MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2010 Regular Session
To: Public Property
By: Representatives Hines, Buck (5th), Buck (72nd), Clark, Johnson
AN ACT TO CHANGE THE NAME OF THE OAKLEY TRAINING SCHOOL TO THE OAKLEY REHABILITATION CENTER, AND TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-31-65, 37-113-21, 37-143-15, 43-21-605, 43-27-10, 43-27-11, 43-27-39, 43-27-401, 47-5-151, 47-7-45, 65-1-37 AND 97-37-17, 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 37-31-65, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-31-65. The funds derived from any sources for any trade school, such as the Mississippi School for the Deaf, Mississippi School for the Blind, the Oakley Rehabilitation Center, or Parchman Vocational School or other agencies or institutions receiving funds for the purposes of this chapter, which are not operated in connection with any public school, agricultural high school or community/junior college, or by virtue of any tuition, registration fees, or payment for services rendered or commodities produced, shall be the property of the State Board of Education. In the event any public school, agricultural high school or community/junior college establishes any trade school, classes or courses under Section 37-31-61, such funds shall be the property of such public school, agricultural high school or community/junior college, to be expended by the trustees thereof, and shall be expended solely for the expense of operating and conducting the trade school, classes or courses in connection with such public school, agricultural high school or community/junior college. None of such funds shall be commingled with the funds of any other of such schools, and none of such funds shall be commingled with any of the other funds of any of the public schools, agricultural high schools or community/junior colleges. All of such funds so created shall be and are hereby declared to be public funds, as defined by law.
SECTION 2. Section 37-113-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-113-21. (1) Agriculture is the primary industry of Mississippi and it is to the interest of said state agriculture that research in the fields of livestock products, pastures and forage crops, poultry, herd and flock management, horticulture, farm mechanization, soil conservation, forestry, disease and insect and parasite control, the testing of plants and livestock under different conditions, farm enterprises for different sized farms under different soil and climatic conditions and market locations, and other important phases of Mississippi's agricultural economy, be expanded in the manner provided for in this section.
(2) There is hereby authorized a branch experiment station to be known as the Brown Loam Branch Experiment Station, which is to be located on a part of that tract of land owned by the State of Mississippi and formerly operated as the Oakley Penitentiary and known as the Oakley Rehabilitation Center, same to be selected in accordance with Laws, 1954, Chapter 159, Section 3, and used as an agricultural experiment station. This property is to be supplied with necessary buildings, equipment, and other facilities; and title to such Oakley Penitentiary Farm, now known as the Oakley Rehabilitation Center, is to be transferred to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning for the use of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experimental Station as the site of, and to be used for said Brown Loam Branch Experiment Station in accordance with Laws, 1954, Chapter 159, Section 3.
There is hereby authorized a branch experiment station to be known as the Coastal Plain Branch Experiment Station to be located on a suitable tract of approximately nine hundred (900) acres to be purchased in the upper coastal plain or short leaf pine area of east central Mississippi and to be supplied with necessary buildings, equipment, and other facilities.
The enlargement of the Holly Springs Branch Experiment Station, hereafter to be known as the North Mississippi Branch Experiment Station, is hereby authorized, by the purchase of approximately five hundred (500) acres of additional land adjacent to or in the vicinity of either of the two (2) farms now operated by said branch stations, and by the provision of the necessary buildings, equipment, and other facilities, and the sale as, hereinafter provided, of that farm of said branch station which is not adjacent to the additional land to be purchased.
There is hereby authorized the reactivation of the former McNeil Branch Experiment Station to be operated as a part of the South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station at Poplarville, and to be supplied with necessary buildings, equipment, and other facilities.
There is hereby authorized a branch experiment station to be known as the Black Belt Branch Experiment Station to be located on a suitable tract of approximately six hundred forty (640) acres of land to be purchased in Noxubee County, Mississippi, and to be supplied with the necessary buildings, equipment, and other facilities.
