to change his residence within or without the state, such transfer may be effected by application to his field supervisor which transfer shall be subject to the court's consent and subject to such regulations as the court, or judge, may require.

§ 47-7-40

(1) The commissioner shall establish rules and regulations for implementing the earned-discharge program that allows offenders on probation and parole to reduce the period of supervision for complying with conditions of probation. The department shall have the authority to award earned-discharge credits to all offenders placed on probation, parole, or post-release supervision who are in compliance with the terms and conditions of supervision. An offender serving a Mississippi sentence for an eligible offense in any jurisdiction under the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision shall be eligible for earned-discharge credits under this section. Offenders shall not be denied earned-discharge credits solely based on nonpayment of fees or fines if a hardship waiver has been granted as provided in Section 47-7-49.

(2) For each full calendar month of compliance with the conditions of supervision, earned-discharge credits equal to the number of days in that month shall be deducted from the offender's sentence discharge date. Credits begin to accrue for eligible offenders after the first full calendar month of compliance supervision conditions. For the purposes of this section, an offender is deemed to be in compliance with the conditions of supervision if there was no violation of the conditions of supervision.

(3) No earned-discharge credits may accrue for a calendar month in which a violation report has been submitted, the offender has absconded from supervision, the offender is serving a term of imprisonment in a technical violation center, or for the months between the submission of the violation report and the final action on the violation report by the court or the board.

(4) Earned-discharge credits shall be applied to the sentence within thirty (30) days of the end of the month in which the credits were earned. At least every six (6) months, an offender who is serving a sentence eligible for earned-discharge credits shall be notified of the current sentence discharge date.

(5) Once the combination of time served on probation, parole or post-release supervision, and earned-discharge credits satisfy the term of probation, parole, or post-release supervision, the board or sentencing court shall order final discharge of the offender. No less than sixty (60) days prior to the date of final discharge, the department shall notify the sentencing court and the board of the impending discharge.

(6) The department shall provide semiannually to the Oversight Task Force the number and percentage of offenders who qualify for earned discharge in one or more months of the year and the average amount of credits earned within the year.

§ 47-7-41

When a probationer shall be discharged from probation by the court of original jurisdiction, the field supervisor, upon receiving a written request from the probationer, shall forward a written report of the record of the probationer to the Division of Community Corrections of the department, which shall present a copy of this report to the Governor. The Governor may, in his discretion, at any time thereafter by appropriate executive order restore any civil rights lost by the probationer by virtue of his conviction or plea of guilty in the court of original jurisdiction.

§ 47-7-43

The provisions of this chapter are hereby extended to all persons who, at the effective date thereof, may be on parole, or eligible to be placed on parole under existing laws, with the same force and effect as if this chapter had been in operation at the time such persons were placed on parole or become eligible to be placed thereon, as the case may be.

§ 47-7-45

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to probation under the Youth Court Law nor to parole from the Oakley Youth Development Center.

§ 47-7-47

(1) The judge of any circuit court may place an offender on a program of earned probation, in an intensive supervision program or any intervention court authorized by law after a period of confinement as set out herein and the judge may seek the advice of the commissioner and shall direct that the defendant be under the supervision of the department.

(2)(a) Any circuit court or county court may, upon its own motion, acting upon the advice and consent of the commissioner not earlier than thirty (30) days nor later than three (3) years after the defendant has been delivered to the custody of the department, incarcerated by order of the court or otherwise sentenced, modify, alter or suspend the further execution of the sentence and place the defendant on earned probation, in an intensive supervision program or any intervention court authorized by law except when a death sentence or life imprisonment is the maximum penalty which may be imposed or if the defendant has been confined two (2) or more times for the conviction of a felony on a previous occasion in any court or courts of the United States and of any state or territories thereof or has been convicted of a felony involving the use of a deadly weapon.

(b) The authority granted in this subsection shall be exercised by the judge who imposed sentence on the defendant, or his successor.

(c) The time limit imposed by paragraph (a) of this subsection is not applicable to those defendants sentenced to the custody of the department prior to April 14, 1977. Persons who are convicted of crimes that carry mandatory sentences shall not be eligible for earned probation.

(3) When any circuit or county court places an offender on earned probation, the court shall give notice to the Mississippi Department of Corrections within fifteen (15) days of the court's decision to place the offender on earned probation. Notice shall be delivered to the central office of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and to the regional office of the department which will be providing supervision to the offender on earned probation.

(4) If the court places any person on probation or earned probation, the court may order the person, as a condition of probation, to a period of confinement and treatment at a private or public agency or institution, either within or without the state, which treats emotional, mental or drug-related problems. Any person who, as a condition of probation, is confined for treatment at an out-of-state facility shall be supervised pursuant to Section 47-7-71, and any person confined at a private agency shall not be confined at public expense. Time served in any such agency or institution may be counted as time required to meet the criteria of subsection (2)(a).

(5) If the court places any person on probation or earned probation, the court may order the person to make appropriate restitution to any victim of his crime or to society through the performance of reasonable work for the benefit of the community.

(6) If the court places any person on probation or earned probation, the court may order the person, as a condition of probation, to submit, as provided in Section 47-5-601, to any type of breath, saliva or urine chemical analysis test, the purpose of which is to detect the possible presence of alcohol or a substance prohibited or controlled by any law of the State of Mississippi or the United States.

