MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2019 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division A; Appropriations
By: Senator(s) Simmons (12th)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 45-1-2, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO IMPLEMENT UNIFORM REPORTING STANDARDS FOR JAIL CENSUS DATA BY COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENTS AND TO CREATE AND MAINTAIN A CENTRALIZED DATABASE FOR STORING THIS DATA; TO AMEND SECTIONS 19-25-63 AND 47-1-21, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THAT JAIL DOCKETS KEPT BY COUNTY SHERIFFS COMPLY WITH UNIFORM REPORTING STANDARDS IN ORDER TO PROMOTE COMPLIANCE WITH RULE 8 OF THE MISSISSIPPI RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE; TO AUTHORIZE THE CREATION OF AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO PROMOTE TRANSPARENCY BY FACILITATING THE AVAILABILITY OF COMPARABLE AND UNIFORM COUNTY JAIL CENSUS DATA; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 45-1-2, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
45-1-2. (1) The Executive Director of the Department of Public Safety shall be the Commissioner of Public Safety.
(2) The Commissioner of Public Safety shall establish the organizational structure of the Department of Public Safety, which shall include the creation of any units necessary to implement the duties assigned to the department and consistent with specific requirements of law including, but not limited to:
(a) Office of Public Safety Planning;
(b) Office of Medical Examiner;
(c) Office of Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol;
(d) Office of Forensics Laboratories;
(e) Office of Law Enforcement Officers' Training Academy;
(f) Office of Support Services;
(g) Office of Narcotics, which shall be known as the Bureau of Narcotics; and
(h) Office of Homeland Security.
(3) The department shall be headed by a commissioner, who shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The appointment of the commissioner shall be made with the advice and consent of the Senate. The commissioner may assign to the appropriate offices such powers and duties as deemed appropriate to carry out the department's lawful functions.
(4) The commissioner of the department shall appoint heads of offices, who shall serve at the pleasure of the commissioner. The commissioner shall have the authority to organize the offices established by subsection (2) of this section as deemed appropriate to carry out the responsibilities of the department. The organization charts of the department shall be presented annually with the budget request of the Governor for review by the Legislature.
(5) The commissioner of the department shall appoint, from within the Department of Public Safety, a statewide safety training officer who shall serve at the pleasure of the commissioner and whose duty it shall be to perform public training for both law enforcement and private persons throughout the state concerning proper emergency response to the mentally ill, terroristic threats or acts, domestic conflict, other conflict resolution, and such other matters as the commissioner may direct.
(6) (a) The commissioner must implement and maintain a publicly accessible centralized database for the storage and retrieval of jail census data and to promulgate uniform rules, regulations, and computer and electronic filing standards and definitions that must be used uniformly by every sheriff's department within the state.
(b) The commissioner may promulgate standards, rules and regulations for computer and electronic filing and storage of all records maintained throughout the state under this subsection (6).
(c) The jail census data must include for each detainee, at a minimum, the following:
(i) Name;
(ii) Date of arrest or detention;
(iii) Offense charged;
(iv) All conditions of any release;
(v) Race;
(vi) Whether the detainee is awaiting mental health services;
(vii) Date of indictment;
(viii) Whether the pending charge is a felony or misdemeanor;
(ix) Whether the detainee has been convicted;
(x) If convicted, the length of the sentence imposed by the court;
(xi) Whether the detainee is a Mississippi Department of Corrections' inmate;
(xii) The jurisdiction for which the detainee is being held.
SECTION 2. Section 19-25-63, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
19-25-63. It shall be the duty of every sheriff to keep a record, to be called the "Jail docket," in which he shall note each warrant or mittimus by which any person shall be received into or placed in the jail of his county, entering the nature of the writ or warrant, by whom issued, the name of the prisoner, when received, the date of the arrest and commitment, for what crime or other cause the party is imprisoned, and on what authority, how long the prisoner was so imprisoned, how released or discharged, and the warrant therefor or the receipt of the officer of the Penitentiary when sent there. All of said entries shall comply with the uniform reporting standards of the Commissioner of Public Safety authorized under Section 45-1-2 and must be full and complete, so as to give a perfect history of each case, and must use the uniform definitions promulgated by the Commissioner of Public Safety to increase clarity and transparency. The record shall be kept as a public record, and turned over to his successor.
SECTION 3. Section 47-1-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
47-1-21. The sheriff of each county shall keep a well-bound alphabetical jail docket that must comply with the uniform reporting standards and definitions promulgated by the Commissioner of Public Safety under Section 45-1-2. In it he shall promptly enter under the proper initial the name, age, color and sex of each convict, the date of his or her commitment, each day worked on the county farm, time required to be served and amount of fine and costs and the jail fees charged against the prisoner and the date of discharge.
The sheriff shall submit his docket to the board of supervisors at each of their regular meetings, and the same shall be examined carefully by the president of the board, and by any other members who desire to examine the same, in the presence of the board while in session.
SECTION 4. (1) There is hereby created an advisory committee on jail census data collection to promote criminal justice transparency by facilitating the availability of comparable and uniform data. The duties of the task force are as follows:
(a) Research the standards, format, and terminology used by authorities in other states and by the federal government to create uniform data-reporting regulations to be used for recording data on offenders incarcerated throughout the state's county jails and which will capture the following data:
(i) The number of individuals detained for a new offense or delinquent act.
(ii) The number of individuals detained pending trial.
(iii) The number of offenders detained for a revocation of supervision.
(iv) The average sentence length for new jail sentences by offense type.
(v) The average sentence length for offenders in jail for a probation revocation.
(vi) The average sentence length for offenders in jail for a parole revocation.
(vii) The percentage of sentences in each category offense type, including whether the offense was violent, property, drug, or public order. All drug offenses shall include the type of drug implicated in the offense, as well as type of offense, such as possession, sale or manufacture.
(viii) The average length of stay by offense type.
(ix) For individuals awaiting trial, the average length of stay from the time of arrest to the time of indictment, and from the time of indictment to trial.
(x) For each detainee:
1. Name;
2. Date of arrest or detention;
3. Offense charged;
4. All conditions of any release;
5. Race;
6. Whether the detainee is awaiting mental health services;
7. Date of indictment;
8. Whether the pending charge is a felony or misdemeanor;
9. Whether the detainee has been convicted;
10. If convicted, the length of the sentence imposed by the court;
11. Whether the detainee is a Mississippi Department of Corrections' inmate;
12. The jurisdiction for which the detainee is being held.
(b) Research best practices for implementing a centralized database for reporting of the prescribed jail census data by each county authority and recommend a timeline for the submission of the data.
(c) Recommend computer equipment and acceptable electronic processes for transmission of the data by each county to the Administrative Office of Courts.
(d) The commission shall submit its report to the Legislature no later than December 1, 2019.
(e) The Director of the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law shall serve as chairman of the committee and set its initial meeting date on or before July 15, 2019.
(2) The task force shall be composed of six (6) members, as follows:
(a) The Director of the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law;
(b) The State Public Defender or a designee;
(c) The President of the Mississippi Prosecutors Association or a designee;
(d) The President of the Mississippi Sheriffs' Association or a designee;
(e) A circuit court judge appointed by the Executive Director of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance; and
(f) The President of the Mississippi Association of Supervisors or a designee.
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.