MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2016 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division B
By: Senator(s) Wiggins, Jackson (11th)
AN ACT TO CREATE NEW SECTION 99-15-131, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW CERTAIN MISDEMEANANTS TO PARTICIPATE IN A DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S PRETRIAL INTERVENTION PROGRAM UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS; TO AMEND SECTIONS 99-15-101, 99-15-103, 99-15-109, 99-15-113, 99-15-117, 99-15-121 AND 99-15-123, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 99-15-131, Mississippi Code of 1972:
99-15-131. (1) A person who is charged in municipal, justice or county court with any of the misdemeanors listed in subsection (2) of this section may participate in a program established under the Pretrial Intervention Act if the prosecutor, the district attorney, the person, the person's defense attorney and the court agree. The person must participate in the program for one (1) year.
(2) Persons who have committed one or more of the following misdemeanors are eligible to participate in the program under this section:
(a) Domestic violence;
(b) Simple assault;
(c) A first or second offense of driving under the influence;
(d) Malicious mischief;
(e) Petit larceny;
(f) Uttering forgery; or
(g) A bad check offense.
(3) A person participating in the program under this section must pay and the district attorney must collect for distribution to the appropriate agencies and persons:
(a) The district attorney participation fees;
(b) Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) in court costs;
(c) An investigative fee to the investigating agency of Three Hundred Dollars($300.00) per count;
(d) Restitution determined by the district attorney under Section 99-15-121.
(4) A misdemeanant's participation in the program except as specifically provided in this section will be governed by the Pretrial Intervention Act.
SECTION 2. Section 99-15-101, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
99-15-101. Sections 99-15-101
through * * *
99-15-131 shall be known and may be cited as the "Pretrial
Intervention Act."
SECTION 3. Section 99-15-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
99-15-103. For purposes of * * *
the Pretrial Intervention Act, the following words shall have the
meaning ascribed herein unless the context shall otherwise require:
(a) "Prosecutorial discretion" means the power of the district attorney to consider all circumstances of criminal proceedings and to determine whether any legal action is to be taken and, if so taken, of what kind and degree and to what conclusion.
(b) "Noncriminal disposition" means the dismissal of a criminal charge without prejudice to the state to reinstate criminal proceedings on motion of the district attorney.
SECTION 4. Section 99-15-109, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
99-15-109. (1) Intervention shall be appropriate only when:
(a) The offender is eighteen (18) years of age or older;
(b) There is substantial likelihood that justice will be served if the offender is placed in an intervention program;
(c) It is determined that the needs of the offender and the state can better be met outside the traditional criminal justice process;
(d) It is apparent that the offender poses no threat to the community;
(e) It appears that the offender is unlikely to be involved in further criminal activity;
(f) The offender, in those cases where it is required, is likely to respond quickly to rehabilitative treatment;
(g) The offender has no significant history of prior delinquency or criminal activity;
(h) The offender has been indicted and is represented by an attorney; and
(i) The court has determined that the office of district attorney or the Department of Corrections has sufficient support staff to administer such intervention program; or
(j) All of the above factors in paragraphs (a) through (i) and the provisions of Section 99-15-131 apply.
(2) When jurisdiction in a case involving a child is acquired by the circuit court pursuant to a transfer from the youth court, the provision of subsection (1)(a) of this section shall not be applicable.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, in all criminal cases wherein an offender has been held in contempt of court for failure to pay fines or restitution, the offender may be placed in pretrial intervention for the purpose of collecting unpaid restitution and fines regardless of any prior criminal conviction, whether felony or misdemeanor.
SECTION 5. Section 99-15-113, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
99-15-113. * * * Before a person's
admittance to a pretrial intervention program the victim, if any, of the crime
for which the applicant is charged and the law enforcement agency employing the
arresting officer shall be asked to comment in writing as to whether or not the
applicant should be allowed to enter an intervention program. In each case
involving admission to an intervention program, the district attorney and a
circuit court judge of his district, or, for a misdemeanant participant, the
persons listed in Section 99-15-131, shall consider the recommendations of
the law enforcement agency and the victim, if any, in making a decision.
SECTION 6. Section 99-15-117, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
99-15-117. In any case in which an offender agrees to an intervention program, a specific agreement shall be made between the district attorney and the offender. This agreement shall include the terms of the intervention program, the length of the program, which shall not exceed three (3) years, and a section therein stating the period of time after which the prosecutor will either dismiss the charge or seek a conviction based upon that charge. The agreement shall be signed by the offender and his or her counsel and filed in the district attorney's office. Before an offender is admitted to an intervention program, the court having jurisdiction of the charge must approve of the offender's admission to the program and the terms of the agreement.
SECTION 7. Section 99-15-121, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
99-15-121. * * * Before completion of the
pretrial intervention program, the offender shall make restitution, as
determined by the district attorney and approved by the court, or, for a
misdemeanant participant, the persons listed in Section 99-15-131, to the
victim, if any, and shall * * *pay any reimburse to the program administrator expenses * * *
incurred as a result of * * * the person's participation in the
program. The amount of * * *such the expenses shall be determined by the district
attorney and made part of the initial agreement between the district attorney
and the offender.
SECTION 8. Section 99-15-123, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
99-15-123. (1) * * * If an offender
successfully completes a pretrial intervention program, the court shall make a
noncriminal disposition of the charge or charges pending against the offender.
(2) * * * If the offender violates
the conditions of the program agreement: (a) the district attorney may
terminate the offender's participation in the program, (b) the waiver executed
pursuant to Section 99-15-115 shall be void on the date the offender is removed
from the program for the violation, and (c) the prosecution of pending criminal
charges against the offender shall be resumed by the district attorney or
other prosecutor.
(3) Upon petition therefor, the court shall expunge the record of any case in which an arrest was made, the person arrested was released and the case was dismissed or the charges were dropped or there was no disposition of such case.
SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2016.