2021 Regular Session
| Bill Number | Bill Description | Bill Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
HB 63 Not Rated |
Regional correctional facilities; prohibit from operating as a private correctional facility. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 229 Not Rated |
Appropriation; MDOC to pay regional facilities $34.00 per day for each state inmate. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 242 Not Rated |
Joint state-county work program; require DOC to utilize under certain circumstances. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 243 Not Rated |
Regional correctional facilities; increase daily amount paid to certain facilities for the housing of state offenders. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 396 Not Rated |
Conjugal visits; require Department of Corrections to provide for married inmates. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 398 Not Rated |
Case plans for inmates who committed violent offenses; require certain programs be placed within. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 399 Not Rated |
Case plans for nonviolent inmates; require certain programs be placed within. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 401 Not Rated |
Mandatory minimum sentences for crimes committed by offenders; revise which offenders are eligible for. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 408 Not Rated |
Mississippi Prison Industries; require to pay inmates federal minimum wage for inmate labor. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 409 Not Rated |
Department of Corrections; require implementation of an Extended Family Visitation Program for eligible offenders. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 420 Not Rated |
Conditions of probation; clarify that courts may provide certain treatment for veterans when placed on probation. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 445 Not Rated |
Private correctional facilities contractor; must have ability to use local vendors when providing services to offenders. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 448 Not Rated |
Case plans for inmates who committed capital offenses; require certain programs be placed within. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 464 Neutral |
Parole board; revise notification time frame given to offender's victim for offender release and remove certain prohibition. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: This bill clarifies the language with regards to specific notification requirements regarding an offender's release. In addition, this bill could potentially lead to increased government spending as it specifically and absolutely removes the prohibition on additional salary and per diem for members of the State Parole Board. (See lines 205-207) | ||||
|
HB 465 Not Rated |
Compassionate Parole Eligibility Act of 2021; create. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 466 Neutral |
Inmate Welfare Fund; require DOC to expend unused portions of the fund on reentry purposes. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: Ideally, government should reduce its spending to eliminate “unused portions” of taxpayers' money sitting in a government account instead of in the hands of the taxpayers who earned the money. However, this bill ensures taxpayers’ money is spent in a manner consistent with the reason for its collection. | ||||
|
HB 468 Not Rated |
Bail procedures; revise. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 521 Not Rated |
DOC discharge plans; require explanation of disenfranchising crimes and opportunity for certain offenders to register to vote. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 523 Not Rated |
State Correctional Facilities Monitoring Unit; establish. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 525 Bad Policy |
Corrections omnibus bill; enact. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: This bill changes an immense amount of code section. Numerous, detailed changes in code sections more often than not result in unintended consequences, some of which can be crippling to the efficiency of government agencies and departments. Omnibus bills in general are bad policy. Representatives and Senators are faced with either voting for bad things in these huge bills to get the few good things in them or voting against the few good things because of all the bad things. Just as our founding documents were written, our state laws should also be written and constructed in a manner in which the average individual with a basic knowledge of civics and who is moderately engaged in the goings-on their state government can read, interpret, and gain a healthy understanding with the need for input from a lawyer, scholar, or government official. | ||||
|
HB 537 Not Rated |
Cell phones and certain other contraband; provide enhanced penalities for offenders and correctional employees. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 557 Good Policy |
Nonadjudication; authorize completion of workforce training or similar training as an option for. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: This bill provides an additional positive means to address non-violent offenders that will result in an overall net benefit to society. This bill utilizes existing funds and existing government programs and organizations through a collaborative effort to reduce the number of incarcerated individuals and provide an alternative pathway to rehabilitation. | ||||
|
HB 620 Not Rated |
'Mississippi Correctional Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2021'; create. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 649 Not Rated |
Department of Corrections; authorize to administer the 'Halfway House Grant Program.' | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 650 Not Rated |
DOC's evaluation of requests for proposals for canteen services; require interested third parties to have reasonable prices for services. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 653 Not Rated |
Violent offenders, certain; may be paroled by Parole Board if sentencing judge authorizes parole consideration. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 675 Not Rated |
Parole Board; revise notifications time frame given to victim when the offender is to be released by. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 676 Not Rated |
Department of Corrections; revise notification period given to local law enforcement when offender is to be released. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 747 Good Policy |
Work release program; authorize courts and sheriffs to assign certain convicted offenders to while confined in jail. | Alive | ||
| Analysis: This bill creates a mechanism for nonviolent offenders to actively begin paying fines and child support with the wages earned through the work release program. This bill promotes pre-emptive positive reintegration measures for incarcerated individuals. These measures will ease the transition from incarceration back into our communities. | ||||
|
HB 796 Good Policy |
Habitual offender; revise penalties for. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: This bill encourages the positive reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals as contributing members in our communities. Government should reduce excessive punishments on individuals in keeping with the Eighth Amendment to our Constitution. | ||||
