MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2022

By: Representative Newman To: Corrections

HOUSE BILL NO. 586

(As Sent to Governor)

1 AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 1, CHAPTER 429, LAWS OF 2021, TO

2 AUTHORIZE HARRISON COUNTY TO ESTABLISH A PILOT WORK RELEASE
3 PROGRAM; TO EXTEND THE DATE OF REPEAL ON THE PROVISION OF LAW THAT
4 ESTABLISHES THE PILOT WORK RELEASE PROGRAM; AND FOR RELATED
5 PURPOSES.
6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

7 SECTION 1. Section 1, Chapter 429, Laws of 2021, is amended

8 as follows:

9 Section 1. (1) The Sheriffs of Rankin County, Harrison

10 County and Lee County * * * are authorized to establish a Pilot

11 Work Release Program. No person sentenced for a crime listed in

12 Section 97-3-2 shall be eligible for participation in the program

13 established under this act. During the pilot phase of the

14 program, there shall be a limit of twenty-five (25) people in the

15 program at a time.

16 (2) The sheriff shall collect and maintain data which shall

17 be shared semiannually with the Joint Legislative Committee on

18 Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) and the

19 Corrections and Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force in sortable

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20 electronic format. The first report shall be made before January

21 15, 2022, and in six-month intervals thereafter. The data shall

22 include:

23 (a) Total number of participants at the beginning of

24 each month by race, gender, and offenses charged;

25 (b) Total number of participants at the end of each

26 month by race, gender, and offenses charged;

27 (c) Total number of participants who began the program

28 in each month by race, gender, and offenses charged;

29 (d) Total number of participants who successfully

30 completed the program in each month by race, gender, and offenses

31 charged;

32 (e) Total number of participants who left the program

33 in each month and reason for leaving by race, gender, and offenses

34 charged;

35 (f) Total number of participants who were arrested for

36 a new criminal offense while in the program in each month by race,

37 gender, and offenses charged;

38 (g) Total number of participants who were convicted of

39 a new crime while in the program in each month by race, gender,

40 and offenses charged;

41 (h) Total number of participants who completed the

42 program and were convicted of a new crime within three (3) years

43 of completing the program;

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44 (i) Total amount earned by participants and how the

45 earnings were distributed in each month;

46 (j) Results of any initial risk and needs assessments

47 conducted on each participant by race, gender, and offenses

48 charged; and

49 (k) Any other data or information as requested by the

50 task force.

51 (3) Any person who has been sentenced to confinement in jail

52 or who has been sentenced for a felony conviction but is confined

53 in a jail may request assignment to the work release program

54 established under this act. Admission to the program shall be in

55 the discretion of the sheriff. The sheriff may further authorize

56 the offender to participate in educational or other rehabilitative

57 programs designed to supplement his work release employment or to

58 prepare the person for successful reentry. No offender shall be

59 eligible for this program if he or she has more than one (1) year

60 remaining on his or her sentence.

61 (4) The sheriff shall adopt and publish rules and

62 regulations prior to accepting inmates. These rules and

63 regulations shall at a minimum include all requirements for work

64 release programs established pursuant to Sections 47-5-451 through

65 47-5-471. Participating employers shall pay no less than the

66 prevailing wage for the position and shall under no circumstance

67 pay less than the federal minimum wage.

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68 (5) Any offender assigned to such a program by the sheriff

69 who, without proper authority or just cause, leaves the area to

70 which he has been assigned to work or attend educational or other

71 rehabilitative programs, or leaves the vehicle or route of travel

72 involved in his or her going to or returning from such place, will

73 be guilty of escape as provided in Section 97-9-49. An offender

74 who is found guilty under this section shall be ineligible for

75 further participation in a work release program during his or her

76 current term of confinement.

77 (6) The offender shall maintain an account through a local

78 financial institution and shall provide a copy of a check stub to

79 the sheriff. The offender may be required to pay up to

80 twenty-five percent (25%) of his or her wages after mandatory

81 deductions for the following purposes:

82 (a) To pay support of dependents or to the Mississippi

83 Department of Human Services on behalf of dependents as may be

84 ordered by a judge of competent jurisdiction; and

85 (b) To pay any fines, restitution, or costs as ordered

86 by the court to include any fines and fees associated with

87 obtaining a valid driver's license upon release.

88 (7) The inmate shall have access to his account to purchase

89 incidental expenses.

90 (8) The Joint Legislative Committee on Performance

91 Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) shall conduct a review of

92 the work release program established under this act and produce a

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 93 report to the Legislature on their effectiveness by December 1,

94 2022. The PEER Committee shall seek the assistance of the

95 Corrections and Criminal Justice Task Force and may seek

96 assistance from any other criminal justice experts it deems

97 necessary during its review.

98 (9) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, * * * 2024.

99 SECTION 2. Section 1 of this act shall be codified in

100 Chapter 5, Title 47, Mississippi Code of 1972, and the

101 corresponding Editor's Note shall be deleted.

102 SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from

103 and after July 1, 2022.

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22/HR43/R1515SG ST: Pilot work release program that authorizes
PAGE 5 (OM\EW) sheriff to assign offenders to while confined in
jail; extend repealer on.