§ 47-7-49

(1) Any offender on probation, parole, earned-release supervision, post-release supervision, earned probation or any other offender under the field supervision of the Community Services Division of the department shall pay to the department the sum of Fifty-five Dollars ($55.00) per month by certified check or money order unless a hardship waiver is granted. An offender shall make the initial payment within sixty (60) days after being released from imprisonment unless a hardship waiver is granted. A hardship waiver may be granted by the sentencing court or the Department of Corrections. A hardship waiver may not be granted for a period of time exceeding ninety (90) days. The commissioner or his designee shall deposit Fifty Dollars ($50.00) of each payment received into a special fund in the State Treasury, which is hereby created, to be known as the Community Service Revolving Fund. Expenditures from this fund shall be made for: (a) the establishment of restitution and satellite centers; and (b) the establishment, administration and operation of the department's Drug Identification Program and the intensive and field supervision program. The Fifty Dollars ($50.00) may be used for salaries and to purchase equipment, supplies and vehicles to be used by the Community Services Division in the performance of its duties. Expenditures for the purposes established in this section may be made from the fund upon requisition by the commissioner, or his designee.

Of the remaining amount, Three Dollars ($3.00) of each payment shall be deposited into the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund created in Section 99-41-29, and Two Dollars ($2.00) shall be deposited into the Training Revolving Fund created pursuant to Section 47-7-51. When a person is convicted of a felony in this state, in addition to any other sentence it may impose, the court may, in its discretion, order the offender to pay a state assessment not to exceed the greater of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or the maximum fine that may be imposed for the offense, into the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund created pursuant to Section 99-41-29.

Any federal funds made available to the department for training or for training facilities, equipment or services shall be deposited into the Correctional Training Revolving Fund created in Section 47-7-51. The funds deposited in this account shall be used to support an expansion of the department's training program to include the renovation of facilities for training purposes, purchase of equipment and contracting of training services with community colleges in the state.

No offender shall be required to make this payment for a period of time longer than ten (10) years.

(2) The offender may be imprisoned until the payments are made if the offender is financially able to make the payments and the court in the county where the offender resides so finds, subject to the limitations hereinafter set out. The offender shall not be imprisoned if the offender is financially unable to make the payments and so states to the court in writing, under oath, and the court so finds.

(3) An offender's responsibilities under this section may be satisfied by an offender's employer under Section 47-7-36.1(2).

(4) This section shall stand repealed from and after June 30, 2026.

§ 47-7-51

(1) There is hereby created in the State Treasury a special fund, which shall be known as the Correctional Training Revolving Fund. This fund shall be used to develop and implement the comprehensive correction training program authorized in Chapter 509, Laws of 1990. These funds may be used to construct and renovate training facilities, purchase training equipment for the hiring of instructors, and to pay operating expenses to accomplish and fulfill the purposes of the training program.

(2) The Commissioner of Corrections shall establish guidelines for the use and accountability of such funds.

§ 47-7-53

If the Parole Board is abolished, the Department of Corrections shall assume and exercise all the duties, powers and responsibilities of the State Parole Board. The Commissioner of Corrections may assign to the appropriate officers and divisions any powers and duties deemed appropriate to carry out the duties and powers of the Parole Board. Wherever the terms “State Parole Board” or “Parole Board” appear in any state law, they shall mean the Department of Corrections.

§ 47-7-55

(1) There is hereby created a joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives to be known as the Parole Commission, hereinafter referred to as the “commission.” The commission shall study and make recommendations to the Legislature related to the abolition of parole, the complete and thorough classification of inmates prior to sentencing and sentencing standards.

(2) The commission shall consist of the following members:

(a) Three (3) members of the House Judiciary “B” Committee and three (3) members of the House Penitentiary Committee appointed by the Speaker.

(b) Three (3) members of the Senate Corrections Committee and three (3) members of the Senate Judiciary Committee appointed by the Lieutenant Governor.

(3) The Chairman of the Senate Corrections Committee and the Chairman of the House Penitentiary Committee shall serve as co-chair of the commission.

(4) The commission shall submit its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than January 2, 1996.

(5) For attending meetings of the commission, members of the commission shall receive per diem as provided by Section 25-3-69, and reimbursement of expenses as provided by Section 5-1-47. The members of the commission shall obtain the approval of the Management Committee of the House of Representatives and the Contingent Expense Committee of the Senate for per diem and travel expense expenditures of the commission. The members of the commission shall not receive per diem or expenses while the Legislature is in session. All expenses incurred by and on behalf of the commission shall be paid from the contingency funds of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

(6) In conducting its activities pursuant to this section, the commission may elicit the support of and participation by federal, state and local agencies and interested associations, organizations and individuals. The commission may appoint an advisory committee whose members shall serve without compensation. The advisory committee may consist of judges, prosecuting attorneys, defense attorneys, medical professionals, correctional personnel and any other individual or groups that the commission desires to place on the advisory committee.

§ 47-7-71

I. The governor of this state is hereby authorized and directed to execute a compact on behalf of the state of Mississippi with any of the United States legally joining therein in the form substantially as follows:

A Compact

Entered into by and among the contracting states, signatories hereto, with the consent of the congress of the United States of America, granted by an act entitled “An act granting the consent of Congress to any two (2) or more states to enter into agreements or compacts for cooperative effort and mutual assistance in the prevention of crime and for other purposes.”

The contracting states solemnly agree:

(1) That it shall be competent for the duly constituted judicial and administrative authorities of a state party to this compact (herein called “sending state”), to permit any person convicted of an offense within such state and placed on probation or released on parole to reside in any other state party to this compact (herein called “receiving state”), while on probation or parole, if

(a) Such person is in fact a resident of or has his family residing within the receiving state and can obtain employment there;

(b) Though not a resident of the receiving state and not having his family residing there, the receiving state consents to such person being sent there.

Before granting such permission, opportunity shall be granted to the receiving state to investigate the home and prospective employment of such person.

