Senate Bill 2859

(As Passed the Senate)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 47-5-401 AND 47-5-451, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS TO ESTABLISH STANDARDS THAT MUST BE SATISFIED FOR A COUNTY TO RECEIVE STATE OFFENDERS FOR PUBLIC SERVICE WORK PROGRAMS AND JOINT STATE-COUNTY WORK PROGRAMS; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO PUBLISH THESE STANDARDS ON ITS WEBSITE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE DEPARTMENT SHALL RESPOND TO A COUNTY'S REQUEST FOR STATE OFFENDERS FOR THESE PROGRAMS WITHIN 60 DAYS; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 47-5-931 AND 47-5-933, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDE FOR THE HOUSING OF OFFENDERS IN REGIONAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 47-5-401, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-5-401. (1) (a) 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.

(b) The department shall also establish any standards with which a county must comply in order for the department to assign state offenders to the county. The standards shall be published on the department's website within thirty (30) days from and after the passage of this act. The department shall issue a decision on a county's request for state offenders within sixty (60) days of receiving the request. If the county's request is rejected, the department shall set forth the reasons for the rejection in writing.

(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.

SECTION 2. Section 47-5-451, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-5-451. (1) (a) 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.

SECTION 3. Section 47-5-931, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

47-5-931. (1) The Department of Corrections, in its discretion, may contract with the board of supervisors of one or more counties and/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) Holmes County and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail; and (g) Bolivar County and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail. The Department of Corrections may contract with the board of supervisors of the following counties to house state inmates in regional facilities: (a) Yazoo County, (b) Chickasaw County, (c) George and Greene Counties, (d) Washington County, (e) Hinds County, and (f) Alcorn County. 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 the Kemper and Neshoba 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.

SECTION 4. Section 47-5-933, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

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 up to Twenty-nine Dollars and Seventy-four Cents ($29.74) 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.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019, and shall stand repealed on June 30, 2019.