MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Corrections

By: Senator(s) Harden

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 19-25-69, 47-1-39 AND 47-5-95, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE MINISTERS TO VISIT OFFENDERS IN MUNICIPAL OR COUNTY JAILS AND IN ANY STATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 19-25-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

19-25-69. The sheriff shall have charge of the courthouse and jail of his county, of the premises belonging thereto, and of the offenders in the jail. He shall preserve the * * * premises and offenders from mob violence, from any injuries or attacks by mobs or otherwise, and from trespasses and intruders. He shall keep the courthouse, jail, and premises belonging thereto, in a clean and comfortable condition, and it shall be his duty to prosecute all persons who are guilty of injuring or defacing same. If, after a hearing by the Governor, held in accordance with due process of law, it is ascertained that the sheriff has willfully failed, neglected or refused to preserve the courthouse, * * * the jail or any offenders lawfully in his custody from injuries by mob violence, then the Governor shall have the power and it shall be his duty to remove the sheriff from office.

However, in the case of a jail owned jointly by a county and municipality, under the provisions of Section 17-5-1, after the appointment of a jailer, pursuant to Section 47-1-49, responsible for all municipal offenders lodged in the jail, neither the sheriff nor his bondsmen shall be responsible for actual maintenance or operation of the jail, insofar as municipal offenders are concerned.

Any minister, upon proof to the sheriff that he is a minister, shall be permitted to visit an offender housed in a county jail or a jail owned jointly by a county and municipality and may hold a conversation with the offender apart from all correctional system officials. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "minister" means a person authorized by a religious society or church to carry out its spiritual functions, such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, nun or other member of the clergy and who: (a) has been duly ordained, licensed or qualified according to the principles and procedures prescribed by his religious society, (b) is engaged regularly as a vocation in preaching and teaching the beliefs of his religious society, in administering its rites and sacraments and in conducting public worship services of his religious society, and (c) discharges the duties of a minister in the tradition of his religious society.

SECTION 2. Section 47-1-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-1-39. The governing authorities of municipalities shall have the power to construct, * * * maintain and regulate a municipal prison, * * * and the offenders therein, and to contract with the board of supervisors * * * for the use of the county jail by the municipality; and to provide for the working of the streets by municipal offenders, and to contract with the county for such work by county offenders or the working of county roads or county farms by municipal offenders * * *. Municipal offenders 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.

Any minister, upon proof to the chief of police or the jailer that he is a minister, shall be permitted to visit an offender housed in a municipal jail or a jail owned jointly by a county and municipality and may hold a conversation with the offender apart from all correctional system officials. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "minister" means a person authorized by a religious society or church to carry out its spiritual functions, such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, nun or other member of the clergy and who: (a) has been duly ordained, licensed or qualified according to the principles and procedures prescribed by his religious society, (b) is engaged regularly as a vocation in preaching and teaching the beliefs of his religious society, in administering its rites and sacraments and in conducting public worship services of his religious society, and (c) discharges the duties of a minister in the tradition of his religious society.

SECTION 3. Section 47-5-95, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

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 * * *, 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.

Any minister, upon proof that he is a minister to the warden or superintendent of the state correctional facility, or the sheriff if the offender is housed in a county jail, shall be permitted to visit an offender committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections and may hold conversations with the offender apart from all correctional system officials. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "minister" means a person authorized by a religious society or church to carry out its spiritual functions, such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, nun or other member of the clergy and who: (a) has been duly ordained, licensed or qualified according to the principles and procedures prescribed by his religious society, (b) is engaged regularly as a vocation in preaching and teaching the beliefs of his religious society, in administering its rites and sacraments and in conducting public worship services of his religious society, and (c) discharges the duties of a minister in the tradition of his religious society.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1997.