A resident of the receiving state, within the meaning of this section, is one who has been an actual inhabitant of such state continuously for more than one (1) year prior to his coming to the sending state and has not resided within the sending state more than six (6) continuous months immediately preceding the commission of the offense for which he has been convicted.

(2) That each receiving state will assume the duties of visitation of and supervision over probationers or parolees of any sending state and in the exercise of those duties will be governed by the same standards that prevail for its own probationers and parolees.

(3) That duly accredited officers of a sending state may at all times enter a receiving state and there apprehend and retake any person on probation or parole. For that purpose no formalities will be required other than establishing the authority of the officer and the identity of the person to be retaken. All legal requirements to obtain extradition of fugitives from justice are hereby expressly waived on the part of states party hereto, as to such persons. The decision of the sending state to retake a person on probation or parole shall be conclusive upon and not reviewable within the receiving state: Provided, however, that if at the time when a state seeks to retake a probationer or parolee there should be pending against him within the receiving state any criminal charge, or he should be suspected of having committed within such state a criminal offense, he shall not be retaken without the consent of the receiving state until discharged from prosecution or from imprisonment for such offense.

(4) That the duly accredited officers of the sending state will be permitted to transport prisoners being retaken through any and all states parties to this compact, without interference.

(5) That the governor of each state may designate an officer who, acting jointly with like officers of other contracting states, if and when appointed, shall promulgate such rules and regulations as may be deemed necessary to more effectively carry out the terms of this compact.

(6) That this compact shall become operative immediately upon its execution by any state as between it and any other state or states so executing. When executed it shall have the full force and effect of law within such state, the form of execution to be in accordance with the laws of the executing state.

(7) That this compact shall continue in force and remain binding upon each executing state until renounced by it. The duties and obligations hereunder of a renouncing state shall continue as to parolees or probationers residing therein at the time of withdrawal until retaken or finally discharged by the sending state. Renunciation of this compact shall be by the same authority which executed it, by sending six (6) months' notice in writing of its intention to withdraw from the compact to the other state party hereto.

II. This section may be cited as the uniform act for out-of-state parolee supervision.

§ 47-7-73

The Department of Corrections shall notify the sheriff of the county and the police chief of each municipality in the county when a person is placed on probation or released on parole to reside in the county under the Uniform Act for Out-of-state Parolee Supervision.

§ 47-7-81

The Governor, on behalf of this state, may execute a compact, in substantially the following form, and the Legislature signifies in advance its approval and ratification of such compact:

THE INTERSTATE COMPACT FOR ADULT OFFENDER SUPERVISION

ARTICLE I

PURPOSE

The compacting states to this interstate compact recognize that each state is responsible for the supervision of adult offenders in the community who are authorized, pursuant to the bylaws and rules of this compact, to travel across state lines both to and from each compacting state in such a manner as to: track the location of offenders; transfer supervision authority in an orderly and efficient manner; and when necessary, return offenders to the originating jurisdictions.

The compacting states also recognize that Congress, by enacting the Crime Control Act, 4 USCS Section 112 (1965), has authorized and encouraged compacts for cooperative efforts and mutual assistance in the prevention of crime.

It is the purpose of this compact and the interstate commission created under this compact, through means of joint and cooperative action among the compacting states: to provide the framework for the promotion of public safety and to protect the rights of victims through the control and regulation of the interstate movement of offenders in the community; to provide for the effective tracking, supervision and rehabilitation of these offenders by the sending and receiving states; and to equitably distribute the costs, benefits and obligations of the compact among the compacting states.

In addition, this compact will: create an interstate commission that will establish uniform procedures to manage the movement between states of adults placed under community supervision and released to the community under the jurisdiction of courts, paroling authorities, corrections or other criminal justice agencies that will promulgate rules to achieve the purpose of this compact; ensure an opportunity for input and timely notice to victims and to jurisdictions where defined offenders are authorized to travel or to relocate across state lines; establish a system of uniform data collection, access to information on active cases by authorized criminal justice officials, and regular reporting of compact activities to heads of state councils, state executive, judicial and legislative branches and criminal justice administrators; monitor compliance with rules governing interstate movement of offenders and initiate interventions to address and correct noncompliance; and coordinate training and education regarding regulations of interstate movement of offenders for officials involved in such activity.

The compacting states recognize that there is no “right” of any offender to live in another state and that duly accredited officers of a sending state may enter a receiving state and apprehend and retake any offender under supervision subject to the provisions of this compact and bylaws and rules promulgated under the compact.

It is the policy of the compacting states that the activities conducted by the interstate commission created in this compact are the formation of public policies and are therefore public business.

ARTICLE II

DEFINITIONS

As used in this compact, the following words and terms have the following meanings, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:

(a) “Adult” means individuals legally classified as adults and juveniles treated as adults by court order, statute or operation of law.

(b) “Bylaws” mean those bylaws established by the interstate commission for its governance or for directing or controlling the interstate commission's actions or conduct.

(c) “Compact administrator” means the individual in each compacting state appointed under this compact who is responsible for the administration and management of the state's supervision and transfer of offenders subject to the terms of this compact, the rules adopted by the interstate commission and policies adopted by the state council under this compact.

(d) “Compacting state” means any state that has enacted the enabling legislation for this compact.

(e) “Commissioner” means the voting representative of each compacting state appointed under Article III of this compact.

(f) “Interstate commission” means the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision established by this compact.

(g) “Member” means the commissioner of a compacting state or the commissioner's designee, who shall be a person officially connected with the commissioner.

(h) “Noncompacting state” means any state that has not enacted the enabling legislation for this compact.

(i) “Offender” means an adult placed under, or subject to, supervision as the result of the commission of a criminal offense and released to the community under the jurisdiction of courts, paroling authorities, corrections or other criminal justice agencies.