There is hereby authorized a branch experiment station to be known as the Northeast Mississippi Branch Experiment Station to be located on a suitable tract of approximately two hundred (200) acres of land to be purchased in Lee County, Mississippi. Said station shall be primarily devoted to the development of the dairy industry and shall be supplied with necessary buildings, equipment, and other facilities.
There is hereby authorized the expansion of the office and laboratory building at the Delta Branch Experiment Station at Stoneville and of the office and laboratory and dwellings for station workers at the Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station at Crystal Springs.
(3) The governing authorities of any municipality, town, or county in the state may, in their discretion, donate land, money or other property to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning in furtherance of the purposes of this section.
For the purpose of securing funds to carry out this subsection, the governing authorities of such municipality, town, or county are hereby authorized and empowered, in their discretion, to issue bonds or negotiate notes for the purpose of acquiring by purchase, gift, or lease real estate for the purpose herein authorized. Such issuance of bonds or notes shall be issued in an amount not to exceed the limitation now or hereafter imposed by law on counties, municipalities and towns, and shall be issued in all respects including interest rate, maturities and other details as is now or may hereafter be provided by general law regulating the issuance of bond or notes by the governing authorities of such municipality, town, or county.
(4) Any person, firm or corporation may contribute or donate real or other property to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning in furtherance of the purpose of this section.
(5) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning is hereby authorized, upon recommendation of the Director of the Agricultural and Forestry Experimental Station at the Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science, which recommendation is approved by and transmitted to said board by the president of said university, to carry out the provisions of this section with particular reference to the establishment, reactivation, expansion, and the discontinuance of branch stations as herein provided, to receive and accept title to any land or property or money herein authorized, to buy or sell and dispose of any real or personal property herein authorized, to make available for carrying into effect the provisions of this section all money received from such sale or sales, and to do any and all things necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section. One-half (1/2) interest in and to all oil, gas and other minerals shall be retained under any lands sold hereunder.
(6) A gift of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), authorized by the general education board of the Rockefeller Foundation for the development of agricultural research, with particular reference to expanding the branch experiment stations and conditioned upon a general program of expansion substantially, as herein provided, is hereby accepted. The Director of the Agricultural and Forestry Experimental Station at the Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science is authorized and instructed to control and expend such fund in the same manner as other funds appropriated to carry out the provisions of this section.
(7) The experiment station in Clay County, Mississippi, shall not be affected by this section.
SECTION 3. Section 37-143-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-143-15. The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning is authorized and empowered to establish loan or scholarship programs of like character, operation and purpose to the foregoing enumerated programs to encourage the participation of eligible worthy persons in courses of instruction in its institutions, and in furtherance of such power and authority is authorized: to adopt and implement rules and regulations declaring and describing the goals and objectives of such loan or scholarship programs; to establish the eligibility requirements for entry into such program and required for continuing participation for succeeding years; to determine the maximum amount to be made available to recipients; to delineate the terms and conditions of contracts with recipients and establish the service requirements for such contracts, if any; to enter into contracts pertaining to such programs with recipients; to enter into loan agreements and other contracts with financial institutions or other providers of loan monies for scholarship or loan participants; and to allocate and utilize such funds as may be necessary for the operation of such loan or scholarship programs from the annual appropriation for student financial aid.
In issuing rules and regulations governing the administration of the Graduate Teacher Summer Scholarship (GTS) Program, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall provide that certified teachers at the Oakley Rehabilitation Center under the jurisdiction of the Department of Human Services shall be fully eligible to participate in the program.
