Senate Bill 2098

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 47-7-47, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT OFFENDERS PLACED ON EARNED PROBATION IN THE YOUTHFUL OFFENDER UNIT (YOU) SHALL REMAIN UNDER THE COURT'S JURISDICTION; TO REQUIRE THE COURT'S APPROVAL BEFORE THOSE OFFENDERS MAY BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE YOU; TO AMEND SECTION 47-5-1401, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 47-7-47, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-7-47. (1) The judge of any circuit court may place an offender on a program of earned probation after a period of confinement as set out herein and the judge may seek the advice of the commissioner and shall direct that the defendant be under the supervision of the department.

(2) (a) Any circuit court or county court may, upon its own motion, acting upon the advice and consent of the commissioner not earlier than thirty (30) days nor later than one (1) year after the defendant has been delivered to the custody of the department, to which he has been sentenced, suspend the further execution of the sentence and place the defendant on earned probation, except when a death sentence or life imprisonment is the maximum penalty which may be imposed or if the defendant has been confined two (2) or more times for the conviction of a felony on a previous occasion in any court or courts of the United States and of any state or territories thereof or has been convicted of a felony involving the use of a deadly weapon.

(b) The authority granted in this subsection shall be exercised by the judge who imposed sentence on the defendant, or his successor.

(c) The time limit imposed by paragraph (a) of this subsection is not applicable to those defendants sentenced to the custody of the department prior to April 14, 1977. Persons who are convicted of crimes that carry mandatory sentences shall not be eligible for earned probation.

(d) The time imposed by paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be extended if the offender is assigned to the Youthful Offender Unit (YOU) as established in Section 47-5-1401. In such cases, the court shall retain jurisdiction as long as the offender is in the YOU, and the commissioner shall notify the court at least thirty (30) days prior to the offender being removed from the YOU unless the removal is based on a violation of departmental rules. Prior to the offender's transfer from the YOU to a separate correctional facility, the offender shall be brought before the sentencing judge for a resentencing hearing at which the offender is entitled to counsel and shall have the opportunity to present any mitigating evidence, including, but not limited to, past history, participation in and completion of mental health counseling, educational services, and substance abuse counseling, and shall also be permitted to call any witnesses for the judge to consider. The state shall also have the opportunity to present any evidence and witnesses for the court's consideration. The offender shall not be given a greater sentence than was originally given.

(3) When any circuit or county court places an offender on earned probation, the court shall give notice to the Mississippi Department of Corrections within fifteen (15) days of the court's decision to place the offender on earned probation. Notice shall be delivered to the central office of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and to the regional office of the department which will be providing supervision to the offender on earned probation.

(4) If the court places any person on probation or earned probation, the court may order the person, as a condition of probation, to a period of confinement and treatment at a private or public agency or institution, either within or without the state, which treats emotional, mental or drug-related problems. Any person who, as a condition of probation, is confined for treatment at an out-of-state facility shall be supervised pursuant to Section 47-7-71, and any person confined at a private agency shall not be confined at public expense. Time served in any such agency or institution may be counted as time required to meet the criteria of subsection (2)(a).

(5) If the court places any person on probation or earned probation, the court may order the person to make appropriate restitution to any victim of his crime or to society through the performance of reasonable work for the benefit of the community.

(6) If the court places any person on probation or earned probation, the court may order the person, as a condition of probation, to submit, as provided in Section 47-5-601, to any type of breath, saliva or urine chemical analysis test, the purpose of which is to detect the possible presence of alcohol or a substance prohibited or controlled by any law of the State of Mississippi or the United States.

SECTION 2. Section 47-5-1401, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-5-1401. (1) The Mississippi Department of Corrections shall establish a Youthful Offender Unit ("YOU") at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. All youth ages seventeen (17) years of age and under and who are assigned to a Mississippi Department of Corrections prison shall be housed in the YOU, except that nothing in this section shall prohibit the department from housing a youth who is seventeen (17) years of age and under in a community work center or other environments that are less restrictive than a Mississippi Department of Corrections prison.

(2) Youth ages seventeen (17) and under as prescribed in this section shall be housed in the YOU, separate from adult inmates. No individual who is over the age of nineteen (19) shall be housed in the YOU. The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections shall have discretion to house individuals who are eighteen (18) and nineteen (19) years of age and who have been classified as vulnerable in the YOU.

(3) The Mississippi Department of Corrections shall provide youth housed at the YOU with the opportunity for the appropriate amounts of interactive, structured rehabilitative and/or educational programming, recreational and leisure activities outside of their cells on a daily basis, including weekends and holidays. The programming developed, as prescribed in this subsection shall, to the extent possible, be tailored to the developmental needs of adolescents.

(4) The court shall retain jurisdiction as long as the offender is in the Youthful Offender Unit (YOU), and the commissioner shall notify the court at least thirty (30) days prior to the offender being removed from the YOU unless the removal is based on a violation of departmental rules. Prior to the offender's transfer from the YOU to a separate correctional facility, the offender shall be brought before the sentencing judge for a resentencing hearing at which the offender is entitled to counsel and shall have the opportunity to present any mitigating evidence, including, but not limited to, past history, participation in and completion of mental health counseling, educational services, and substance abuse counseling, and shall also be permitted to call any witnesses for the judge to consider. The state shall also have the opportunity to present any evidence and witnesses for the court's consideration. The offender shall not be given a greater sentence than was originally given.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2017.