Senate Bill 2328

AN ACT TO CREATE THE MANDATORY STATEWIDE OFFENSE-REPORTING SYSTEM TASK FORCE TO STUDY CERTAIN ISSUES RELATING TO THE USE OF UNIFORM OFFENSE REPORTS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES STATEWIDE; TO PROVIDE FOR THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE TASK FORCE; TO PRESCRIBE THE DUTIES OF THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) There is hereby created the Mandatory Statewide Offense-Reporting System Task Force to undertake a comprehensive review of all state and local law enforcement agencies' use of offense reports. The task force shall be composed of eight (8) members, as follows:

(a) The President of the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police or a designee;

(b) The President of the Mississippi Sheriffs' Association or a designee;

(d) The Director of the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services or a designee;

(e) The Commissioner of Corrections or a designee;

(f) The Director of the Administrative Office of Courts or a designee;

(g) The Director of the Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review or a designee as a nonvoting member; and

(h) A member to be appointed by the Governor to serve at the will and pleasure of the Governor as the Chairperson of the task force.

(2) The appointed member of the task force must be appointed within thirty (30) days of the effective date of this act. Any vacancy in the task force shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled as prescribed in subsection (1). The task force shall hold its first meeting within sixty (60) days of the effective date of this act, on the call of the chairperson of the task force. A majority of the membership of the task force shall constitute a quorum, and shall meet at the call of the chairperson, or upon an affirmative vote of a majority of the task force. All members must be notified in writing of all meetings at least five (5) days before the date on which a meeting of the task force is scheduled.

(3) The purpose of the task force is to work toward producing uniform offense reports and to investigate whether it is possible to require a standardized offense reporting system to get a clearer picture of crime in Mississippi and allow for single source reporting to the Department of Justice through uniform crime reporting. The task force shall investigation whether an increase in grant funding would result. A goal of the task force is to work to provide a true picture of crime in the state and movement of offenders which could help predict and prevent criminal activity. The task force shall coordinate its work with the arrest and dispositions reporting as a valuable tool for measuring the impact of programs that seek to reduce recidivism, incarceration, and provide more support services in communities. A major focus of the task force will be to recommend an automated reporting system as opposed to manual reports that are compiled every six (6) months.

(4) The Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review shall provide appropriate staff support to assist the task force in carrying out its duties. The Director of the Joint Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review shall designate an appropriate employee to act as a point of contact for staff support to the task force. In addition, the task force may consult with employees of any state agency or department necessary to accomplish the task force's responsibilities under this section.

(5) The members of the task force shall serve without compensation.

(6) The task force shall prepare and submit a final report that contains a detailed statement of findings, conclusions and recommendations of the task force to the Legislature, the Governor and to local and tribal governments by December 31, 2016. It is the intention of the Legislature that, given the importance of the matters before the task force, the task force should work toward unanimously supported findings and recommendations. The report submitted under this subsection shall be made available to the public.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2016.