MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2001 Regular Session

To: Judiciary

By: Senator(s) Ross

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 47-5-1003, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE PLACEMENT OF CERTAIN NONVIOLENT OFFENDERS WITHIN ONE YEAR OF RELEASE TO BE PLACED IN HOUSE ARREST PROGRAM OR COMMUNITY WORK CENTERS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. 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) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, from and after July 1, 2002, offenders who have served at least six (6) months in the custody of the Department of Corrections and 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. An offender must be nonviolent and the Department of Corrections must find that the offender poses no threat to society before being placed in a program under this subsection. 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.

(5) When any circuit or county court places an offender in an intensive supervision program, the court shall give notice to the Mississippi Department of Corrections within fifteen (15) days of the court's decision to place the offender in an intensive supervision program. Notice shall be delivered to the central office of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and to the regional office of the department which will be providing supervision to the offender in an intensive supervision program.

The courts may not require an offender to complete the intensive supervision program as a condition of probation or post-release supervision.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2001.