SECTION 4. Section 43-21-605, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-605. (1) In delinquency cases, the disposition order may include any of the following alternatives:
(a) Release the child without further action;
(b) Place the child in the custody of the parents, a relative or other persons subject to any conditions and limitations, including restitution, as the youth court may prescribe;
(c) Place the child on probation subject to any reasonable and appropriate conditions and limitations, including restitution, as the youth court may prescribe;
(d) Order terms of treatment calculated to assist the child and the child's parents or guardian which are within the ability of the parent or guardian to perform;
(e) Order terms of supervision which may include participation in a constructive program of service or education or civil fines not in excess of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or restitution not in excess of actual damages caused by the child to be paid out of his own assets or by performance of services acceptable to the victims and approved by the youth court and reasonably capable of performance within one (1) year;
(f) Suspend the child's driver's license by taking and keeping it in custody of the court for not more than one (1) year;
(g) Give legal custody of the child to any of the following:
(i) The Department of Human Services for appropriate placement; or
(ii) Any public or private organization, preferably community-based, able to assume the education, care and maintenance of the child, which has been found suitable by the court; or
(iii) The Division of Youth Services for placement in the state-supported training school, except that no child under the age of ten (10) years shall be committed to the state training school, and no first-time nonviolent youth offenders shall be committed to the state training school until all other options provided for in this section have been considered and the court makes a specific finding of fact by a preponderance of the evidence by assessing what is in the best rehabilitative interest of the child and the public safety of communities and that there is no reasonable alternative to a nonsecure setting and therefore secure commitment is appropriate.
The training school may retain custody of the child until the child's twentieth birthday but for no longer. When the child is committed to the training school, the child shall remain in the legal custody of the training school until the child has made sufficient progress in treatment and rehabilitation and it is in the best interest of the child to release the child. However, the superintendent of the state training school, in consultation with the treatment team, may parole a child at any time he or she may deem it in the best interest and welfare of such child. Twenty (20) days prior to such parole, the training school shall notify the committing court of the pending release. The youth court may then arrange subsequent placement after a reconvened disposition hearing, except that the youth court may not recommit the child to the training school or any other secure facility without an adjudication of a new offense or probation or parole violation. The Department of Human Services shall ensure that staffs create transition planning for youth leaving the facilities. Plans shall include providing the youth and his or her parents or guardian with copies of the youth's training school education and health records, information regarding the youth's home community, referrals to mental and counseling services when appropriate, and providing assistance in making initial appointments with community service providers. Prior to assigning the custody of any child to any private institution or agency, the youth court through its designee shall first inspect the physical facilities to determine that they provide a reasonable standard of health and safety for the child. No child shall be placed in the custody of the state training school for a status offense or for contempt of or revocation of a status offense adjudication unless the child is contemporaneously adjudicated for having committed an act of delinquency that is not a status offense. A disposition order rendered under this subparagraph shall meet the following requirements:
1. The disposition is the least restrictive alternative appropriate to the best interest of the child and the community;
2. The disposition allows the child to be in reasonable proximity to the family home community of each child given the dispositional alternatives available and the best interest of the child and the state; and
3. The disposition order provides that the court has considered the medical, educational, vocational, social and psychological guidance, training, social education, counseling, substance abuse treatment and other rehabilitative services required by that child as determined by the court;
(h) Recommend to the child and the child's parents or guardian that the child attend and participate in the Youth Challenge Program under the Mississippi National Guard, as created in Section 43-27-203, subject to the selection of the child for the program by the National Guard; however, the child must volunteer to participate in the program. The youth court shall not order any child to apply for or attend the program;
(i) (i) Adjudicate the juvenile to the Statewide Juvenile Work Program if the program is established in the court's jurisdiction. The juvenile and his or her parents or guardians must sign a waiver of liability in order to participate in the work program. The judge will coordinate with the youth services counselors as to placing participants in the work program;
