Senate Bill 2836

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 41-29-150, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE A PERSON CONVICTED OF ANY DRUG-RELATED OFFENSE TO COMPLETE AT LEAST 30 DAYS OF A DRUG REHABILITATION PROGRAM; TO AMEND SECTION 47-5-605, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE A PAROLEE OR PROBATIONER WHOSE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS TEST SHOWS THE UNAUTHORIZED PRESENCE OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE TO COMPLETE AT LEAST 30 DAYS OF A DRUG REHABILITATION PROGRAM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 41-29-150, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-29-150. (a) Any person indicted or convicted under Section 41-29-139 shall be required, * * * as a condition of bail, or as a part of the sentence otherwise imposed, or in lieu of imprisonment in cases of probation or suspension of sentence, to attend not less than thirty (30) days of a course of instruction conducted by the bureau, the State Board of Health, or any similar agency, on the effects, medically, psychologically and socially, of the misuse of controlled substances. The course may be conducted at any correctional institution, detention center or hospital, or at any center or treatment facility established for the purpose of education and rehabilitation of those persons committed because of abuse of controlled substances. A person shall be credited for the time spent in a course of instruction during the period of time after arrest and before conviction.

(b) Any person indicted or convicted under Section 41-29-139 who is found to be dependent upon or addicted to any controlled substance shall be required, as a condition of bail, or as a part of the sentence otherwise imposed, or in lieu of imprisonment in cases of parole, probation or suspension of sentence, to receive not less than thirty (30) days of medical treatment for such dependency or addiction. The regimen of medical treatment may include confinement in a medical facility of any correctional institution, detention center or hospital, or at any center or facility established for treatment of those persons committed because of a dependence or addiction to controlled substances. A person shall be credited for the time spent in medical treatment during the period of time after arrest and before conviction.

(c) Those persons previously convicted of a felony under Section 41-29-139 and who are now confined at the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield, Mississippi, or at the East Mississippi State Hospital at Meridian, Mississippi, for the term of their sentence shall remain under the jurisdiction of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and shall be required to abide by all reasonable rules and regulations promulgated by the director and staff of said institutions and of the Department of Corrections. Any persons so confined who shall refuse to abide by said rules or who attempt an escape or who shall escape shall be transferred to the State Penitentiary or to a county jail, where appropriate, to serve the remainder of the term of imprisonment; this provision shall not preclude prosecution and conviction for escape from said institutions.

(d) (1) If any person who has not previously been convicted of violating Section 41-29-139, or the laws of the United States or of another state relating to narcotic drugs, stimulant or depressant substances, other controlled substances or marihuana is found to be guilty of a violation of subsection (c) or (d) of Section 41-29-139, after trial or upon a plea of guilty, the court may, without entering a judgment of guilty and with the consent of such person, defer further proceedings and place him on probation upon such reasonable conditions as it may require and for such period, not to exceed three (3) years, as the court may prescribe. Upon violation of a condition of the probation, the court may enter an adjudication of guilt and proceed as otherwise provided. The court may, in its discretion, dismiss the proceedings against such person and discharge him from probation before the expiration of the maximum period prescribed for such person's probation. If during the period of his probation such person does not violate any of the conditions of the probation, then upon expiration of such period the court shall discharge such person and dismiss the proceedings against him. Discharge and dismissal under this subsection shall be without court adjudication of guilt, but a nonpublic record thereof shall be retained by the bureau solely for the purpose of use by the courts in determining whether or not, in subsequent proceedings, such person qualifies under this subsection. Such discharge or dismissal shall not be deemed a conviction for purposes of disqualifications or disabilities imposed by law upon conviction of a crime, including the penalties prescribed under this article for second or subsequent conviction, or for any other purpose. Discharge and dismissal under this subsection may occur only once with respect to any person; and

(2) Upon the dismissal of a person and discharge of proceedings against him under paragraph (1) of this subsection, the person may apply to the court for an order to expunge from all official records, other than the nonpublic records to be retained by the bureau under paragraph (1) of this subsection, all recordation relating to his arrest, indictment, trial, finding of guilt, and dismissal and discharge pursuant to this section. If the court determines, after hearing, that such person was dismissed and the proceedings against him discharged, or that the person had satisfactorily served his sentence or period of probation and parole, it shall enter an order of expunction. The effect of the order shall be to restore the person, in the contemplation of the law, to the status he occupied before such arrest or indictment. No person as to whom such an order has been entered shall be held thereafter under any provision of any law to be guilty of perjury or otherwise giving a false statement by reason of his failures to recite or acknowledge such arrest, indictment or trial in response to any inquiry made of him for any purpose. A person as to whom an order has been entered, upon request, shall be required to advise the court, in camera, of the previous conviction and expunction in any legal proceeding wherein the person has been called as a prospective juror. The court shall thereafter and before the selection of the jury advise the attorneys representing the parties of the previous conviction and expunction.

(e) Every person who has been or may hereafter be convicted of a felony offense under Section 41-29-139 and sentenced under Section 41-29-150(c) shall be under the jurisdiction of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

(f) It shall be unlawful for any person confined under the provisions of subsection (b) or (c) of this section to escape or attempt to escape from said institution, and, upon conviction, said person shall be guilty of a felony and shall be imprisoned for a term not to exceed two (2) years.

(g) It is the intent and purpose of the Legislature to promote the rehabilitation of persons convicted of offenses under the Uniform Controlled Substances Law.

SECTION 2. Section 47-5-605, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-5-605. (1) Each time the results of such a chemical analysis test indicate the unauthorized presence of alcohol or a controlled substance in the parolee or probationer, he or she shall be required to pay a fee of Ten Dollars ($10.00) to the Mississippi Department of Corrections drug identification program, which fee shall be used to pay for the cost of administering that particular test. All other costs of the program, including the costs of administering such tests in cases in which the presence of alcohol or a controlled substance is not found, will be paid by expenditures from the Community Service Revolving Fund as described in Section 47-7-49.

(2) In addition to subsection (1) of this section, each time the results of a chemical analysis test indicate the unauthorized presence of a controlled substance in the parolee or probationer, one (1) of the following provisions shall apply:

(a) He or she shall be required to attend not less than thirty (30) days of a course of instruction on the medical, psychological and social effects of the misuse of controlled substances. The course may be conducted at any correctional institution, detention center or hospital, or at any center or treatment facility established for the purpose of education and rehabilitation of those persons committed because of abuse of controlled substances; or

(b) If found to be dependent upon or addicted to any controlled substance, he or she shall be required to receive not less than thirty (30) days of medical treatment for such dependency or addiction. The regimen of medical treatment may include confinement in a medical facility of any correctional institution, detention center or hospital, or at any center or facility established for treatment of those persons committed because of a dependence or addiction to controlled substances.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2012.