SB 2859 — Offender Community Work Programs; require MDOC transparency in approving counties for participation in.

SB2859 (COMMITTEE(As SUBSTITUTE)Passed the Senate) - 2019 Regular Session MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE Regular Session To:

Senator(s) McMahan, Jackson (11th) Senate Bill 2859 (COMMITTEE(As SUBSTITUTE)Passed the Senate) AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 47-5-401 AND 47-5-451, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS TO ESTABLISH STANDARDS THAT MUST BE SATISFIED FOR A COUNTY TO RECEIVE STATE OFFENDERS FOR PUBLIC SERVICE WORK PROGRAMS AND JOINT STATE-COUNTY WORK PROGRAMS;

TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 47-5-931 AND 47-5-933, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDE FOR THE HOUSING OF OFFENDERS IN REGIONAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT;

     SECTION 1. 1. Section 47-5-401, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

 Section 47-5-401, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

          (b)  The department shall also establish any standards with which a county must comply in order for the department to assign state offenders to the county.  The standards shall be published on the department's website within thirty (30) days from and after the passage of this act. act. The department shall issue a decision on a county's request for state offenders within sixty (60) days of receiving the request.  If the county's request is rejected, the department shall set forth the reasons for the rejection in writing.

 The department shall issue a decision on a county's request for state offenders within sixty (60) days of receiving the request.  If the county's request is rejected, the department shall set forth the reasons for the rejection in writing.

     SECTION 3.  ThisSection act47-5-931, shallMississippi takeCode effectof and1972, beis inbrought forceforward fromas andfollows: after July 1, 2019, and shall stand repealed on June 30, 2019.

     47-5-931.  (1)  The Department of Corrections, in its discretion, may contract with the board of supervisors of one or more counties and/or with a regional facility operated by one or more counties, to provide for housing, care and control of offenders who are in the custody of the State of Mississippi.  Any facility owned or leased by a county or counties for this purpose shall be designed, constructed, operated and maintained in accordance with American Correctional Association standards, and shall comply with all constitutional standards of the United States and the State of Mississippi, and with all court orders that may now or hereinafter be applicable to the facility.  If the Department of Corrections contracts with more than one (1) county to house state offenders in county correctional facilities, excluding a regional facility, then the first of such facilities shall be constructed in Sharkey County and the second of such facilities shall be constructed in Jefferson County.

     (2)  The Department of Corrections shall contract with the board of supervisors of the following counties to house state inmates in regional facilities:  (a) Marion and Walthall Counties;

(b) Carroll and Montgomery Counties;

(c) Stone and Pearl River Counties;

(d) Winston and Choctaw Counties;

(e) Kemper and Neshoba Counties;

(f) Holmes County and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail;

and (g) Bolivar County and any contiguous county in which there is located an unapproved jail.  The Department of Corrections may contract with the board of supervisors of the following counties to house state inmates in regional facilities:  (a) Yazoo County, (b) Chickasaw County, (c) George and Greene Counties, (d) Washington County, (e) Hinds County, and (f) Alcorn County.  The Department of Corrections shall decide the order of priority of the counties listed in this subsection with which it will contract for the housing of state inmates.  For the purposes of this subsection, the term "unapproved jail" means any jail that the local grand jury determines should be condemned or has found to be of substandard condition or in need of substantial repair or reconstruction.

     (3)  In addition to the offenders authorized to be housed under subsection (1) of this section, the Department of Corrections may contract with the Kemper and Neshoba regional facility to provide for housing, care and control of not more than seventy-five (75) additional offenders who are in the custody of the State of Mississippi.

     SECTION 4.  Section 47-5-933, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

     47-5-933.  The Department of Corrections may contract for the purposes set out in Section 47-5-931 for a period of not more than twenty (20) years.  The contract may provide that the Department of Corrections pay a fee of up to Twenty-nine Dollars and Seventy-four Cents ($29.74) per day for each offender that is housed in the facility.  The Department of Corrections may include in the contract, as an inflation factor, a three percent (3%) annual increase in the contract price.  The state shall retain responsibility for medical care for state offenders to the extent that is required by law.

     SECTION 5.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019, and shall stand repealed on June 30, 2019.