(ii) The severity of the crime, whether or not the juvenile is a repeat offender or is a felony offender will be taken into consideration by the judge when adjudicating a juvenile to the work program. The juveniles adjudicated to the work program will be supervised by police officers or reserve officers. The term of service will be from twenty-four (24) to one hundred twenty (120) hours of community service. A juvenile will work the hours to which he or she was adjudicated on the weekends during school and weekdays during the summer. Parents are responsible for a juvenile reporting for work. Noncompliance with an order to perform community service will result in a heavier adjudication. A juvenile may be adjudicated to the community service program only two (2) times;
(iii) The judge shall assess an additional fine on the juvenile which will be used to pay the costs of implementation of the program and to pay for supervision by police officers and reserve officers. The amount of the fine will be based on the number of hours to which the juvenile has been adjudicated;
(j) Order the child to participate in a youth court work program as provided in Section 43-21-627;
(k) Order the child into a juvenile detention center operated by the county or into a juvenile detention center operated by any county with which the county in which the court is located has entered into a contract for the purpose of housing delinquents. The time period for detention cannot exceed ninety (90) days, and any detention exceeding forty-five (45) days shall be administratively reviewed by the youth court no later than forty-five (45) days after the entry of the order. At that time the youth court counselor shall review the status of the youth in detention and shall report any concerns to the court. The youth court judge may order that the number of days specified in the detention order be served either throughout the week or on weekends only. No first-time nonviolent youth offender shall be committed to a detention center for a period in excess of ninety (90) days until all other options provided for in this section have been considered and the court makes a specific finding of fact by a preponderance of the evidence by assessing what is in the best rehabilitative interest of the child and the public safety of communities and that there is no reasonable alternative to a nonsecure setting and therefore commitment to a detention center is appropriate.
If a child is committed to a detention center for ninety (90) days, the disposition order shall meet the following requirements:
(i) The disposition order is the least restrictive alternative appropriate to the best interest of the child and the community;
(ii) The disposition order allows the child to be in reasonable proximity to the family home community of each child given the dispositional alternatives available and the best interest of the child and the state; and
(iii) The disposition order provides that the court has considered the medical, educational, vocational, social and psychological guidance, training, social education, counseling, substance abuse treatment and other rehabilitative services required by that child as determined by the court;
(l) The judge may consider house arrest in an intensive supervision program as a reasonable prospect of rehabilitation within the juvenile justice system. The Department of Human Services shall promulgate rules regarding the supervision of juveniles placed in the intensive supervision program; or
(m) Referral to A-team provided system of care services.
(2) If a disposition order requires that a child miss school due to other placement, the youth court shall notify a child's school while maintaining the confidentiality of the youth court process. If a disposition order requires placement of a child in a juvenile detention facility, the facility shall comply with the educational services and notification requirements of Section 43-21-321.
(3) In addition to any of the disposition alternatives authorized under subsection (1) of this section, the disposition order in any case in which the child is adjudicated delinquent for an offense under Section 63-11-30 shall include an order denying the driver's license and driving privileges of the child as required under Section 63-11-30(9).
(4) If the youth court places a child in a state-supported training school, the court may order the parents or guardians of the child and other persons living in the child's household to receive counseling and parenting classes for rehabilitative purposes while the child is in the legal custody of the training school. A youth court entering an order under this subsection (4) shall utilize appropriate services offered either at no cost or for a fee calculated on a sliding scale according to income unless the person ordered to participate elects to receive other counseling and classes acceptable to the court at the person's sole expense.
(5) Fines levied under this chapter shall be paid into the general fund of the county but, in those counties wherein the youth court is a branch of the municipal government, it shall be paid into the municipal treasury.
(6) Any institution or agency to which a child has been committed shall give to the youth court any information concerning the child as the youth court may at any time require.
(7) The youth court shall not place a child in another school district who has been expelled from a school district for the commission of a violent act. For the purpose of this subsection, "violent act" means any action which results in death or physical harm to another or an attempt to cause death or physical harm to another.
(8) The youth court may require drug testing as part of a disposition order. If a child tests positive, the court may require treatment, counseling and random testing, as it deems appropriate. The costs of such tests shall be paid by the parent, guardian or custodian of the child unless the court specifically finds that the parent, guardian or custodian is unable to pay.
