MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2026 Regular Session
To: Public Health and Welfare
By: Senator(s) Bryan
AN ACT TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 43-27-2, 43-27-8, 43-27-10, 43-27-12, 43-27-14, 43-27-16, 43-27-17, 43-27-18, 43-27-19, 43-27-20, 43-27-22, 43-27-23, 43-27-25, 43-27-27, 43-27-29, 43-27-33, 43-27-37 and 43-27-39, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH RELATE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH SERVICES, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO AMEND SECTIONS 43-27-11 AND 43-27-35, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO MAKE TECHNICAL NONSUBSTANTIVE AENDMENTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 43-27-2, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-2. The Department of Human Services shall be the Department of Youth Services and shall retain all powers and duties granted by law to the Department of Youth Services, and wherever the term “Department of Youth Services” appears in any law the same shall mean the Department of Human Services. The executive director of the department may assign to appropriate divisions such powers and duties as deemed appropriate to carry out the functions of the department. The executive director of the department may assign such powers and duties as deemed appropriate to carry out the functions of the department.
SECTION 2. Section 43-27-8, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-8. The Department of Human Services shall administer the following duties and responsibilities:
(a) To implement and administer laws and policy relating to youth services and coordinate the efforts of the department with those of the federal government and other state departments and agencies, county governments, municipal governments and private agencies concerned with providing youth services.
(b) To establish standards, provide technical assistance and exercise the requisite supervision as it relates to youth service programs over all state-supported juvenile correctional facilities.
(c) To promulgate and publish such rules, regulations and policies of the department as are needed for the efficient government and maintenance of all facilities and programs in accord, insofar as possible, with currently accepted standards of juvenile care and treatment.
SECTION 3. Section 43-27-10, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-10. (1) The Mississippi Department of Human Services shall exercise executive and administrative supervision over all state-owned facilities used for the detention, training, care, treatment and aftercare supervision of delinquent children properly committed to or confined in said facilities by a court on account of such delinquency; provided, however, such executive and administrative supervision under state-owned facilities shall not extend to any institutions and facilities for which executive and administrative supervision has been provided otherwise by law through other agencies.
(2) Such facilities shall include, but not be limited to, the Oakley Training School, which is now the Oakley Youth Development Center, created by Chapter 205, Laws of 1942, and those facilities authorized by Chapter 652, Laws of 1994.
(3) The department shall have the power as a corporate body to receive, hold and use personal, real and mixed property donated to them or property acquired under Section 43-27-35, and shall have such other corporate authority as shall now or hereafter be necessary for the operation of any such facility. The department shall be responsible for the planning, development and coordination of a statewide, comprehensive youth services program designed to train and rehabilitate children in order to prevent, control and retard juvenile delinquency.
(4) The department is authorized to develop and implement diversified public, private, or contractual programs and facilities to promote, enhance, provide and assure the opportunities for the successful care, training and treatment of delinquent children properly committed to or confined in any facility under its control. Such programs and facilities may include, but not be limited to, training schools, foster homes, halfway houses, forestry camps, regional assessment, classification and diagnostic centers, detention centers, group homes, regional and community-based juvenile intensive residential treatment facilities, specialized and therapeutic programs and facilities, and other state and local community-based programs and facilities.
(5) The department is authorized to acquire whatever hazard, casualty or workers' compensation insurance is necessary for any property, real or personal, owned, leased or rented by the department or for any employees or personnel hired by the department and may acquire professional liability insurance on all employees as deemed necessary and proper by the department. All premiums due and payable on account thereof shall be paid out of the funds of the department.
SECTION 4. Section 43-27-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-27-11. The Mississippi
Department of Human Services shall succeed to the exclusive control of all
records, books, papers, equipment and supplies, and all lands, buildings and
other real and personal property now or hereafter belonging to or assigned to
the use and benefit or under the control of the Oakley Youth Development
Center, and shall have the exercise and control of the use, distribution and
disbursement of all funds, appropriations and taxes now or hereafter in
possession, levied, collected or received or appropriated for the use, benefit,
support and maintenance of * * * the institution,
and the department shall have general supervision of all the affairs of the * * * institution herein
named, and the care and conduct of all buildings and grounds, business methods
and arrangements of accounts and records, the organization of the administrative
plans of * * *
the institution, and all other matters incident to the proper functioning
of the * * *
institution. The department shall have full authority over the
operation of any and all farms at * * * the institution
and over the distribution of agricultural, dairy, livestock and any and all
other products therefrom and over all funds received from the sale of hogs and
livestock. All sums realized from the sale of products manufactured and fabricated
in the shops of the vocational departments of * * * the institution shall
be placed in the revolving fund of the * * * institution in
which said products were manufactured, fabricated and sold.