(j) “Person” means any individual, corporation, business enterprise or other legal entity, either public or private.

(k) “Rules” mean acts of the interstate commission, duly promulgated pursuant to Article VII of this compact, substantially affecting interested parties in addition to the interstate commission, which shall have the force and effect of law in the compacting states.

(l) “State” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia and any other territorial possessions of the United States.

(m) “State council” means the resident members of the respective state council for interstate adult offender supervision created by each state under Article III of this compact.

ARTICLE III

THE COMPACT COMMISSION

(A) The compacting states create the “Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision.” The interstate commission shall be a body corporate and joint agency of the compacting states. The interstate commission shall have all the responsibilities, powers and duties set forth in this compact, including the power to sue and be sued, and such additional powers as may be conferred upon it by subsequent action of the respective legislatures of the compacting states in accordance with the terms of this compact.

(B) The interstate commission shall consist of commissioners selected and appointed by resident members of a state council for interstate adult offender supervision or the Governor for each state. While each member state may determine the membership of its own state council, its membership must include at least one (1) representative from the legislative, judicial and executive branches of government, victims groups and compact administrators. The Mississippi state council will be appointed by the compact administrator. The compact administrator also may appoint additional representatives to the state council when he deems such appointments necessary. The commissioner of corrections or his designee shall serve as the compact administrator and as the state's commissioner on the interstate commission in such capacity pursuant to applicable law of the member state. Each compacting state retains the right to determine the qualifications of the compact administrator who shall be appointed by the Governor.

The commissioner of corrections shall serve as compact administrator and chairperson of the state council for interstate adult offender supervision. If the commissioner of corrections appoints a designee, the designee must be a deputy commissioner of corrections or the division director in the office of community corrections that has operational authority over the interstate compact division.

The term of office for state council members shall be four (4) years. The state council shall meet at least twice a year. The state council may advise the compact administrator on participation in the interstate commission activities and administration of the compact. Members of the council are entitled to reimbursement for travel and expenses related to the interstate commission as provided by state law.

In addition to appointment of its commissioner to the National Interstate Commission, each state council shall exercise oversight and advocacy concerning its participation in interstate commission activities and other duties as may be determined by each member state, including, but not limited to, development of policy concerning operations and procedures of the compact within that state.

(C) In addition to the commissioners who are the voting representatives of each state, the interstate commission shall include individuals who are not commissioners, but who are members of interested organizations; the noncommissioner members must include a member of the national organizations of governors, legislators, state chief justices, attorneys general and crime victims. All noncommissioner members of the interstate commission shall be ex officio (nonvoting) members. The interstate commission may provide in its bylaws for such additional, ex officio (nonvoting) members as it deems necessary.

(D) Each compacting state represented at any meeting of the interstate commission is entitled to one (1) vote. A majority of the compacting states constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business, unless a larger quorum is required by the bylaws of the interstate commission.

(E) The interstate commission shall meet at least once each calendar year. The chairperson may call additional meetings and, upon the request of twenty-seven (27) or more compacting states, shall call additional meetings. Public notice shall be given of all meetings and meetings shall be open to the public.

(F) The interstate commission shall establish an executive committee that shall include commission officers, members and others as determined by the bylaws. The executive committee has the power to act on behalf of the interstate commission during periods when the interstate commission is not in session, with the exception of rule-making or amendment to the compact, or both. The executive committee: oversees the day-to-day activities managed by the executive director and interstate commission staff; administers enforcement and compliance with the provisions of the compact, its bylaws and as directed by the interstate commission; and performs other duties as directed by the commission or set forth in the bylaws.

ARTICLE IV

POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE INTERSTATE COMMISSION

The interstate commission shall have the following powers:

(1) To adopt a seal and suitable bylaws governing the management and operation of the interstate commission.

(2) To promulgate rules that have the force and effect of statutory law and are binding in the compacting states to the extent and in the manner provided in this compact.

(3) To oversee, supervise and coordinate the interstate movement of offenders subject to the terms of this compact and any bylaws adopted and rules promulgated by the compact commission.

(4) To enforce compliance with compact provisions, interstate commission rules and bylaws, using all necessary and proper means, including, but not limited to, the use of judicial process.

(5) To establish and maintain offices.

(6) To purchase and maintain insurance and bonds.

(7) To borrow, accept or contract for services of personnel, including, but not limited to, members and their staffs.

(8) To establish and appoint committees and hire staff that it deems necessary for the carrying out of its functions including, but not limited to, an executive committee as required by Article III, which shall have the power to act on behalf of the interstate commission in carrying out its powers and duties hereunder.

(9) To elect or appoint such officers, attorneys, employees, agents or consultants and to fix their compensation, define their duties and determine their qualifications; and to establish the interstate commission's personnel policies and programs relating to, among other things, conflicts of interest, rates of compensation and qualifications of personnel.

(10) To accept any and all donations and grants of money, equipment, supplies, materials and services, and to receive, utilize and dispose of same.

(11) To lease, purchase, accept contributions or donations of, or otherwise to own, hold, improve or use any property, real, personal or mixed.

(12) To sell, convey, mortgage, pledge, lease, exchange, abandon or otherwise dispose of any property, real, personal or mixed.

(13) To establish a budget and make expenditures and levy dues as provided in Article IX of this compact.

(14) To sue and be sued.

(15) To provide for dispute resolution among compacting states.

(16) To perform such functions as may be necessary or appropriate to achieve the purposes of this compact.

(17) To report annually to the legislatures, governors, judiciary and state councils of the compacting states concerning the activities of the interstate commission during the preceding year. These reports shall include any recommendations that may have been adopted by the interstate commission.

