Bill Text: MS HB676 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Department of Corrections; revise notification period given to local law enforcement when offender is to be released.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2021-02-02 - Died In Committee [HB676 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2021-HB676-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2021 Regular Session
To: Corrections
By: Representative Williams-Barnes
House Bill 676
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 47-5-177, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REDUCE FROM AT LEAST 15 DAYS TO AT LEAST 48 HOURS THE NOTICE OF RELEASE THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS MUST GIVE TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT WHEN AN OFFENDER IS BEING RELEASED FROM CUSTODY; TO AMEND SECTION 47-7-17, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REDUCE FROM AT LEAST 15 DAYS TO AT LEAST 48 HOURS THE TIME PERIOD THAT A VICTIM OF AN OFFENDER, OR THE VICTIM'S FAMILY, MUST BE NOTIFIED BY THE PAROLE BOARD WHEN THE OFFENDER IS TO BE RELEASED BY THE BOARD; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 47-5-177, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
47-5-177. At least * * * forty-eight (48) hours
prior to the release of an offender from the custody of the department because
of discharge, parole, pardon, temporary personal leave or pass, or otherwise,
except for sickness or death in the offender's family, the director of records
of the department shall give written or electronic notice of such release to
the sheriff of the county and to the chief of police of the municipality where
the offender was convicted. If the offender is paroled to a county other than
the county of conviction, the director of records shall give written or
electronic notice of the release to the sheriff, district attorney and circuit
judge of the county and to the chief of police of the municipality where the
offender is paroled and to the sheriff of the county and to the chief of police
of the municipality where the offender was convicted. The department shall
notify the parole officer of the county where the offender is paroled or
discharged to probation of any chronic mental disorder incurred by the
offender, of any type of infectious disease for which the offender has been
examined and treated, and of any medications provided to the offender for such
conditions.
The commissioner shall require the director of records to clearly identify the notice of release of an offender who has been convicted of arson at any time. The fact that the offender to be released had been convicted of arson at any time shall appear prominently on the notice of release and the sheriff shall notify all officials who are responsible for investigation of arson within the county of such offender's release and the chief of police shall notify all such officials within the municipality of such offender's release.
SECTION 2. Section 47-7-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
47-7-17. Within one (1) year after his admission and at such intervals thereafter as it may determine, the board shall secure and consider all pertinent information regarding each offender, except any under sentence of death or otherwise ineligible for parole, including the circumstances of his offense, his previous social history, his previous criminal record, including any records of law enforcement agencies or of a youth court regarding that offender's juvenile criminal history, his conduct, employment and attitude while in the custody of the department, the case plan created to prepare the offender for parole, and the reports of such physical and mental examinations as have been made. The board shall furnish at least three (3) months' written notice to each such offender of the date on which he is eligible for parole.
Before ruling on the
application for parole of any offender, the board may require a parole-eligible
offender to have a hearing as required in this chapter before the board and to
be interviewed. The hearing shall be held no later than thirty (30) days prior
to the month of eligibility. No application for parole of a person convicted
of a capital offense shall be considered by the board unless and until notice
of the filing of such application shall have been published at least once a
week for two (2) weeks in a newspaper published in or having general
circulation in the county in which the crime was committed. The board shall,
within thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled hearing, also give notice of the
filing of the application for parole to the victim of the offense for which the
prisoner is incarcerated and being considered for parole or, in case the offense
be homicide, a designee of the immediate family of the victim, provided the
victim or designated family member has furnished in writing a current address
to the board for such purpose. Parole release shall, at the hearing, be
ordered only for the best interest of society, not as an award of clemency; it
shall not be considered to be a reduction of sentence or pardon. An offender
shall be placed on parole only when arrangements have been made for his proper
employment or for his maintenance and care, and when the board believes that he
is able and willing to fulfill the obligations of a law-abiding citizen. When
the board determines that the offender will need transitional housing upon
release in order to improve the likelihood of * * * the offender becoming a law-abiding
citizen, the board may parole the offender with the condition that the inmate
spends no more than six (6) months in a transitional reentry center. At least * * * forty-eight (48) hours
prior to the release of an offender on parole, the director of records of the
department shall give the written notice which is required pursuant to Section
47-5-177. Every offender while on parole shall remain in the legal custody of
the department from which he was released and shall be amenable to the orders
of the board. Upon determination by the board that an offender is eligible for
release by parole, notice shall also be given within at least fifteen (15) days
before release, by the board to the victim of the offense or the victim's
family member, as indicated above, regarding the date when the offender's
release shall occur, provided a current address of the victim or the victim's
family member has been furnished in writing to the board for such purpose.
Failure to provide notice to the victim or the victim's family member of the filing of the application for parole or of any decision made by the board regarding parole shall not
constitute grounds for vacating an otherwise lawful parole determination nor shall it create any right or liability, civilly or criminally, against the board or any member thereof.
A letter of protest against granting an offender parole shall not be treated as the conclusive and only reason for not granting parole.
The board may adopt such other rules not inconsistent with law as it may deem proper or necessary with respect to the eligibility of offenders for parole, the conduct of parole hearings, or conditions to be imposed upon parolees, including a condition that the parolee 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. The board shall have the authority to adopt rules related to the placement of certain offenders on unsupervised parole and for the operation of transitional reentry centers. However, in no case shall an offender be placed on unsupervised parole before he has served a minimum of fifty percent (50%) of the period of supervised parole.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2021.
