MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2017 Regular Session

To: Corrections

By: Senator(s) Jackson (32nd)

Senate Bill 2146

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 45-33-45, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS MONITOR SEX OFFENDERS WHO FAIL TO REGISTER AS SUCH WHILE ON BOND OR UPON RELEASE FROM CONFINEMENT; TO SPECIFY THAT A SEX OFFENDER SHALL REMAIN AT LEAST 1,500 FEET AWAY FROM THE VICTIM'S RESIDENCE; TO DESIGNATE THE DEPARTMENT AS THE EXCLUSIVE ENTITY RESPONSIBLE FOR INVESTIGATING ANY REPORTS OF AN OFFENDER'S NONCOMPLIANCE WITH THE MONITORING PROGRAM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

     SECTION 1.  Section 45-33-45, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

45-33-45.  (1)  The Department of Corrections may enter into a contract with a qualified vendor experienced in and capable of fulfilling the requirements of this section on a daily basis to provide a data monitoring and alert system for persons who are required to be monitored under this chapter.  The initial program shall provide for monitoring upon release of the offenders listed in Section 45-33-33 or 45-33-47 * * * as being obligated to be monitored while on bond or upon release from confinement.

     (2)  The system shall monitor the movement of a monitored subject through public records or other record information systems, and, at a minimum, shall provide:

          (a)  Time-correlated or continuous tracking of the geographic location of the monitored subject using a Global Positioning System that is based on satellite and other location technology;

          (b)  An automated monitoring system that can be used to permit law enforcement agencies to compare the geographic positions of monitored subjects with reported crime incidents and the proximity of the monitored subject to a reported crime incident; and

          (c)  From and after January 1, 2015, and subject to regulations promulgated by the Commissioner of Corrections, notification to:

              (i)  A registered victim * * *or family of a victim who have registered for notification when the offender is within * * *a specified range one thousand five hundred (1,500) feet of the victim's * * *or family's residence; and

              (ii)  Law enforcement when an offender is within the prohibited range of * * *a school or other place where the offender is prohibited from being the registered victim's residence.

 * * *(3)  The vendor shall notify the Department of Public Safety or a local law enforcement agency if a registered sex offender does any of the following:

  (a)  Moves from a residence or address in this state to a residence or address in another state.

  (b)  Moves from a residence or address in this state to another residence or address in this state.

     ( * * *43)  The Department of Corrections shall develop procedures to determine, investigate and report on a twenty-four-hour-per-day basis a monitored subject's noncompliance with the terms and conditions of the program, and all reports of noncompliance shall be investigated * * *immediately by the * * *law enforcement agency having jurisdiction that receives a report of noncompliance department.

     ( * * *54)  (a)  The system shall be installed and operational not later than January 1, 2014, following an appropriate testing period.  The initial program shall consist of monitoring of the required offenders; in the second phase, the program will provide for notification to victims who have registered for notification.

          (b)  The Commissioner of Corrections shall study and develop recommendations for the Legislature as to the advisability of monitoring of additional registrants not later than January 1, 2015.

     ( * * *65)  The Commissioner of Corrections may adopt regulations to establish fees and otherwise administer monitoring of sex offenders as required under this chapter.

     ( * * *76)  Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the Department of Corrections, Attorney General, Department of Public Safety, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, and federal, county and municipal law enforcement agencies may share criminal incident information with each other and the vendor selected to provide the monitoring equipment for the program for the purposes of detection and prevention of crime.

     SECTION 2.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2017.

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