(9) The Mississippi Department of Human Services, Division of Youth Services, shall operate and maintain services for youth adjudicated delinquent at Oakley Rehabilitation Center. The program shall be designed for children committed to the training schools by the youth courts. The purpose of the program is to promote good citizenship, self-reliance, leadership and respect for constituted authority, teamwork, cognitive abilities and appreciation of our national heritage. The program must use evidenced-based practices and gender-specific programming and must develop an individualized and specific treatment plan for each female youth. The Division of Youth Services shall issue credit towards academic promotions and high school completion. The Division of Youth Services may award credits to each student who meets the requirements for a general education development certification. The Division of Youth Services must also provide to each special education eligible youth the services required by that youth's individualized education plan.
SECTION 5. Section 43-27-10, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended 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 Rehabilitation 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 6. 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 Rehabilitation 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 these two (2) institutions, and the department shall have general supervision of all the affairs of the two (2) institutions 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 each institution, and all other matters incident to the proper functioning of the institutions. The department shall have full authority over the operation of any and all farms at each of said institutions 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 such institutions shall be placed in the revolving fund of the respective institutions 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 two (2) institutions 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 7. Section 43-27-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended 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 Rehabilitation Center. The Oakley Rehabilitation Center shall provide gender-specific treatment for youth who are adjudicated delinquent.
(3) A portion of the Columbia Training School property and facilities may be used as a short-term prerelease center or half-way house for nonviolent male offenders committed to the Department of Corrections who are within one (1) year of their release dates for the purpose of assisting them to prepare for release and reentering their communities. A portion of the Columbia Training School property and facilities also may be used as or leased to a private entity for use as a substance treatment and rehabilitation center for nonviolent male offenders.
(4) Any portion of Columbia Training School property and facilities that are not used as a prerelease center, a half-way house or is not leased to a private entity as provided in subsection (3) of this section may be transferred or leased to any political subdivision of this state.
SECTION 8. Section 43-27-401, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-27-401. (1) The Department of Human Services, Division of Youth Services, shall establish a pilot program to be known as the "Amer-I-Can Program." The program is designed for youths who have been committed to or are confined at the Oakley Rehabilitation Center. The objectives of this program are:
(a) To develop greater self-esteem, assume responsible attitudes and experience a restructuring of habits and conditioning processes;
(b) To develop an appreciation of family members and an understanding of the role family structure has in achieving successful living;
(c) To develop an understanding of the concept of community and collective responsibility;
(d) To develop a prowess in problem solving and decision making that will eliminate many of the difficulties that were encountered in past experiences;
(e) To develop skills in money management and financial stability, thus relieving pressures that have contributed to previous difficulties;
(f) To develop communication skills to better express thoughts and ideas while acquiring an understanding of and respect for the thoughts and ideas of others; and
(g) To acquire employment seeking and retention skills to improve chances of long-term, gainful employment.
(2) The Division of Youth Services shall develop policies and procedures to administer the program and shall choose which youths are eligible to participate in the program.
(3) The department may accept any funds, public or private, made available to it for the program.
SECTION 9. Section 47-5-151, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
47-5-151. The superintendent (warden) or other person in charge of prisoners, upon the death of any prisoner under his care and control, shall at once notify the county medical examiner or county medical examiner investigator (hereinafter "medical examiner") of the county in which said prisoner died, of the death of the prisoner, and it shall be the duty of such medical examiner, when so notified of the death of such person, to obtain a court order and notify the State Medical Examiner of the death of such prisoner. It shall be mandatory that the State Medical Examiner cause an autopsy to be performed upon the body of the deceased prisoner. Furthermore, the State Medical Examiner shall investigate any case where a person is found dead on the premises of the correctional system, in accordance with Sections 41-61-51 through 41-61-79. The State Medical Examiner shall make a written report of his investigation, and shall furnish a copy of the same, including the autopsy report, to the superintendent (warden) and a copy of the same to the district attorney of the county in which said prisoner died. The copy so furnished to the district attorney shall be turned over by the district attorney to the grand jury, and it shall be the duty of the grand jury, if there be any suspicion of wrongdoing shown by the inquest papers, to thoroughly investigate the cause of such death.