(18) To coordinate education, training and public awareness regarding the interstate movement of offenders for officials involved in that activity.

(19) To establish uniform standards for the reporting, collecting and exchanging of data.

ARTICLE V

ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION OF THE INTERSTATE COMMISSION

Section A. Bylaws

The interstate commission, by a majority of the members within twelve (12) months of the first interstate commission meeting, shall adopt such bylaws to govern its conduct as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of the compact, including, but not limited to:

(a) Establishing the fiscal year of the interstate commission;

(b) Establishing an executive committee and such other committees as may be necessary;

(c) Providing reasonable standards and procedures: (i) for the establishment of committees; and (ii) governing any general or specific delegation of any authority or function of the interstate commission;

(d) Providing reasonable procedures for calling and conducting meetings of the interstate commission, and ensuring reasonable notice of each commission meeting;

(e) Establishing the titles and responsibilities of the officers of the interstate commission;

(f) Providing reasonable standards and procedures for the establishment of the personnel policies and programs of the interstate commission. Notwithstanding any civil service or other similar laws of any compacting state, the bylaws shall govern exclusively the personnel policies and programs of the interstate commission;

(g) Providing a mechanism for concluding the operations of the interstate commission and the equitable return of any surplus funds that may exist upon the termination of the compact after the payment or reserving, or both, of all of its debts and obligations;

(h) Providing transition rules for the “start up” administration of the compact; and

(i) Establishing standards and procedures for compliance and technical assistance in carrying out the compact.

Section B. Officers and Staff

(1) The interstate commission shall elect from among its members, by a majority of the members, a chairperson and a vice chairperson, each of whom shall have such authorities and duties as may be specified in the bylaws. The chairperson or, in the chairperson's absence or disability, the vice chairperson, shall preside at all meetings of the interstate commission. The officers so elected shall serve without compensation or remuneration from the interstate commission; however, subject to the availability of budgeted funds, the officers shall be reimbursed for any actual and necessary costs and expenses incurred by them in the performance of their duties and responsibilities as officers of the interstate commission.

(2) The interstate commission, through its executive committee, shall appoint or retain an executive director for such period, upon such terms and conditions and for such compensation as the interstate commission may deem appropriate. The executive director shall serve as secretary to the interstate commission, and hire and supervise such other staff as may be authorized by the interstate commission, but the executive director shall not be a member of the interstate commission.

Section C. Corporate Records of the Interstate Commission

The interstate commission shall maintain its corporate books and records in accordance with the bylaws.

Section D. Qualified Immunity, Defense and Indemnification

(1) The members, officers, executive director and employees of the interstate commission shall be immune from suit and liability, either personally or in their official capacity, for any claim for damage to or loss of property or personal injury or other civil liability caused or arising out of any actual or alleged act, error or omission that occurred within the scope of interstate commission employment, duties or responsibilities; however, nothing in this paragraph may be construed to protect any such person from suit or liability, or both, for any damage, loss, injury or liability caused by the intentional or willful and wanton misconduct of any such person.

(2) The interstate commission shall defend the commissioner of a compacting state, or the commissioner's representatives or employees, or the interstate commission's representatives or employees, in any civil action seeking to impose liability, arising out of any actual or alleged act, error or omission that occurred within the scope of interstate commission employment, duties or responsibilities, or which the defendant had a reasonable basis for believing occurred within the scope of interstate commission employment, duties or responsibilities if the actual or alleged act, error or omission did not result from intentional wrongdoing on the part of such person.

(3) The interstate commission shall indemnify and hold the commissioner of a compacting state, the appointed designee or employees, or the interstate commission's representatives or employees, harmless in the amount of any settlement or judgment obtained against such persons arising out of any actual or alleged act, error or omission that occurred within the scope of interstate commission employment, duties or responsibilities, or which such persons had a reasonable basis for believing occurred within the scope of interstate commission employment, duties or responsibilities if the actual or alleged act, error or omission did not result from gross negligence or intentional wrongdoing on the part of such person.

ARTICLE VI

ACTIVITIES OF THE INTERSTATE COMMISSION

(1) The interstate commission shall meet and take such actions as are consistent with this compact.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in this compact and unless a greater percentage is required by the bylaws, in order to constitute an act of the interstate commission, the act must be taken at a meeting of the interstate commission and must receive an affirmative vote of a majority of the members present.

(3) Each member of the interstate commission has the right and power to cast a vote to which that compacting state is entitled and to participate in the business and affairs of the interstate commission. A member shall vote in person on behalf of the state and may not delegate a vote to another member state. However, the compact administrator shall appoint another authorized representative, in the absence of the commissioner from that state, to cast a vote on behalf of the member state at a specified meeting. The bylaws may provide for members' participation in meetings by telephone or other means of telecommunication or electronic communication. Any voting conducted by telephone or other means of telecommunication or electronic communication shall be subject to the same quorum requirements of meetings where members are present in person.

(4) The interstate commission shall meet at least once during each calendar year. The chairperson of the interstate commission may call additional meetings at any time and, upon the request of a majority of the members, shall call additional meetings.

(5) The interstate commission's bylaws shall establish conditions and procedures under which the interstate commission shall make its information and official records available to the public for inspection or copying. The interstate commission may exempt from disclosure any information or official records to the extent that they would adversely affect personal privacy rights or proprietary interests. In promulgating such rules, the interstate commission may make available to law enforcement agencies records and information otherwise exempt from disclosure, and may enter into agreements with law enforcement agencies to receive or exchange information or records subject to nondisclosure and confidentiality provisions.

