House Bill 1476

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A WORK RELEASE PROGRAM AT DELTA CORRECTIONAL FACILITY; TO PROVIDE THE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR INMATES WHO MAY PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM; TO REQUIRE CERTAIN STATISTICAL DATA BE REPORTED TO THE LEGISLATURE REGARDING THE PROGRAM; TO PROVIDE THAT INMATES WHO ARE WORK PARTICIPANTS SHALL UTILIZE THEIR WAGES FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) A work release program is established at Delta Correctional Facility. The corporation, as defined under Section 47-5-539, shall serve as the program administrator and shall focus on meaningful, skill-oriented, private-sector work opportunities in the surrounding communities. There shall be a limit of one hundred (100) people in the program at a time.

(2) No person sentenced for any sex crime or multiple violent felonies in the past ten (10) years shall be eligible for participation in the program established under this section. An inmate shall be eligible for participation in the program beginning three (3) years before her initial parole or earned time release date. The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections shall direct the facility's superintendent to identify eligible participants within thirty (30) days of the effective date of this act.

(3) The corporation shall collect and maintain data which shall be shared annually with the Legislature in sortable electronic format. The first report shall be made before January 15, 2026. 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;

(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.

(4) 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 pilot program established under this section. Admission to the program shall be in the discretion of the superintendent of the facility. The superintendent 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 such offender has more than one (1) year remaining on her sentence.

(5) The superintendent 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.

(6) Any offender assigned to such a program by the superintendent who, without proper authority or just cause, leaves the area to which she has been assigned to work or attend educational or other rehabilitative programs, or leaves the vehicle or route of travel involved in 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 her current term of confinement.

(7) (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 to pay his or her wages earned as a participant under the programs for the following purposes:

(i) To pay twenty percent (20%) toward any 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 as well as 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 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.

(iii) To pay up to twenty percent (20%) of the offender's wages to the facility for administrative expenses to include transportation costs.

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

(c) 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 under this subsection, upon the release of the inmate, shall be released to the inmate upon her release.

(8) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2029.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.