|
HB 882 Not Rated |
Private prisons that house state offenders; provide moratorium on the expansion of. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 892 Not Rated |
Task force to address the disparity of African-American males in the judicial system; create. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 928 Neutral |
Commissioner of Corrections and community corrections; bring forward various sections relating to. | Alive | ||
| Analysis: This bill in its current form does not change existing law. However, this bill brings forward code section allowing for amendments to be made at a later time. This process reduces government transparency, provides an avenue for bad legislation to go unchecked until the very end of the legislative process, and reduces citizens' representation in decision-making through their elected representatives as active participation in this process is often limited to a select few members of the Legislature appointed to serve on conference committees. This action requires greater scrutiny of this bill and may result in its policy rating being changed as this bill moves through the legislative process. | ||||
|
HB 929 Neutral |
Reentry for offenders; bring forward certain sections relating to. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: This bill in its current form does not change existing law. However, this bill brings forward code section allowing for amendments to be made at a later time. This process reduces government transparency, provides an avenue for bad legislation to go unchecked until the very end of the legislative process, and reduces citizens' representation in decision-making through their elected representatives as active participation in this process is often limited to a select few members of the Legislature appointed to serve on conference committees. This action requires greater scrutiny of this bill and may result in its policy rating being changed as this bill moves through the legislative process. | ||||
|
HB 933 Good Policy |
Child support payment; suspend obligation to pay when the person to pay is incarcerated. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: This bill encourages parents to fulfill their obligations to their children by preventing undue, and often insurmountable, burdens on incarcerated, non-custodial parents. This policy institutes common sense measures to freeze child support obligations while incarcerated which is in keeping with civil judgments that would be granted in times in extenuating circumstances. Upon release, formerly incarcerated non-custodial parents will begin fulfilling their obligations rather than face immediate return to jail for non-payment of child support, which further delays children and custodial parents from receiving court-ordered support. This bill disrupts the government-created recidivism of formerly incarcerated non-custodial parents caught in a bureaucratic roundabout. | ||||
|
HB 935 Not Rated |
Parole eligibility; revise for certain offenses and require Parole Board hearing before release of certain inmates. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 961 Not Rated |
Department of Corrections; provide certain educational programs for adult offenders. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 964 Not Rated |
Nonviolent offenders; authorize reduction of sentences for passage of end-of-course subject area tests by offenders. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 1051 Not Rated |
Mississippi Prison Education Reform Act of 2021; create. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 1088 Not Rated |
Department of Corrections; increase per diem rate paid to regionals for housing of state offenders. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 1106 Not Rated |
Mandatory 85% sentencing rule; repeal. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 1107 Not Rated |
Commutation of sentences; require for certain nonviolent offenders. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 1108 Not Rated |
Habitual offender law; authorize parole eligibility if offender served 10 years of a sentence of 40 years or more. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 1110 Not Rated |
DOC; convert restitution centers to post-release reentry centers. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 1111 Not Rated |
Use of restitution centers by DOC; repeal and convert centers into post-release reentry centers. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 1112 Not Rated |
Corrections Inspection Council; establish. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 1174 Neutral |
Department of Corrections; authorize to provide for hospice care services to inmates with a terminal illness. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: This bill removes unnecessary restrictions to the proper functioning of the Department of Corrections as it relates to providing care for terminally ill inmates. Government should, when possible, remove unnecessary restrictions on its own ability to effectively and efficiently operate in its proper role. | ||||
|
HB 1216 Not Rated |
Correctional system cost-per-day reviews; transfer responsibility from PEER to MDOC. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
HB 1225 Not Rated |
Nonviolent offenders; require certain segregated housing, repeal 85% rule, expand authority of judge to make eligible for parole. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
SB 2279 Neutral |
Parole and earned release; criminalize absconding. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: This bill applies consistent consequences of existing statute equally to all individuals convicted of crime(s) who are currently serving sentences under the Mississippi Department of Corrections. | ||||
|
SB 2553 Neutral |
State offenders in county jail; MDOC to pay increased rate to county to expedite removal of. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: This bill brings forward code sections relating to state offenders in county jails. This action requires greater scrutiny of this bill as it moves through the legislative process. Code sections “brought forward" are opened up for amending. Significant deviations from this bill's initial intent due to language changes made at any time during the legislative process may result in its policy rating being changed if such deviations violate the principles of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. | ||||
|
SB 2574 Not Rated |
Reentry courts; create pilot reentry court, and establish rehab and workforce development program at MDOC. | Dead | ||
| Analysis: | ||||
|
SB 2795 Good Policy |
'Mississippi Earned Parole Eligibility Act'; enact. | Alive | ||
| Analysis: This bill expands eligibility for parole and specifically addresses the issue of individuals convicted of crime at or before 25 years of age. While government should work to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing, this bill moves policy, if only slightly, towards equitable consequences for violations of crimes that endanger public safety and harm individuals and individual freedom. |
| KEY: | * = Amended | % = 3/5ths Vote Required | V = Vetoed |
| $ = Revenue | @ = Exempted From Deadline | P = Partially Vetoed |