It shall be the duty of the medical examiner of the county in which said prisoner died to arrange for the remains to be transported to the State Medical Examiner for said autopsy, and accompanying the remains shall be the court order for autopsy and any documents or records pertaining to the deceased prisoner, institutional health records or other information relating to the circumstances surrounding the prisoner's death. The State Medical Examiner shall arrange for the remains to be transported to the county in which said prisoner died following completion of the autopsy. If the remains are not claimed for burial within forty-eight (48) hours after autopsy, then said remains may be delivered to the University of Mississippi Medical Center for use in medical research or anatomical study.
The provisions herein set forth in the first paragraph shall likewise apply to any case in which any person is found dead on the premises of the Mississippi State Penitentiary except that the autopsy to be performed on the body of such a person shall not be mandatory upon a person who is not a prisoner unless the medical examiner determines that the death resulted from circumstances raising questions as to the cause of death, in which case the medical examiner may cause an autopsy to be performed upon the body of such deceased person in the same manner as authorized to be performed upon the body of a deceased prisoner.
Provided further, that the provisions herein shall apply with respect to any deceased prisoner who at the time of death is being detained by duly constituted state authority such as the Oakley Rehabilitation Center, Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield, East Mississippi State Hospital, or any other state institution.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to a prisoner who was lawfully executed as provided in Sections 99-19-49 through 99-19-55.
Any officer or employee of the prison system or any other officer, employee or person having charge of any prisoner who shall fail to immediately notify the medical examiner of the death of such prisoner, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than Five Hundred dollars ($500.00) and by confinement in the county jail for not more than one (1) year.
SECTION 10. Section 47-7-45, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
47-7-45. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to probation under the Youth Court Law nor to parole from the Oakley Rehabilitation Center.
SECTION 11. Section 65-1-37, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
65-1-37. The Mississippi Transportation Commission is hereby authorized and empowered to have the Mississippi Department of Transportation construct, repair and maintain the driveways and streets on the grounds of the universities and colleges under the jurisdiction of the Board of Trustees of the State Institutions of Higher Learning, state, and/or county supported junior colleges, the state hospitals, and institutions under the jurisdiction of the Board of Trustees of Mental Institutions, the Board of Trustees of the Columbia Training School and the Oakley Rehabilitation Center, the Mississippi Schools for the Deaf and Blind, and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks in the manner provided herein, including bypasses to connect said driveways and streets with roads on the state highway system, and the main thoroughfare running east and west through the grounds of the Mississippi Penitentiary, provided said institutions obtain the necessary rights-of-way, said institutions being hereby authorized so to do.
The Transportation Commission and the governing boards of said institutions shall enter into an agreement prior to undertaking any of the work mentioned in the first paragraph of this section, and said agreement shall be based on the Transportation Department's furnishing equipment, equipment operators, skilled labor, supervision, and engineering services, and the governing bodies of the aforementioned institutions shall furnish material, supplies and common labor. This agreement shall further provide for reimbursement of the Mississippi Department of Transportation, in full, for the expenditures incurred in the construction, repair and maintenance of driveways and streets at the institutions hereinabove mentioned, such reimbursement to be made directly to the Mississippi Transportation Commission from the institutions. Upon the execution of an agreement as set out herein, the Mississippi Department of Transportation may provide all the necessary engineering, supervision, skilled labor, equipment, and equipment operators to perform such work.
SECTION 12. Section 97-37-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
97-37-17. (1) The following definitions apply to this section:
(a) "Educational property" shall mean any public or private school building or bus, public or private school campus, grounds, recreational area, athletic field, or other property owned, used or operated by any local school board, school, college or university board of trustees, or directors for the administration of any public or private educational institution or during a school-related activity, and shall include the facility and property of the Oakley Rehabilitation Center, operated by the Department of Human Services; provided, however, that the term "educational property" shall not include any sixteenth section school land or lieu land on which is not located a school building, school campus, recreational area or athletic field.
