MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2001 Regular Session

To: Penitentiary; Appropriations

By: Representative Evans

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 47-5-1207, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO TRANSFER THE AUTHORITY TO CONSTRUCT PRIVATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES FROM THE STATE PRISON EMERGENCY CONSTRUCTION AND MANAGEMENT BOARD TO THE LEGISLATURE; TO AMEND SECTION 47-4-1, 47-4-3 AND 47-5-1211, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 47-5-1207, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-5-1207. (1) The State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board shall select a suitable site or sites for a public or private facility not to exceed one thousand (1,000) beds in any of the following counties: Lauderdale, Quitman, Perry and Sharkey.

(2) The State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board may contract for the construction, lease, acquisition, improvement, operation and management of a private correctional facility in Marshall County or Wilkinson County for the private incarceration of not more than one thousand (1,000) state inmates at the facility; however, from and after July 1, 2001, any agreement to contract for the construction, lease, acquisition, improvement, operation or management of a private correctional facility shall be subject to the approval of the legislature.

(3) The State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board may contract with any county industrial or economic development authority or district for the construction, lease, acquisition, improvement, operation and management of a private correctional facility to be sited or constructed under Laws, 1994 First Extraordinary Session, Chapter 26.

(4) The State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board may contract for the construction, lease, acquisition, improvement and operation of two (2) private restitution centers, one of which may be in Bolivar County. The capacity of each restitution center shall not exceed seventy-five (75) state inmates.

(5) (a) The State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board may contract for the special needs facility and services authorized in Sections 47-5-1101 through 47-5-1123.

(b) No later than September 15, 1994, the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review shall determine the state medical cost per inmate day to use as a basis for measuring the validity of ten percent (10%) savings of the contractor cost.

(6) Each private contractor and private facility housing state inmates must meet the requirements of Section 47-5-1211 through Section 47-5-1227.

(7) No additional emergency prisons shall be located in any city and/or county, except upon the submission to the State Prison Emergency Construction and Management Board, of a resolution signed by a majority of the governing authorities of the city and/or county, wherein the proposed prison site is to be located, approving and/or requesting that a prison facility be located at the proposed site. However, requests for approval of a private facility must comply with Section (2) of this act.

SECTION 2. Section 47-4-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-4-1. (1) Except as otherwise provided in Section 47-5-1207(2), 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 "Delta Correctional Facility Authority," a public body authorized in Chapter 852, Local and Private Laws of 1992, 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 Untied 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) 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.

SECTION 3. Section 47-4-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-4-3. (1) Except as otherwise provided in Section 47-5-1207(2), 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 (b ) 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. Section 47-5-1211, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-5-1211. (1) A contract for private correctional facilities or services shall not be entered into unless the contractor has demonstrated that it has:

(a) The qualifications, experience and management personnel necessary to carry out the terms of the contract.

(b) The ability to expedite the siting, design and construction of correctional facilities.

(c) The ability to comply with applicable laws, court orders and national correctional standards.

(d) Demonstrated history of successful operation and management of other correctional facilities.

(2) A facility shall at all times comply with all federal and state laws, and all applicable court orders.

(3) (a) Except as otherwise provided in Section 47-5-1207(2), no contract for private incarceration shall be entered into unless the cost of the private operation, including the state's cost for monitoring the private operation, offers a cost savings of at least ten percent (10%) to the Department of Corrections for at least the same level and quality of service offered by the Department of Corrections.

(b) The Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review shall contract annually with a certified public accounting firm to establish a state inmate cost per day for a comparable state facility. The state inmate cost per day shall be certified annually. The certified cost shall be used as the basis for measuring the validity of the ten percent (10%) savings of the contractor costs.

(4) The rates and benefits for correctional services shall be negotiated based upon American Correction Association standards, state law and court orders.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2001.