(6) Public notice shall be given of all meetings and all meetings shall be open to the public, except as set forth in the rules or as otherwise provided in the compact. The interstate commission shall promulgate rules consistent with the principles contained in the “Government in Sunshine Act,” 5 USCS Section 552(b), as may be amended. The interstate commission and any of its committees may close a meeting to the public where it determines, by two-thirds ( 2/3 ) vote, that an open meeting would be likely to: (a) relate solely to the interstate commission's internal personnel practices and procedures; (b) disclose matters specifically exempted from disclosure by statute; (c) disclosure trade secrets or commercial or financial information which is privileged or confidential; (d) involve accusing any person of a crime or formally censuring any person; (e) disclose information of a personal nature where disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; (f) disclose investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes; (g) disclose information contained in or related to examination, operating or condition reports prepared by, or on behalf of or for the use of, the interstate commission with respect to a regulated entity for the purpose of regulation or supervision of such entity; (h) disclose information, the premature disclosure of which would significantly endanger the life of a person or the stability of a regulated entity; (i) specifically relate to the interstate commission's issuance of a subpoena, or its participation in a civil action or proceeding.

(7) For every meeting closed pursuant to this provision, the interstate commission's chief legal officer shall certify publicly that, in the legal officer's opinion, the meeting may be closed to the public and shall reference each relevant exemptive provision. The interstate commission shall keep minutes that shall describe fully and clearly, all matters discussed in any meeting and shall provide a full and accurate summary of any actions taken and the reasons therefor, including, a description of each of the views expressed on any item and the record of any roll call vote (reflected in the vote of each member on the question). All documents considered in connection with any action shall be identified in such minutes.

(8) The interstate commission shall collect standardized data concerning the interstate movement of offenders as directed through its bylaws and rules, which shall specify the data to be collected, the means of collection and data exchange and reporting requirements.

ARTICLE VII

RULE-MAKING FUNCTIONS OF THE INTERSTATE COMMISSION

(1) The interstate commission shall promulgate rules in order to effectively and efficiently achieve the purposes of the compact, including transition rules governing administration of the compact during the period in which it is being considered and enacted by the states.

(2) Rule-making shall occur pursuant to the criteria set forth in this article and the bylaws and rules adopted pursuant thereto. Such rule-making shall substantially conform to the principles of the federal Administrative Procedure Act, 5 USCS Section 551 et seq., and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 USCS App. 2, Section 1 et seq., as may be amended (hereinafter “APA”).

(3) All rules and amendments shall become binding as of the date specified in each rule or amendment.

(4) If a majority of the legislatures of the compacting states rejects a rule, by enactment of a statute or resolution in the same manner used to adopt the compact, then that rule shall have no further force and effect in any compacting state.

(5) When promulgating a rule, the interstate commission shall: (a) publish the proposed rule stating with particularity the text of the rule that is proposed and the reason for the proposed rule; (b) allow persons to submit written data, facts, opinions and arguments, which information shall be publicly available; (c) provide an opportunity for an informal hearing; and (d) promulgate a final rule and its effective date, if appropriate, based on the rule-making record.

(6) Not later than sixty (60) days after a rule is promulgated, any interested person may file a petition in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia or in the federal district court where the interstate commission's principal office is located for judicial review of the rule. If the court finds that the interstate commission's action is not supported by substantial evidence (as defined in the APA) in the rule-making record, the court shall hold the rule unlawful and set it aside.

(7) Subjects to be addressed within twelve (12) months after the first meeting must include, at a minimum: (a) notice to victims and opportunity to be heard; (b) offender registration and compliance; (c) violations and returns; (d) transfer procedures and forms; (e) eligibility for transfer; (f) collection of restitution and fees from offenders; (g) data collection and reporting; (h) the level of supervision to be provided by the receiving state; (i) transition rules governing the operation of the compact and the interstate commission during all or part of the period between the effective date of the compact and the date on which the last eligible state adopts the compact; and (j) mediation, arbitration and dispute resolution.

The existing rules governing the operation of the previous compact superceded by this compact shall be null and void twelve (12) months after the first meeting of the interstate commission created under this compact.

(8) Upon determination by the interstate commission that an emergency exists, the interstate commission may promulgate an emergency rule that shall become effective immediately upon adoption; however, the usual rule-making procedures provided under this compact shall be applied retroactively to that rule as soon as reasonably possible, and in no event, later than ninety (90) days after the effective date of the rule.

ARTICLE VIII

OVERSIGHT, ENFORCEMENT, AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION BY THE INTERSTATE COMMISSION

Section A. Oversight

(1) The interstate commission shall oversee the interstate movement of adult offenders in the compacting states and shall monitor such activities being administered in noncompacting states which significantly may affect compacting states.

(2) The courts and executive agencies in each compacting state shall enforce this compact and shall take all actions necessary and appropriate to effectuate the compact's purposes and intent. In any judicial or administrative proceeding in a compacting state pertaining to the subject matter of this compact which may affect the powers, responsibilities or actions of the interstate commission, the interstate commission shall be entitled to receive all service of process in any such proceeding and shall have standing to intervene in the proceeding for all purposes.

Section B. Dispute Resolution

(1) The compacting states shall report to the interstate commission on issues or activities of concern to them and shall cooperate with and support the interstate commission in the discharge of its duties and responsibilities.

(2) The interstate commission shall attempt to resolve any disputes or other issues that are subject to the compact and which may arise among compacting states and noncompacting states.

(3) The interstate commission shall enact a bylaw or promulgate a rule providing for both mediation and binding dispute resolution for disputes among the compacting states.

Section C. Enforcement

The interstate commission, in the reasonable exercise of its discretion, shall enforce the provisions of this compact using any or all means set forth in Article XI, Section B, of this compact.