The department shall be
authorized to lease the lands for oil, gas and mineral exploration, and for
such other purposes as the department deems to be appropriate, on such terms
and conditions as the department and lessee agree. The department may contract
with the State Forestry Commission for the proper management of forest lands
and the sale of timber, and the department is expressly authorized to sell
timber and forestry products. The department is further authorized to expend
the net proceeds from incomes from all leases and timber sales exclusively for
the instructional purposes or operational expenses, or both, at the * * * institution under
its jurisdiction.
The granting of any leases for oil, gas and mineral exploration shall be on a public bid basis as prescribed by law.
SECTION 5. Section 43-27-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-12. The Department of Youth Services shall have exclusive supervisory care, custody and active control of all children properly committed to or confined in its facilities and included in its programs and shall have control of the grounds, buildings and other facilities and properties of said facilities and programs.
SECTION 6. Section 43-27-14, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-14. The Department of Youth Services shall have the authority to accept any allotments of federal funds and commodities and shall manage and dispose of them in whatever manner may be required by federal law, and may take advantage of any federal programs, grants-in-aid, or other public or private assistance which may be offered or available which will accomplish or further the objectives of the department. Except as otherwise authorized in Section 7-5-39, the Attorney General shall be the legal representative of the department.
SECTION 7. Section 43-27-16, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-16. The Department of Youth Services is authorized to request from any and all existing agencies, departments, divisions, officers, employees, boards, bureaus, commissions and institutions of the State of Mississippi, or any political subdivision thereof, information, data and assistance as will enable the department to fulfill its duties hereunder, and all such agencies, departments, divisions, officers, employees, boards, bureaus, commissions and institutions of the State of Mississippi and its political subdivisions are hereby directed to cooperate with the department and render such information, data, aid and assistance as may be requested by the department.
SECTION 8. Section 43-27-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-17. The Department of Human Services shall use the services and resources of the state departments of education and health, and of all other appropriate state departments, agencies or institutions, as will aid in carrying out the purposes of this chapter. It shall be the duty of all such state departments, agencies and institutions to make available such services and resources to the department.
SECTION 9. Section 43-27-18, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-18. All positions in the Department of Youth Services shall be included in the state classification system, but the department is encouraged to establish an incentive program to motivate workers who deal directly with the children to obtain master’s degrees in the field of sociology, psychology or some other related field.
SECTION 10. Section 43-27-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-19. The Department of Human Services shall keep in a suitable book a full and complete record of all of its actions under this chapter, which shall be open at all times to the inspection of the Governor and all persons whom he or either house of the Legislature may designate, and any member of the Legislature, to examine same.
SECTION 11. Section 43-27-20, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-20. (a) Within the Division of Youth Services there shall be an Office of Community Services, which shall be headed by a director appointed by and responsible to the Director of the Division of Youth Services. Each director shall hold a master's degree in social work or a related field and shall have no less than three (3) years' experience in social services, or in lieu of such degree and experience, the director shall have a minimum of eight (8) years' experience in social work or a related field. Each director shall employ and assign the community workers to serve in the various areas in the state and any other supporting personnel necessary to carry out the duties of the Office of Community Services.
(b) The Director of the Office of Community Services shall assign probation and aftercare workers to the youth court or family court judges of the various court districts upon the request of the individual judge on the basis of caseload and need, when funds are available. The Director of the Office of Community Services is authorized to assign a youth services counselor to various court districts upon the approval of the appropriate judge and the Director of the Division of Youth Services.
(c) Any counties or cities which, on July 1, 1973, have court counselors or similar personnel may continue using this personnel or may choose to come within the statewide framework.
(d) A probation and aftercare worker may be transferred by the division from one (1) court to another after consultation with the judge or judges in the court to which the employee is currently assigned.
(e) The Office of Community Services shall have such duties as the Division of Youth Services shall assign to it which shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(i) Preparing the social, educational and home-life history and other diagnostic reports on the child for the benefit of the court or the training school; however, this provision shall not abridge the power of the court to require similar services from other agencies, according to law.
