House Bill NO. 55

By Senator(s) Committee

SECTION 1. Section 47-7-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-7-5. (1) The State Parole Board, created under former Section 47-7-5, is hereby created, continued and reconstituted and shall be composed of five (5) members, one (1) from each congressional district. The Governor shall appoint the members with the advice and consent of the Senate. The terms of the members serving on the board from Supreme Court districts shall expire on June 30, 1997. The three (3) members may be reappointed to the board. The terms of the members of the reconstituted board shall begin on July 1, 1997. All terms shall be coterminous with the term of the Governor. Any vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired term by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The board shall elect a chairman of the board annually. No member may serve consecutive terms as chairman.

(2) Any person who is appointed to serve on the board shall possess at least a bachelor's degree or a high school diploma and four (4) years' work experience. Each member shall devote his full time to the duties of his office and shall not engage in any other business or profession or hold any other public office. A member shall not receive compensation or per diem in addition to his salary as prohibited under Section 25-3-38. Each member shall keep such hours and workdays as required of full-time state employees under Section 25-1-98. Individuals shall be appointed to serve on the board without reference to their political affiliations. Each board member, including the chairman, may be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses as authorized by Section 25-3-41; but a member shall not be reimbursed for travel expenses from his residence to the nearest state penitentiary. In addition, a member must use a state vehicle, if available, for travel and a member who refuses to use an available state vehicle shall not receive reimbursement for mileage expenses for use of a privately owned motor vehicle.

(3) The board shall have exclusive responsibility for the granting of parole as provided by Sections 47-7-3 and 47-7-17 and shall have exclusive authority for revocation of the same. The board shall have exclusive responsibility for investigating clemency recommendations upon request of the Governor.

(4) The board, its members and staff shall be immune from civil liability for any official acts taken in good faith and in exercise of the board's legitimate governmental authority.

(5) The budget of the board shall be funded through a separate line item within the general appropriation bill for the support and maintenance of the department. Employees of the department which are employed by or assigned to the board shall work under the guidance and supervision of the board. There shall be an executive secretary to the board who shall be responsible for all administrative and general accounting duties related to the board. The executive secretary shall keep and preserve all records and papers pertaining to board.

(6) The board shall have no authority or responsibility for supervision of offenders granted probation, parole or executive clemency or other offenders requiring the same through interstate compact agreements. The supervision shall be provided exclusively by the staff of the Division of Community Services of the department.

(7) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2003.

SECTION 2. Section 47-7-53, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-7-53. * * * If the Parole Board is abolished, the Department of Corrections shall assume and exercise all the duties, powers and responsibilities of the State Parole Board. The commissioner * * * may assign to the appropriate officers and divisions any powers and duties deemed appropriate to carry out the duties and powers of the Parole Board. Wherever the terms "State Parole Board" or "Parole Board" appear in any state law, they shall mean the Department of Corrections.

SECTION 3. Section 47-5-1003, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-5-1003. (1) An intensive supervision program may be used as an alternative to incarceration for offenders who are low risk and nonviolent as selected by the department or court. Any offender convicted of a sex crime or a felony for the sale or manufacture of a controlled substance under the Uniform Controlled Substances Law shall not be placed in the program.

(2) The court placing an offender in the intensive supervision program may, acting upon the advice and consent of the commissioner at the time of the initial sentencing only, and not later than one (1) year after the defendant has been delivered to the custody of the department, suspend the further execution of the sentence and place the defendant on intensive supervision, except when a death sentence or life imprisonment is the maximum penalty which may be imposed or if the defendant has been confined for the conviction of a felony on a previous occasion in any court or courts of the United States and of any state or territories thereof or has been convicted of a felony involving the use of a deadly weapon.

(3) To protect and to ensure the safety of the state's citizens, any offender who violates an order or condition of the intensive supervision program shall be arrested by the correctional field officer and placed in the actual custody of the Department of Corrections. Such offender is under the full and complete jurisdiction of the department and subject to removal from the program by the classification committee.

(4) From and after July 1, 2001, all persons who are within one (1) year of eligibility for parole or release may be considered by the Parole Board for either house arrest under the electronic home detention program or for assignment to a residential community work center described in Section 47-5-401. Any offender who violates an order or condition of the program shall be required to serve the full term to which sentenced either under the house arrest or work center placement or while incarcerated, in the discretion of the Parole Board.

SECTION 4. The following shall be codified as Section 47-7-72, Mississippi Code of 1972:

47-7-72. (1) The Department of Corrections shall not accept any person convicted of three (3) or more violent felony offenses placed on probation or released on parole under the Uniform Act for Out-of-State Parolee Suspension.

(2) The Department of Corrections shall not consent to any person convicted of three (3) or more violent felony offenses being sent to reside in Mississippi under Section 47-7-71.

(3) The Department of Corrections shall immediately notify any state having an out-of-state parolee agreement with Mississippi of this condition and take immediate action to modify such agreements, or to renounce such agreement if a contracting state refuses to agree with the restrictions placed on such agreements with the Department of Corrections under this section.