Section D. Retaking Cases From Another Jurisdiction

The duly accredited officers of a sending state may enter a receiving state and apprehend and retake any person on probation or parole according to the laws of the United States. For that purpose, the sending state must establish the authority of the officer and the identity of the person or persons to be retaken. The person or persons must be afforded a preliminary hearing consistent with due process requirements under the United States Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court of the United States. All legal requirements to extradition of fugitives from justice are waived expressly on the part of states that are parties to this compact as to such persons. The decision of the sending state to retake a person on probation or parole is conclusive and not reviewable within the receiving state; however, if, at the time a state seeks to retake a probationer or parolee, there is pending against him within the receiving state a criminal charge or if he is suspected of having committed within that state a criminal offense, the probationer or parolee may not be retaken without the consent of the receiving state until the probationer or parolee is discharged from prosecution or from imprisonment for such offense. The duly accredited officers of the sending state may transport prisoners being retaken through any state that is a party to this compact without interference.

ARTICLE IX

FINANCE

(1) The interstate commission shall pay or provide for the payment of the reasonable expenses of its establishment, organization and ongoing activities.

(2) The interstate commission shall levy on and collect an annual assessment from each compacting state to cover the cost of the internal operations and activities of the interstate commission and its staff, which levy must be in a total amount sufficient to cover the interstate commission's annual budget as approved each year. The aggregate annual assessment amount shall be allocated based upon a formula to be determined by the interstate commission, taking into consideration the population of the state and the volume of interstate movement of offenders in each compacting state. The interstate commission shall promulgate a rule binding upon all compacting states which governs the assessment.

(3) The interstate commission shall not incur any obligations of any kind before securing the funds adequate to meet the obligations. The interstate commission may not pledge the credit of any of the compacting states, except by and with the authority of the compacting state.

(4) The interstate commission shall keep accurate accounts of all receipts and disbursements. The receipts and disbursements of the interstate commission shall be subject to the audit and accounting procedures established under its bylaws. However, all receipts and disbursements of funds handled by the interstate commission shall be audited yearly by a certified or licensed public accountant, and the report of the audit shall be included in and become part of the annual report of the interstate commission.

ARTICLE X

COMPACTING STATES, EFFECTIVE DATE AND AMENDMENT

(1) Any state, as defined in Article II of this compact, is eligible to become a compacting state.

(2) The compact shall become effective and binding upon legislative enactment of the compact into law by no less than thirty-five (35) of the states. The initial effective date shall be the later of July 1, 2004, or upon enactment into law by the thirty-fifth jurisdiction. Thereafter, it shall become effective and binding, as to any other compacting state, upon enactment of the compact into law by that state. The governors of nonmember states or their designees will be invited to participate in interstate commission activities on a nonvoting basis before adoption of the compact by all states and territories of the United States.

(3) Amendments to the compact may be proposed by the interstate commission for enactment by the compacting states. No amendment shall become effective and binding upon the interstate commission and the compacting states unless it is enacted into law by unanimous consent of the compacting states.

ARTICLE XI

WITHDRAWAL, DEFAULT, TERMINATION, AND JUDICIAL ENFORCEMENT

Section A. Withdrawal

(1) Once effective, the compact shall continue in force and remain binding upon every compacting state; however, a compacting state may withdraw from the compact (“withdrawing state”) by enacting a statute specifically repealing the statute that enacted the compact into law.

(2) The effective date of withdrawal is the effective date of the repeal.

(3) The withdrawing state shall notify immediately the chairperson of the interstate commission in writing upon the introduction of legislation repealing this compact in the withdrawing state.

(4) The interstate commission shall notify the other compacting states of the withdrawing state's intent to withdraw within sixty (60) days of its receipt of the notification.

(5) The withdrawing state is responsible for all assessments, obligations and liabilities incurred through the effective date of withdrawal, including any obligations, the performance of which extend beyond the effective date of withdrawal.

(6) Reinstatement following withdrawal of any compacting state shall occur upon the withdrawing state reenacting the compact or upon such later date as determined by the interstate commission.

Section B. Default

(1) If the interstate commission determines that any compacting state has at any time defaulted (“defaulting state”) in the performance of any of its obligations or responsibilities under this compact, the bylaws or any duly promulgated rules, the interstate commission may impose any or all of the following penalties:

(a) Fines, fees and costs in such amounts as are deemed to be reasonable, as fixed by the interstate commission;

(b) Remedial training and technical assistance as directed by the interstate commission;

(c) Suspension and termination of membership in the compact. Suspension shall be imposed only after all other reasonable means of securing compliance under the bylaws and rules have been exhausted. Immediate notice of suspension shall be given by the interstate commission: to the Governor, the Chief Justice or chief judicial officer of the state; the majority and minority leaders of the defaulting state's Legislature; and the state council. The grounds for default include, but are not limited to, failure of a compacting state to perform such obligations or responsibilities imposed upon it by this compact, interstate commission bylaws or duly promulgated rules. The interstate commission shall immediately notify the defaulting state in writing of the penalty imposed by the interstate commission on the defaulting state pending a cure of the default. The interstate commission shall stipulate the conditions and the time period within which the defaulting state must cure its default. If the defaulting state fails to cure the default within the time period specified by the interstate commission, in addition to any other penalties imposed, the defaulting state may be terminated from the compact upon an affirmative vote of a majority of the compacting states and all rights, privileges and benefits conferred by this compact shall be terminated from the effective date of suspension.

(2) Within sixty (60) days of the effective date of termination of a defaulting state, the interstate commission shall notify the governor, the chief justice or chief judicial officer and the majority and minority leaders of the defaulting state's legislature and the state council of such termination.

