MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2014 Regular Session
To: Corrections
By: Representatives Taylor, Alday, Barton, Carpenter, Kinkade, Pigott, Turner
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 47-5-931, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REMOVE THE CAP ON THE NUMBER OF STATE OFFENDERS FOR WHICH THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS MAY CONTRACT FOR THE HOUSING OF STATE OFFENDERS AT COUNTY REGIONAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES; TO PROVIDE THAT IF A COUNTY JAIL IS CONSTRUCTED WITHIN A COUNTY REGIONAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITY, THEN THE COUNTY JAIL MAY BE INCLUDED IN A SCHEDULED AUDIT THAT IS CONDUCTED BY THE AMERICAN CORRECTIONAL ASSOCIATION; TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND LAUDERDALE COUNTY TO CONTRACT FOR A REGIONAL FACILITY TO HOUSE STATE INMATES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 47-5-931, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
47-5-931. (1) (a)
The Department of Corrections, in its discretion, may contract with the board
of supervisors of one or more counties and/or with a regional facility operated
by one or more counties, to provide for housing, care and control of * * * offenders
who are in the custody of the State of Mississippi. Any facility owned or
leased by a county or counties for this purpose shall be designed, constructed,
operated and maintained in accordance with American Correctional Association
standards, and shall comply with all constitutional standards of the United
States and the State of Mississippi, and with all court orders that may now or
hereinafter be applicable to the facility. If the Department of Corrections
contracts with more than one (1) county to house state offenders in county
correctional facilities, excluding a regional facility, then the first of such
facilities shall be constructed in Sharkey County and the second of such
facilities shall be constructed in Jefferson County.
(b) If a county jail is constructed within a county regional correctional facility then the county jail may be included in a scheduled audit conducted by the American Correctional Association (ACA). If the county jail fails to meet ACA standards due to a deficiency, ACA auditors shall provide notice of the deficiency within the county jail to the board of supervisors or sheriff of the county. Any notice of deficiency provided to the board of supervisors or sheriff, as prescribed under this paragraph, shall not affect a scheduled ACA standards audit of the county regional correctional facility.
(2) The Department of
Corrections shall contract with the board of supervisors of the following
counties to house state inmates in regional facilities: (a) Marion and
Walthall Counties; (b) Carroll and Montgomery Counties; (c) Stone and Pearl
River Counties; (d) Winston and Choctaw Counties; (e) Kemper and Neshoba
Counties; (f) Holmes County and any contiguous county in which there is located
an unapproved jail; and (g) Bolivar and
Lauderdale Counties and any contiguous county in which there is located an
unapproved jail. The Department of Corrections may contract with the board of
supervisors of the following counties to house state inmates in regional
facilities: (a) Yazoo County, (b) Chickasaw County, (c) George and Greene
Counties, (d) Washington County, (e) Hinds County, * * * (f) Alcorn County, and (g) Lauderdale
County. The Department of Corrections shall decide the order of priority
of the counties listed in this subsection with which it will contract for the
housing of state inmates. For the purposes of this subsection, the term
"unapproved jail" means any jail that the local grand jury determines
should be condemned or has found to be of substandard condition or in need of
substantial repair or reconstruction.
(3) In addition to the number of offenders authorized to be housed under subsection (1) of this section, the Department of Corrections may contract with the Kemper and Neshoba regional facility to provide for housing, care and control of not more than seventy-five (75) additional offenders who are in the custody of the State of Mississippi.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.