House Bill 631

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 47-5-23 AND 47-5-28, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS TO REQUIRE STATE OFFENDERS TO ASSIST IN THE PAYMENT OF COSTS OF INCARCERATION AT DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS' FACILITIES; TO AMEND SECTION 47-5-901, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE STATE OFFENDERS TO ASSIST IN THE PAYMENT OF COSTS OF INCARCERATION AT COUNTY JAILS; TO AMEND SECTION 47-5-933, 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 47-5-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-5-23. The department shall be vested with the exclusive responsibility for management and control of the correctional system, and all properties belonging thereto, subject only to the limitations of this chapter, and shall be responsible for the management of affairs of the correctional system and for the proper care, treatment, feeding, clothing and management of the offenders confined therein. The department is authorized to require offenders and their families to assist in the payment of the costs of incarceration for such offenders. The commissioner shall have final authority to employ and discharge all employees of the correctional system, except as otherwise provided by law.

SECTION 2. Section 47-5-28, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-5-28. The commissioner shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) To implement and administer laws and policy relating to corrections 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 offender services;

(b) To establish standards, in cooperation with other state agencies having responsibility as provided by law, provide technical assistance, and exercise the requisite supervision as it relates to correctional programs over all state-supported adult correctional facilities and community-based programs;

(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 adult offender care and treatment;

(d) To provide the Parole Board with suitable and sufficient office space and support resources and staff necessary to conducting Parole Board business under the guidance of the Chairman of the Parole Board;

(e) To make an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature reflecting the activities of the department and make recommendations for improvement of the services to be performed by the department;

(f) To cooperate fully with periodic independent internal investigations of the department and to file the report with the Governor and the Legislature;

(g) To perform such other duties necessary to effectively and efficiently carry out the purposes of the department as may be directed by the Governor;

(h) To develop methods by which an offender shall assist in payment of the costs of incarceration for such offender. Such methods may include periodic payments and the seizure and forfeiture of real and personal property of offenders.

SECTION 3. Section 47-5-901, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-5-901. (1) Any person committed, sentenced or otherwise placed under the custody of the Department of Corrections, on order of the sentencing court and subject to the other conditions of this subsection, may serve all or any part of his sentence in the county jail of the county wherein such person was convicted if the Commissioner of Corrections determines that physical space is not available for confinement of such person in the state correctional institutions. Such determination shall be promptly made by the Department of Corrections upon receipt of notice of the conviction of such person. The commissioner shall certify in writing that space is not available to the sheriff or other officer having custody of the person. Any person serving his sentence in a county jail shall be classified in accordance with Section 47-5-905.

(2) If state prisoners are housed in county jails due to a lack of capacity at state correctional institutions, the Department of Corrections shall determine the cost for food and medical attention for such prisoners. The cost of feeding and housing offenders confined in such county jails shall be based on actual costs or contract price per prisoner. In order to maximize the potential use of county jail space, the Department of Corrections is encouraged to negotiate a reasonable per day cost per prisoner, which in no event may exceed Twenty Dollars ($20.00) per day per offender.

(3) Upon vouchers submitted by the board of supervisors of any county housing persons due to lack of space at state institutions, the Department of Corrections shall pay to such county, out of any available funds, the actual cost of food, or contract price per prisoner, not to exceed Twenty Dollars ($20.00) per day per offender, as determined under subsection (2) of this section for each day an offender is so confined beginning the day that the Department of Corrections receives a certified copy of the sentencing order and will terminate on the date on which the offender is released or otherwise removed from the custody of the county jail, and shall pay the actual cost for medical attention for prisoners unless the Commissioner of Corrections shall find that the costs of any medical services rendered are unreasonable. Such payment shall be placed in the county general fund and shall be expended only for food and medical attention for such persons. The Department of Corrections shall not pay a county for offenders housed in county jails pending a probation or parole revocation hearing.

(4) A person, on order of the sentencing court, may serve not more than twenty-four (24) months of his sentence in a county jail if the person is classified in accordance with Section 47-5-905 and the county jail is an approved county jail for housing state inmates under federal court order. The sheriff of the county shall have the right to petition the Commissioner of Corrections to remove the inmate from the county jail. The county shall be reimbursed in accordance with subsection (2).

(5) The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall defend the employees of the Department of Corrections and officials and employees of political subdivisions against any action brought by any person who was committed to a county jail under the provisions of this section.

(6) This section does not create in the Department of Corrections, or its employees or agents, any new liability, express or implied, nor shall it create in the Department of Corrections any administrative authority or responsibility for the construction, funding, administration or operation of county or other local jails or other places of confinement which are not staffed and operated on a full-time basis by the Department of Corrections. The correctional system under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections shall include only those facilities fully staffed by the Department of Corrections and operated by it on a full-time basis.

(7) An offender returned to a county for post-conviction proceedings shall be subject to the provisions of Section 99-19-42 and the county shall not receive the per day allotment for such offender after the time prescribed for returning the offender to the Department of Corrections as provided in Section 99-19-42.

(8) If state offenders are incarcerated in county jails, due to a lack of space at state correctional institutions, the Department of Corrections may require such state offenders and their families to assist in the payment of the costs of incarceration for such offenders.

SECTION 4. Section 47-5-933, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-5-933. The Department of Corrections may contract for the purposes set out in Section 47-5-931 for a period of not more than twenty (20) years. The contract may provide that the Department of Corrections pay a fee of up to Twenty-four Dollars and Ninety Cents ($24.90) per day for each offender that is housed in the facility. The Department of Corrections may include in the contract, as an inflation factor, a three percent (3%) annual increase in the contract price. The state shall retain responsibility for medical care for state offenders to the extent that is required by law. The Department of Corrections may require state offenders who are incarcerated at county or regional facilities and their families to assist in the payment of the costs of incarceration for such offenders.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2003.