(ii) Serving in counseling capacities with the youth or family courts.
(iii) Serving as probation agents for the youth or family courts.
(iv) Serving, advising and counseling of children under the control of the Division of Youth Services as may be necessary to the placement of the children in their proper environment upon release and the placement of children in suitable jobs where necessary and proper.
(v) Supervising and guiding of children released or conditionally released from institutions under the control of the Division of Youth Services.
(vi) Coordinating the activities of supporting community agencies which aid in the social adjustment of children released from the institution and in an aftercare program.
(vii) Providing linkage and/or referral for services leading to the rehabilitation of delinquents, either within the division or through cooperative arrangements with other appropriate agencies.
(viii) Providing counseling and supervision for any child under ten (10) years of age who has been brought to the attention of the court when other suitable personnel is not available and upon request of the court concerned.
(ix) Supervising the completion of aftercare programs and/or making revocation investigations at the request of the court.
(x) Implementing a Standardized Risk Assessment Tool for use in the community.
(xi) Developing and implementing a graduated sanctions policy for use within the community.
(e) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2026.
SECTION 12. Section 43-27-22, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-22. (1) Within the Department of Human Services there shall be an Office of Juvenile Correctional Institutions which shall be headed by a Director of Juvenile Institutions, who shall be appointed by the Director of the Division of Youth Services. The Director of Juvenile Institutions shall appoint the individual Division of Youth Services Institutional Administrators who, in turn, shall have full power to select and employ personnel necessary to operate the facility he directs, subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of Youth Services.
(2) The Office of Juvenile Correctional Institutions shall have such duties as the Director of the Division of Youth Services shall assign to it including, but not limited to, the following:
(a) Operation and maintenance of training schools and other facilities as may be needed to properly diagnose, care for, train, educate and rehabilitate children and youths who have been committed to or confined in the facilities or who are included in the programs of the facilities.
(b) Fulfillment of the objectives of rehabilitation and reformation of the youths confined in the schools, being careful to employ no discipline, training or utilization of time and efforts of such youth that shall under any condition or in any way interfere with such objectives.
(c) Grouping of the youths in the schools according to age, sex and disciplinary needs with respect to their housing, schooling, training, recreation and work, being careful to prevent injury to the morals or interference with the training and rehabilitation of the younger or correctable youths by those considered to be less amenable to discipline and rehabilitation.
SECTION 13. Section 43-27-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-23. The superintendents of the Mississippi training schools may each receive free lodging in his respective institution for himself and his family, but not free board nor free supplies from the institution. Upon each superintendent’s election to receive board for himself and family from the institution, the Department of Human Services shall enter on the minutes in advance the names and ages of the members of the family and fix the charges for their board at the average cost of table board in that community, but in no event at an amount less than the cost of said board to said institution, and said board so fixed shall be paid by the superintendent into the State Treasury before his salary for the next succeeding month shall be paid. The department shall make a detailed and itemized statement thereof to the Legislature. The same restrictions shall apply to all members of the clerical force of the institutions.
SECTION 14. Section 43-27-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-25. No person shall be committed to an institution under the control of the Department of Youth Services who is seriously handicapped by having mental illness or an intellectual disability. If after a person is referred to the training schools it is determined that he has mental illness or an intellectual disability to an extent that he could not be properly cared for in its custody, the director may institute necessary legal action to accomplish the transfer of such person to such other state institution as, in his judgment, is best qualified to care for him in accordance with the laws of this state. The department shall establish standards with regard to the physical and mental health of persons which it can accept for commitment.
SECTION 15. Section 43-27-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-27. Any child committed to an institution under the provisions of this chapter may be transferred by the director of the department of youth services, in his discretion, to any of the schools or other facilities under his jurisdiction.
SECTION 16. Section 43-27-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-29. Academic and vocational training at all institutions under the department of youth services shall meet standards prescribed by the state department of education based upon standards required for public schools. The department may prescribe such additional requirements as it may from time to time deem necessary. The state superintendent of education will administer the standards related to the high school and elementary school programs. Reports from the state department of education evaluating the educational program at all juvenile correctional institutions and indicating whether or not the program meets the standards as prescribed shall be made directly to the director of the division of juvenile correctional institutions at regularly scheduled meetings. Such state department of education supervisory personnel as deemed appropriate shall be utilized for evaluating the programs and for reporting to the director of said division.