(b) "Student" shall mean a person enrolled in a public or private school, college or university, or a person who has been suspended or expelled within the last five (5) years from a public or private school, college or university, or a person in the custody of the Mississippi Youth Development Center at Oakley, Mississippi, operated by the Department of Human Services, whether the person is an adult or a minor.
(c) "Switchblade knife" shall mean a knife containing a blade or blades which open automatically by the release of a spring or a similar contrivance.
(d) "Weapon" shall mean any device enumerated in subsection (2) or (4) of this section.
(2) It shall be a felony for any person to possess or carry, whether openly or concealed, any gun, rifle, pistol or other firearm of any kind, or any dynamite cartridge, bomb, grenade, mine or powerful explosive on educational property. However, this subsection does not apply to a BB gun, air rifle or air pistol. Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or committed to the custody of the State Department of Corrections for not more than three (3) years, or both.
(3) It shall be a felony for any person to cause, encourage or aid a minor who is less than eighteen (18) years old to possess or carry, whether openly or concealed, any gun, rifle, pistol or other firearm of any kind, or any dynamite cartridge, bomb, grenade, mine or powerful explosive on educational property. However, this subsection does not apply to a BB gun, air rifle or air pistol. Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or committed to the custody of the State Department of Corrections for not more than three (3) years, or both.
(4) It shall be a misdemeanor for any person to possess or carry, whether openly or concealed, any BB gun, air rifle, air pistol, bowie knife, dirk, dagger, slingshot, leaded cane, switchblade knife, blackjack, metallic knuckles, razors and razor blades (except solely for personal shaving), and any sharp-pointed or edged instrument except instructional supplies, unaltered nail files and clips and tools used solely for preparation of food, instruction and maintenance on educational property. Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or be imprisoned not exceeding six (6) months, or both.
(5) It shall be a misdemeanor for any person to cause, encourage or aid a minor who is less than eighteen (18) years old to possess or carry, whether openly or concealed, any BB gun, air rifle, air pistol, bowie knife, dirk, dagger, slingshot, leaded cane, switchblade, knife, blackjack, metallic knuckles, razors and razor blades (except solely for personal shaving) and any sharp-pointed or edged instrument except instructional supplies, unaltered nail files and clips and tools used solely for preparation of food, instruction and maintenance on educational property. Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or be imprisoned not exceeding six (6) months, or both.
(6) It shall not be a violation of this section for any person to possess or carry, whether openly or concealed, any gun, rifle, pistol or other firearm of any kind on educational property if:
(a) The person is not a student attending school on any educational property;
(b) The firearm is within a motor vehicle; and
(c) The person does not brandish, exhibit or display the firearm in any careless, angry or threatening manner.
(7) This section shall not apply to:
(a) A weapon used solely for educational or school-sanctioned ceremonial purposes, or used in a school-approved program conducted under the supervision of an adult whose supervision has been approved by the school authority;
(b) Armed Forces personnel of the United States, officers and soldiers of the militia and National Guard, law enforcement personnel, any private police employed by an educational institution, State Militia or Emergency Management Corps and any guard or patrolman in a state or municipal institution, and any law enforcement personnel or guard at a state juvenile training school, when acting in the discharge of their official duties;
(c) Home schools as defined in the compulsory school attendance law, Section 37-13-91;
(d) Competitors while participating in organized shooting events;
(e) Any person as authorized in Section 97-37-7 while in the performance of his official duties;
(f) Any mail carrier while in the performance of his official duties; or
(g) Any weapon not prescribed by Section 97-37-1 which is in a motor vehicle under the control of a parent, guardian or custodian, as defined in Section 43-21-105, which is used to bring or pick up a student at a school building, school property or school function.
(8) All schools shall post in public view a copy of the provisions of this section.
SECTION 13. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.