Bill Text: MS HB1510 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

Mississippi House Bill 1510 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Private jails and restitution centers; authorize location only after county or municipal approval.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Failed) 2010-02-02 - Died In Committee [HB1510 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2010-HB1510-Introduced.html

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2010 Regular Session

To: Corrections

By: Representatives Banks, Evans (91st), Fredericks, Harrison, Thomas

House Bill 1510

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 47-4-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE APPROVAL BY THE GOVERNING AUTHORITY OF A MUNICIPALITY BEFORE A PRIVATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY IS LOCATED IN THE MUNICIPALITY; TO AMEND SECTION 99-37-19, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THAT A RESTITUTION CENTER MAY NOT BE LOCATED IN A COUNTY OR MUNICIPALITY UNLESS THE COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL GOVERNING AUTHORITY APPROVES SUCH LOCATION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 47-4-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

47-4-3. (1) Before a private correctional facility may be located in the county or municipality, the board of supervisors or governing authority of the municipality shall by resolution duly adopted and entered on its minutes specify the location of the facility, the nature and size of the facility, the type of inmates to be incarcerated and the identity of the private entity which will operate the facility. The board or governing authority shall publish a notice as hereinafter set forth in a newspaper having general circulation in such county or municipality. Such notice shall include location of the facility, the nature and size of the facility, the type of inmates to be incarcerated and the identity of the entity which will operate the facility. Such notice shall include a brief summary of the provisions of this section pertaining to the petition for an election on the question of the location of the private correctional facility in such county or municipality. Such notice shall be published not less than one (1) time each week for at least three (3) consecutive weeks in at least one (1) newspaper having general circulation in the county or municipality.

(2) If a petition signed by twenty percent (20%), or fifteen hundred (1500), whichever is less, of the qualified electors of the county or municipality is filed within sixty (60) days of the date of the last publication of the notice with the board of supervisors or governing authority of the municipality requesting that an election be called on the question of locating such facility, then the board of supervisors or governing authority of the municipality shall adopt a resolution calling an election to be held within such county or municipality upon the question of the location of such facility. Such election shall be held, as far as practicable, in the same manner as other elections are held in counties and municipalities. At such election, all qualified electors of the county or municipality may vote, and the ballots used at such election shall have printed thereon a brief statement of the facility to be constructed and the words "For the construction of the private correctional facility in (here insert county or municipal name) * * *" and "Against the construction of the private correctional facility in (here insert county or municipal name) * * *." The voter shall vote by placing a cross (X) or check mark (�) opposite his choice on the proposition. When the results of the election on the question of the construction of the facility shall have been canvassed by the election commissioners of the county or municipality and certified by them to the board of supervisors or governing authority of the municipality, it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors or governing authority of the municipality to determine and adjudicate whether or not a majority of the qualified electors who voted thereon in such election voted in favor of the construction of the facility in such county or municipality. If a majority of the qualified electors who voted in such election vote against the construction of the facility, then the facility shall not be constructed in the county or municipality.

(3) If no petition as prescribed in subsection (2) of this section is filed with the board of supervisors or governing authority of the municipality within sixty (60) days of the date of the last publication of the notice, the board of supervisors or governing authority of the municipality shall by a resolution duly adopted and entered on its minutes, state that no petition was timely filed and the board or governing authority may give final approval to the location of the facility.

SECTION 2. Section 99-37-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

99-37-19. The boards of supervisors of the several counties and the governing authorities of municipalities are hereby authorized to cooperate with the Department of Corrections in the establishment of restitution centers. Such centers may house both probationers referred by the circuit courts as well as inmates transferred from other facilities of the Department of Corrections as provided in Section 47-5-110; and may house those contemnors referred by the courts for failure to pay child support. In order to qualify for placement in a restitution center, an offender must: (a) be convicted of a nonviolent offense that constitutes a felony, (b) not be convicted of a sex crime, and (c) not have drug, alcohol, emotional or physical problems so serious that the offender appears unlikely to meet obligations of the restitution program. Such centers shall be operated by the Department of Corrections. County or municipal property may be utilized with the approval of the board of supervisors or municipal governing authority for the construction, renovation and maintenance of facilities owned by the state or a local political subdivision. A restitution center may not be located in a county or municipality unless the county or municipal governing authority approves such location. Such facility may be leased to the Department of Corrections for a period of time for use as a restitution center.

It is the intent of this section that county and local governments contribute only to the establishment, renovation and maintenance of the physical plant of a restitution center and that the Department of Corrections support the operation of, and have sole jurisdiction over and responsibility for offenders in, such restitution program.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.