SECTION 17. Section 43-27-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-33. Nothing in this chapter is intended to limit or restrict the operation and effect of Title IV, federal Social Security Act (Subchapter IV, Sections 601-604, Chapter 7, Title 42, U.S. Code Annotated) and Sections 43-15-1 through 43-15-9, inclusive, 43-17-1 through 43-17-25, inclusive, 43-25-1 through 43-25-17, inclusive, and 93-11-1 through 93-11-63, inclusive, Mississippi Code of 1972, which authorize the Department of Human Services to expend appropriated state and available federal funds for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) child welfare services, and administer the interstate compact on juveniles under approved state-federal plans now in effect; this chapter being cumulative and supplementary. Nothing in this chapter is intended to limit or restrain the operation and effect of the Youth Court Law of 1946, as amended (Chapter 21 of this Title), or the Family Court Law of 1964, as amended (Chapter 23 of this Title), or the power granted to the youth courts or family courts therein outlined. The intent of this section is to insure that the final responsibility for a delinquent youth resides with the court that has jurisdiction and that the final responsibility for any and all services provided by any and all personnel assigned to a youth or family court resides with the responsible judge.
SECTION 18. Section 43-27-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-27-35. (1) The Department of Finance and Administration, for and on behalf of the Mississippi Department of Human Services and the State of Mississippi, may enter into a purchase contract, a lease-purchase agreement or other similar contract for the acquisition of land, buildings or equipment that would be suitable for use by the Mississippi Department of Human Services in providing housing and facilities for youth under its jurisdiction regardless of the ages of such youths and that would assist the Mississippi Department of Human Services in the performance of its duties under Chapter 27, Title 43, Mississippi Code of 1972. Before entering into any such contract or agreement, the Department of Finance and Administration must first demonstrate to the Public Procurement Review Board satisfactory evidence that the contract or agreement would be economically advantageous to the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
(2) Acquisition of the property described in subsection (1) of this section shall be made only as provided in subsection (3) and upon legislative approval or upon approval of the State Bond Commission in accordance with the manner and procedure prescribed in Section 27-104-107.
(3) If Newton County is selected as a site to house a facility under this section, the governing authorities of any municipality in which all or part of the facility is to be located and the Board of Supervisors of Newton County shall adopt resolutions spread on their minutes requesting the location of the facility in such municipality and the county. If such resolutions are adopted, the qualified electors of the municipality, if all or part of the facility is to be located in a municipality, shall vote in an election to be set by the governing authorities to determine if a facility shall be sited. If a majority of the qualified electors voting in the election vote in favor of siting a facility, a second election set by the board of supervisors shall be held in the county. If a majority of the qualified electors of the county voting in the election vote in favor of siting a facility, a facility shall be sited. If a majority of the qualified electors of the municipality voting in the election vote against siting a facility, a second election shall not be held in the county and a facility shall not be sited.
SECTION 19. Section 43-27-37, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-37. There is created in the Department of Human Services, Division of Youth Services, a Statewide Juvenile Work Program under the direction of a statewide coordinator. The statewide coordinator shall assist the youth court judges in implementing and administering the Juvenile Work Program as established under this section. The statewide coordinator shall establish standards and guidelines for juvenile work programs.
SECTION 20. Section 43-27-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
43-27-39. (1) The purpose of this section is to ensure that Mississippi's juvenile justice system is cost-efficient and effective at reducing juvenile crime and to create a continuum of options for Mississippi's youth court judges so that they are better equipped to protect our communities and to care for our children.
(2) The Columbia Training School shall no longer operate as a secure training school for juvenile delinquents. All youth, both male and female, committed to the custody of the Department of Human Services and adjudicated to training school shall be housed at the Oakley Youth Development Center. The Oakley Youth Development Center shall provide gender-specific treatment for youth who are adjudicated delinquent.
(3) Any portion of Columbia Training School property and facilities described in Section 1 of Chapter 553, Laws of 2012, may be conveyed or transferred to the Board of Supervisors of Marion County, Mississippi.
(4) Any portion of Columbia Training School property and facilities described in Section 2 of Chapter 386, Laws of 2017, may be conveyed or transferred to the Marion County Economic Development District for the purposes prescribed under that section.
(5) Any portion of Columbia Training School property and facilities described in Section 1 of Chapter 412, Laws of 2022, may be conveyed or transferred to the Marion County Economic Development District.
SECTION 21. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.