MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2020 Regular Session
To: Corrections; Appropriations
By: Representatives Barton, Faulkner
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 47-5-931, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS TO CONTRACT WITH THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF GEORGE COUNTY FOR THE PRIVATE INCARCERATION OF STATE INMATES AT THE GEORGE/GREENE COUNTY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY; TO AMEND SECTION 47-4-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PRECEDING SECTION; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 47-4-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PERTAINS TO THE PREREQUISISITES FOR ESTABLISHING A PRIVATELY OPERATED CORRECTIONAL FACILITY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 47-5-931, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended 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) (a) The
Department of Corrections shall contract with the board of supervisors of the
following counties to house state inmates in regional facilities: ( * * *i) Marion and Walthall Counties; ( * * *ii) Carroll and Montgomery Counties; ( * * *iii) Stone and Pearl River Counties; ( * * *iv) Winston and Choctaw Counties; ( * * *v) Kemper and Neshoba Counties; ( * * *vi) Holmes County and any contiguous
county in which there is located an unapproved jail; and ( * * *vii) 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: ( * * *i) Yazoo County, ( * * *ii) Chickasaw County, ( * * *iii) George and Greene Counties, ( * * *iv) Washington County, ( * * *v) Hinds County, and ( * * *vi) 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.
(b) From and after July 1, 2020, the Department of Corrections may contract with the Board of Supervisors of George County for the private incarceration of state inmates at the George/Greene County Correctional Facility. Any contract must comply with the requirements of Section 47-5-1211 through Section 47-5-1227.
(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 2. Section 47-4-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
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.
(8) From and after July 1, 2020, the Department of Corrections may contract with the Board of Supervisors of George County for the private incarceration of state inmates at the George/Greene County Correctional Facility. Any contract must comply with the requirements of Section 47-5-1211 through Section 47-5-1227.
SECTION 3. Section 47-4-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
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 (Ö) 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.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.