(3) The defaulting state is responsible for all assessments, obligations and liabilities incurred through the effective date of termination including any obligations, the performance of which extends beyond the effective date of termination.

(4) The interstate commission shall not bear any costs relating to the defaulting state unless otherwise mutually agreed upon between the interstate commission and the defaulting state.

(5) Reinstatement following termination of any compacting state requires both a reenactment of the compact by the defaulting state and the approval of the interstate commission pursuant to the rules.

Section C. Judicial Enforcement

The interstate commission by majority vote of the members, may initiate legal action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia or, at the discretion of the interstate commission, in the federal district where the interstate commission has its offices to enforce compliance with the compact, its duly promulgated rules and bylaws against any compacting state in default. If judicial enforcement is necessary, the prevailing party shall be awarded all costs of the litigation, including reasonable attorney's fees.

Section D. Dissolution of Compact

(1) The compact dissolves effective upon the date of the withdrawal or default of the compacting state which reduces membership in the compact to one (1) compacting state.

(2) Upon the dissolution of this compact, the compact becomes null and void and shall be of no further force or effect, and the business and affairs of the interstate commission shall be concluded and any surplus funds shall be distributed in accordance with the bylaws.

ARTICLE XII

SEVERABILITY AND CONSTRUCTION

(1) The provisions of this compact shall be severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence or provision is deemed unenforceable, the remaining provisions of the compact shall be enforceable.

(2) The provisions of this compact shall be liberally construed to effectuate its purposes.

ARTICLE XIII

BINDING EFFECT OF COMPACT AND OTHER LAWS

Section A. Other Laws

(1) Nothing in this compact prevents the enforcement of any other law of a compacting state which is not inconsistent with this compact.

(2) All compacting states' laws conflicting with this compact are superseded to the extent of the conflict.

Section B. Binding Effect of the Compact

(1) All lawful actions of the interstate commission, including all rules and bylaws promulgated by the interstate commission, are binding upon the compacting states.

(2) All agreements between the interstate commission and the compacting states are binding in accordance with their terms.

(3) Upon the request of a party to a conflict over the meaning or interpretation of interstate commission actions, and upon a majority vote of the compacting states, the interstate commission may issue advisory opinions regarding such meaning or interpretation.

(4) If any provision of this compact exceeds the constitutional limits imposed on the legislature of any compacting state, the obligations, duties, powers or jurisdiction sought to be conferred by such provision upon the interstate commission shall be ineffective, and such obligations, duties, powers or jurisdiction shall remain in the compacting state and shall be exercised by the agency of that state to which the obligations, duties, powers or jurisdiction are delegated by law in effect at the time this compact becomes effective.

§ 47-7-83

Pursuant to the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision, the Department of Corrections may assume the duties of supervision over offenders of any sending state who were convicted of misdemeanors. The Department of Corrections may not supervise offenders convicted of misdemeanors of states that are not participating in the compact.

§ 47-7-85

Pursuant to the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision, the Department of Corrections may charge a one-time application fee in the amount of Fifty Dollars ($50.00) to each offender applying for out-of-state transfer under the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision. Payments received under this section shall be deposited into a special fund which is created in the State Treasury. Monies in the fund shall be expended by the Department of Corrections, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to defray costs incurred by the department under the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision. Unexpended amounts remaining in the special fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and any interest earned or investment earnings on amounts in the special fund shall be deposited to the credit of the special fund.

§ 47-7-101

(1) There is created the Mississippi Re-Entry Council. The purpose of the council is to create effective strategies to assist former inmates in their return to the general population, to reduce the recidivism rates of inmates, to increase public safety, and to reduce budgetary constraints presently created by prison-related costs. The Re-Entry Council shall be led by a steering committee.

(2) The Re-Entry Council Steering Committee shall be composed of the following twelve (12) members, who shall serve for two-year terms:

(a) A Mississippi United States Attorney, or a designee appointed by the Governor;

(b) The Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, or a designee;

(c) The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi, or a designee;

(d) The director of a faith-based organization involved in re-entry programs, or a designee appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;

(e) The Chief Probation Officer of the United States District Courts of Mississippi, or a designee;

(f) A Mississippi United States District Judge, or a designee appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

(g) The Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, or a designee;

(h) The Executive Director for the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, or a designee;

(i) The Executive Director for the Mississippi Division of Medicaid, or a designee;

(j) The Chairman of the Parole Board, or a designee;

(k) A person who is a former offender appointed by the Chairman of the Parole Board; and

(l) The Director of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, or a designee.

(3) The Re-Entry Council Steering Committee shall have the following duties:

(a) To consider development of a statewide approach to assist re-entry of former inmates into the general population of this state;

(b) To provide recommendations regarding evidence-based approaches that equip inmates with the requisite, individualized resources to promote their successful return to the general population of this state;

(c) To review reports, studies, and materials as it deems appropriate;

(d) To appoint such subcommittees as it finds proper;

(e) To study proposed legislation that seeks to resolve recidivism;

(f) To submit recommendations from its findings to the Legislature, the Governor and the Mississippi Supreme Court. In making such recommendations, the Re-entry Council Steering Committee will seek input from all branches of state and local government, governmental agencies, businesses and nonprofit organizations throughout this state;

(g) To seek and receive grants;

(h) To hire contract personnel and/or staff using any grants received; and

(i) To collaborate with the coordinator of the transitional re-entry center, under the supervision of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, which shall provide administrative support to the council.

(4) The Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court shall call the first meeting of the steering committee. At its first meeting, the steering committee shall elect a chairman and vice chairman from its membership and adopt rules for transacting its business and keeping records. Officers shall serve one-year terms or until such time as a successor is elected.