Bill Text: MS SB2804 | 2026 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Capital human trafficking; create crime of.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Failed) 2026-02-03 - Died In Committee [SB2804 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2026-SB2804-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2026 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division B
By: Senator(s) England
Senate Bill 2804
AN ACT TO REQUIRE A SEPARATE PROCEEDING ON THE ISSUE OF A PENALTY FOR THE CRIME OF CAPITAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING; TO AMEND SECTION 97-3-54.1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CREATE THE OFFENSE OF CAPITAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING; TO AUTHORIZE THE DEATH PENALTY; TO PROVIDE THAT IF THE DEATH PENALTY IS NOT IMPOSED UNDER THIS ACT, THEN LIFE IMPRISONMENT WITHOUT PAROLE SHALL BE IMPOSED; TO AMEND SECTION 97-3-54.4, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DEFINE THE TERM "SEXUAL EXPLOITATION"; TO AMEND SECTION 47-7-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) Intent. (a) The Legislature finds that a person who commits the offense of initiating, organizing, planning, financing, directing, managing, or supervising an enterprise that has subjected a child younger than twelve (12) years of age, or a person who is mentally defective or mentally incapacitated, to human trafficking for sexual exploitation in violation of Section 97-3-54.1(1)(d) imposes a great risk of death and danger to vulnerable members of this state. Such crimes exploit society's most vulnerable citizens, destroy the innocence of young children, and violate all standards of decency held by civilized society, and persons who commit such acts against such vulnerable persons may be determined by the trier of fact to have a culpable mental state of reckless indifference or disregard for human life.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the procedure in this section shall be followed, and a prosecutor must file notice as provided in Section 97-3-54.1(1)(d) if the prosecutor intends to seek the death penalty.
(2) Separate proceedings on issue of penalty. Upon conviction or an adjudication of guilt of a defendant of a capital felony under Section 97-3-54.1(1)(d), the court shall conduct a separate sentencing proceeding to determine whether the defendant should be sentenced to death or life imprisonment as authorized by Section 97-3-54.1(1)(d). The proceeding shall be conducted by the trial judge before the trial jury as soon as practicable. If, through impossibility or inability, the trial jury is unable to reconvene for a hearing on the issue of penalty, having determined the guilt of the accused, the trial judge may summon a special juror or jurors to determine the issue of the imposition of the penalty. If the trial jury has been waived, or if the defendant pleaded guilty, the sentencing proceeding shall be conducted before a jury impaneled for that purpose, unless waived by the defendant. In the proceeding, evidence may be presented as to any matter that the court deems relevant to the nature of the crime and the character of the defendant and shall include matters relating to any of the aggravating factors enumerated in subsection (7) of this section and for which notice has been provided pursuant to Section 97-3-54.1(1)(d) or mitigating circumstances enumerated in subsection (8) of this section. Any such evidence that the court deems to have probative value may be received, regardless of its admissibility under the exclusionary rules of evidence, provided the defendant is accorded a fair opportunity to rebut any hearsay statements. However, this subsection may not be construed to authorize the introduction of any evidence secured in violation of the United States Constitution or the State Constitution. The state and the defendant or the defendant's counsel shall be permitted to present argument for or against a sentence of death.
(3) Findings and recommended sentence by the jury. This subsection applies only if the defendant has not waived his or her right to a sentencing proceeding by a jury.
(a) After hearing all of the evidence presented regarding aggravating factors and mitigating circumstances, the jury shall deliberate and determine if the state has proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, the existence of at least two aggravating factors set forth in subsection (7) of this section.
(b) The jury shall return findings identifying each aggravating factor found to exist. A finding that at least two (2) aggravating factors exist must be unanimous. If the jury:
(i) Does not unanimously find at least two (2) aggravating factors, the defendant is ineligible for a sentence of death.
(ii) Unanimously finds at least two (2) aggravating factors, the defendant is eligible for a sentence of death and the jury shall make a recommendation to the court as to whether the defendant shall be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or to death. The recommendation shall be based on a weighing of all of the following:
1. Whether sufficient aggravating factors exist.
2. Whether aggravating factors exist which outweigh the mitigating circumstances found to exist.
3. Based on the considerations in items 1 and 2 of this subparagraph (ii), whether the defendant should be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or to death.
(c) If at least eight (8) jurors determine that the defendant should be sentenced to death, the jury's recommendation to the court shall be a sentence of death. If fewer than eight (8) jurors determine that the defendant should be sentenced to death, the jury's recommendation to the court shall be a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
(4) Imposition of sentence of life imprisonment or death.
(a) If the jury has recommended a sentence of:
(i) Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, the court shall impose the recommended sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
(ii) Death, the court, after considering each aggravating factor found by the jury and all mitigating circumstances, may impose a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or a sentence of death. The court may consider only an aggravating factor that was unanimously found to exist by the jury. The court may impose a sentence of death only if the jury unanimously found at least two (2) aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt.
(b) If the defendant waived his or her right to a sentencing proceeding by a jury, the court, after considering all aggravating factors and mitigating circumstances, may impose a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or a sentence of death. The court may impose a sentence of death only if the court finds that at least two (2) aggravating factors have been proven to exist beyond a reasonable doubt.