SECTION 5. Section 99-3-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

99-3-1. (1) Arrests for crimes and offenses may be made by the sheriff or his deputy or by any constable or conservator of the peace within his county, or by any marshal or policeman of a city, town or village within the same, or by any United States Marshal or Deputy United States Marshal, or, when in cooperation with local law enforcement officers, by any other federal law enforcement officer who is employed by the United States government, authorized to effect an arrest for a violation of the United States Code, and authorized to carry a firearm in the performance of his duties. Private persons may also make arrests.

(2) (a) Any person authorized by a court of law to supervise or monitor a convicted offender who is under an intensive supervision program may arrest the offender when the offender is in violation of the terms or conditions of the intensive supervision program, without having a warrant if:

(i) The arrest is authorized or ordered by a judge of the court;

(ii) The person making the arrest has been trained at the Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy established under Section 45-5-1 et seq.; and

(iii) The judge identifies the person making the arrest in his order and a copy of the order is served upon the person being arrested.

(b) For the purposes of the subsection, the term "intensive supervision program" means an intensive supervision program of the Department of Corrections as described in Section 47-5-1001 et seq., of any similar program authorized by a court for offenders who are not under jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections.

SECTION 6. Section 99-3-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

99-3-7. (1) An officer or private person may arrest any person without warrant, for an indictable offense committed, or a breach of the peace threatened or attempted in his presence; or when a person has committed a felony, though not in his presence; or when a felony has been committed, and he has reasonable ground to suspect and believe the person proposed to be arrested to have committed it; or on a charge, made upon reasonable cause, of the commission of a felony by the party proposed to be arrested. And in all cases of arrests without warrant, the person making such arrest must inform the accused of the object and cause of the arrest, except when he is in the actual commission of the offense, or is arrested on pursuit.

(2) Any law enforcement officer may arrest any person on a misdemeanor charge without having a warrant in his possession when a warrant is in fact outstanding for that person's arrest and the officer has knowledge through official channels that the warrant is outstanding for that person's arrest. In all such cases, the officer making the arrest must inform such person at the time of the arrest the object and cause therefor. If the person arrested so requests, the warrant shall be shown to him as soon as practicable.

(3) Any law enforcement officer shall arrest a person with or without a warrant when he has probable cause to believe that the person has, within twenty-four (24) hours of such arrest, knowingly committed a misdemeanor which is an act of domestic violence or knowingly violated provisions of a protective order or court-approved consent agreement entered by a chancery, county, justice or municipal court pursuant to the Protection from Domestic Abuse Law, Sections 93-21-1 through 93-21-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, that require such person to absent himself from a particular geographic area, provided that such order specifically provides for an arrest pursuant to this section for such violation.

(4) (a) Any person authorized by a court of law to supervise or monitor a convicted offender who is under an intensive supervision program may arrest the offender when the offender is in violation of the terms or conditions of the intensive supervision program, without having a warrant if:

(i) The arrest is authorized or ordered by a judge of the court;

(ii) The person making the arrest has been trained at the law Enforcement Officers Training Academy established under Section 45-5-1 et seq.; and

(iii) The judge identifies the person making the arrest in his order and a copy of the order is served upon the person being arrested.

(b) For the purposes of this subsection, the term "intensive supervision program" means an intensive supervision program of the Department of Corrections as described in Section 47-5-1001 et seq., or any similar program authorized by a court for offenders who are not under jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections.

(5) As used in subsection (3) of this section, the phrase "misdemeanor which is an act of domestic violence" shall mean one or more of the following acts between family or household members who reside together or formerly resided together:

(a) Simple domestic assault within the meaning of Section 97-3-7;

(b) Disturbing the family or public peace within the meaning of Section 97-35-9, 97-35-11, 97-35-13 or 97-35-15; or

(c) Stalking within the meaning of Section 97-3-107.

(6) Any arrest made pursuant to subsection (3) of this section shall be designated as domestic assault or domestic violence on both the arrest docket and the incident report.

SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2000.

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 47-7-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO EXTEND THE REPEALER ON THE STATE PAROLE BOARD; TO AMEND SECTION 47-7-53, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; TO AMEND SECTION 47-5-1003, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE ELIGIBILITY FOR HOUSE ARREST; TO CREATE CODE SECTION 47-7-72, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROHIBIT THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS FROM ACCEPTING FOR SUPERVISION AN OUT-OF-STATE PAROLEE WHO HAS THREE OR MORE VIOLENT FELONY CONVICTIONS; TO AMEND SECTIONS 99-3-1 AND 99-3-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PERMIT PERSONS AUTHORIZED BY A COURT TO SUPERVISE OR MONITOR OFFENDERS UNDER A HOUSE ARREST PROGRAM TO ARREST OFFENDERS WHO ARE IN VIOLATION OF THE TERMS OF THE HOUSE ARREST PROGRAM UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.