MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2019 Regular Session
To: Corrections
By: Representative Weathersby
AN ACT TO ABOLISH THE MISSISSIPPI PRISON INDUSTRIES CORPORATION; TO AMEND SECTIONS 47-5-938 AND 47-5-1251, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTION; TO REPEAL SECTIONS 47-5-531 THROUGH 47-5-575, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDE FOR THE MISSISSIPPI PRISON INDUSTRIES ACT OF 1990; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) The Mississippi Prison Industries Corporation is hereby abolished.
(2) The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections shall perform the duties of the corporation's chief executive officer and board of directors and may assign to the appropriate divisions within the department those powers and duties deemed appropriate to carry out the lawful functions of the industrial prison programs formerly run by the corporation.
(3) On July 1, 2019, all duties, responsibilities, authority, power, assets, liabilities, contractual rights and obligations and property rights, whether accruing or vesting in the Mississippi Prison Industries Corporation before or after July 1, 2019, are vested in the Mississippi Department of Corrections. All employees of the corporation holding positions on July 1, 2019, shall be employees of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections shall be authorized to combine or abolish employee positions as necessary to carry out the provisions of this act, and the commissioner is authorized to reorganize the offices, services, programs or other activities so as to achieve economy and efficiency.
(4) Wherever the term "Mississippi Prison Industries Corporation" or any variation thereof appears in any law or regulation, the same shall mean "Mississippi Department of Corrections."
SECTION 2. Section 47-5-938, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
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 Prison
Agricultural Enterprises Act as provided in Sections 47-5-351 through 47-5-357;
( * * *b) Authorized in the
Penitentiary-Made Goods Law of 1978 as provided in Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-331;
( * * *c) Authorized in the Public
Service Work Programs Act as provided in Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421;
( * * *d) 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.
SECTION 3. Section 47-5-1251, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
47-5-1251. (1) There is
created the "Prison Industry Enhancement Program," through which the
Department of Corrections may * * *
employ offenders within the custody of the department * * *. 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) 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.
SECTION 4. Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575, which provide for the Mississippi Prison Industries Act of 1990, are repealed.
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.