Bill Text: MS SB2238 | 2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Probation and parole; provide that technical violation of shall not include commission of new criminal offense.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-20 - Referred To Corrections [SB2238 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2025-SB2238-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2025 Regular Session
To: Corrections
By: Senator(s) Hill, Tate, England
Senate Bill 2238
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 47-7-2, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF "TECHNICAL VIOLATION" WITHIN PROBATION AND PAROLE LAW TO PROVIDE THAT A TECHNICAL VIOLATION SHALL NOT INCLUDE THE COMMISSION OF A NEW CRIMINAL OFFENSE BY A PROBATIONER; TO AMEND SECTION 47-7-38, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 47-7-2, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
47-7-2. For purposes of this chapter, the following words shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context shall otherwise require:
(a) "Adult" means a person who is seventeen (17) years of age or older, or any person convicted of any crime not subject to the provisions of the youth court law, or any person "certified" to be tried as an adult by any youth court in the state.
(b) "Board" means the State Parole Board.
(c) "Parole case plan" means an individualized, written accountability and behavior change strategy developed by the department in collaboration with the parole board to prepare offenders for release on parole at the parole eligibility date. The case plan shall focus on the offender's criminal risk factors that, if addressed, reduce the likelihood of reoffending.
(d) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of
Corrections.
(e) "Correctional system" means the facilities, institutions, programs and personnel of the department utilized for adult offenders who are committed to the custody of the department.
(f) "Criminal risk factors" means characteristics that increase a person's likelihood of reoffending. These characteristics include: antisocial behavior; antisocial personality; criminal thinking; criminal associates; dysfunctional family; low levels of employment or education; poor use of leisure and recreation; and substance abuse.
(g) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
(h) "Detention" means the temporary care of juveniles and adults who require secure custody for their own or the community's protection in a physically restricting facility prior to adjudication, or retention in a physically restricting facility upon being taken into custody after an alleged parole or probation violation.
(i) "Discharge plan" means an individualized written document that provides information to support the offender in meeting the basic needs identified in the pre-release assessment. This information shall include, but is not limited to: contact names, phone numbers, and addresses of referrals and resources.
(j) "Evidence-based practices" means supervision policies, procedures, and practices that scientific research demonstrates reduce recidivism.
(k) "Facility" or "institution" means any facility for the custody, care, treatment and study of offenders which is under the supervision and control of the department.
(l) "Juvenile," "minor" or "youthful" means a person less than seventeen (17) years of age.
(m) "Offender" means any person convicted of a crime or offense under the laws and ordinances of the state and its political subdivisions.
(n) "Pre-release assessment" means a determination of an offender's ability to attend to basic needs, including, but not limited to, transportation, clothing and food, financial resources, personal identification documents, housing, employment, education, and health care, following release.
(o) "Special meetings" means those meetings called by the chairman with at least twenty-four (24) hours' notice or a unanimous waiver of notice.
(p) "Supervision plan" means a plan developed by the community corrections department to manage offenders on probation and parole in a way that reduces the likelihood they will commit a new criminal offense or violate the terms of supervision and that increases the likelihood of obtaining stable housing, employment and skills necessary to sustain positive conduct.
(q) "Technical violation" means an act or omission by the probationer that violates a condition or conditions of probation placed on the probationer by the court or the probation officer. "Technical violation" does not include the commission of a new criminal offense by the probationer.
(r) "Transitional reentry center" means a state-operated or state-contracted facility used to house offenders leaving the physical custody of the Department of Corrections on parole, probation or post-release supervision who are in need of temporary housing and services that reduce their risk to reoffend.
(s) "Unit of local government" means a county, city, town, village or other general purpose political subdivision of the state.
(t) "Risk and needs assessment" means the determination of a person's risk to reoffend using an actuarial assessment tool validated on Mississippi corrections populations and the needs that, when addressed, reduce the risk to reoffend.
SECTION 2. Section 47-7-38, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
47-7-38. (1) The department shall have the authority to impose graduated sanctions as an alternative to judicial modification or revocation, as provided in Sections 47-7-27 and 47-7-37, for offenders on probation, parole, or post-release supervision who commit technical violations of the conditions of supervision as defined by Section 47-7-2.
(2) The commissioner shall develop a standardized graduated sanctions system, which shall include a grid to guide field officers in determining the suitable response to a technical violation. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations for the development and application of the system of sanctions. Field officers shall be required to conform to the sanction grid developed.
(3) The system of sanctions shall include a list of sanctions for the most common types of violations. When determining the sanction to impose, the field officer shall take into account the offender's assessed risk level, previous violations and sanctions, and severity of the current and prior violations.
(4)
Field officers shall notify the sentencing court when a probationer has committed
a technical violation or the parole board when a parolee has committed a
technical violation of the type of violation and the sanction imposed. * * *
(5) The graduated sanctions that the department may impose include, but shall not be limited to:
(a) Verbal warnings;
(b) Increased reporting;
(c) Increased drug and alcohol testing;
(d) Mandatory substance abuse treatment;
(e) Loss of earned-discharge credits; and
(f) Incarceration in a county jail for no more than two (2) days. Incarceration as a sanction shall not be used more than two (2) times per month for a total period incarcerated of no more than four (4) days.
(6) The system shall also define positive reinforcements that offenders will receive for compliance with conditions of supervision. These positive reinforcements shall include, but not limited to:
(a) Verbal recognition;
(b) Reduced reporting; and
(c) Credits for earned discharge which shall be awarded pursuant to Section 47-7-40.
(7) The Department of Corrections shall provide semiannually to the Oversight Task Force the number and percentage of offenders who have one or more violations during the year, the average number of violations per offender during the year and the total and average number of incarceration sanctions as defined in subsection (5) of this section imposed during the year.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.