(5) Order of the court in support of sentence of life imprisonment or death. In each case in which the court imposes a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or a sentence of death, the court shall, considering the records of the trial and the sentencing proceedings, enter a written order addressing the aggravating factors set forth in subsection (7) of this section found to exist, the mitigating circumstances in subsection (8) of this section reasonably established by the evidence, whether there are sufficient aggravating factors to warrant the death penalty, and whether the aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating circumstances reasonably established by the evidence. The court shall include in its written order the reasons for not accepting the jury's recommended sentence, if applicable. If the court does not issue its order requiring the death sentence within thirty (30) days after the rendition of the judgment and sentence, the court shall impose a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in accordance with Section 97-3-54.1(1)(d).
(6) Review of judgment and sentence. The judgment of conviction and sentence of death shall be subject to automatic review by the Supreme Court and disposition rendered within two (2) years after the filing of a notice of appeal. Such review by the Supreme Court shall have priority over all other cases and shall be heard in accordance with rules adopted by the Supreme Court.
(7) Aggravating factors. Aggravating factors shall be limited to the following:
(a) The capital felony was committed by a person previously convicted of a felony violation under the Mississippi Human Trafficking Act and under sentence of imprisonment or placed on community control or on felony probation.
(b) The defendant was previously convicted of another capital felony or of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person.
(c) The capital felony was committed by a sexual offender who is required to register pursuant Chapter 33, Title 45, Mississippi Code of 1972, or a person previously required to register as a sexual offender who had such requirement removed.
(d) The defendant knowingly created a great risk of death to one or more persons such that participation in the offense constituted reckless indifference or disregard for human life.
(e) The defendant used a firearm or knowingly directed, advised, authorized, or assisted another to use a firearm to threaten, intimidate, assault, or injure a person in committing the offense or in furtherance of the offense.
(f) The capital felony was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.
(g) The victim of the capital felony was particularly vulnerable due to age or disability, or because the defendant stood in a position of familial or custodial authority over the victim.
(h) The capital felony was committed by a person subject to an injunction issued pursuant to a domestic abuse protection order, or a foreign protection order accorded full faith and credit by this state, and was committed against the petitioner who obtained the injunction or protection order or any spouse, child, sibling, or parent of the petitioner.
(i) The victim of the capital felony sustained serious bodily injury.
(8) Mitigating circumstances. Mitigating circumstances shall include the following:
(a) The defendant has no significant history of prior criminal activity.
(b) The capital felony was committed while the defendant was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance.
(c) The defendant was an accomplice in the capital felony committed by another person, and the defendant's participation was relatively minor.
(d) The defendant was under extreme duress or under the substantial domination of another person.
(e) The capacity of the defendant to appreciate the criminality of her or his conduct or to conform his or her conduct to the requirements of law was substantially impaired.
(f) The age of the defendant at the time of the offense.
(g) The defendant could not have reasonably foreseen that his or her conduct in the course of the commission of the offense would cause or would create a grave risk of death to one or more persons.
(h) The existence of any other factors in the defendant's background that would mitigate against imposition of the death penalty.
(9) Victim impact evidence. Once the prosecution has provided evidence of the existence of two or more aggravating factors as described in subsection (7) of this section, the prosecution may introduce and subsequently argue victim impact evidence to the jury. Such evidence shall be designed to demonstrate the victim's uniqueness as an individual human being and the physical and psychological harm to the victim. Characterizations and opinions about the crime, the defendant, and the appropriate sentence may not be permitted as a part of victim impact evidence.
(10) Constitutionality. A sentence of death shall be imposed under this section notwithstanding existing case law which holds that such a sentence is unconstitutional under the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 and the United States Constitution. In any case for which the Mississippi Supreme Court or the United States Supreme Court reviews a sentence of death imposed pursuant to this section, and in making such a review reconsiders the prior holding in Kennedy v. Louisiana, 554 U.S. 407 (2008), and determines that a sentence of death remains unconstitutional, the court having jurisdiction over the person previously sentenced to death shall cause such person to be brought before the court, and the court shall sentence such person to life imprisonment as provided in Section 99-19-107.
(11) Applicability. This section applies to any capital felony under Section 97-3-54.1(1)(d) which is committed on or after the effective date of this act.
SECTION 2. Section 97-3-54.1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
97-3-54.1. (1) (a) A person who coerces, recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides or obtains by any means, or attempts to coerce, recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide or obtain by any means, another person, intending or knowing that the person will be subjected to forced labor or services, or who benefits, whether financially or by receiving anything of value from participating in an enterprise that he knows or reasonably should have known has engaged in such acts, shall be guilty of the crime of human trafficking.
(b) A person who knowingly purchases the forced labor or services of a trafficked person or who otherwise knowingly subjects, or attempts to subject, another person to forced labor or services or who benefits, whether financially or by receiving anything of value from participating in an enterprise that he knows or reasonably should have known has engaged in such acts, shall be guilty of the crime of procuring involuntary servitude.
(c) A person who knowingly subjects, or attempts to subject, or who recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides or obtains by any means, or attempts to recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide or obtain by any means, a minor, knowing that the minor will engage in commercial sexual activity, sexually explicit performance, or the production of sexually oriented material, or causes or attempts to cause a minor to engage in commercial sexual activity, sexually explicit performance, or the production of sexually oriented material, shall be guilty of procuring sexual servitude of a minor and shall be punished by commitment to the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than twenty (20) years nor more than life in prison, or by a fine of not less than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) nor more than Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00), or both. It is not a defense in a prosecution under this section that a minor consented to engage in the commercial sexual activity, sexually explicit performance, or the production of sexually oriented material, or that the defendant reasonably believed that the minor was eighteen (18) years of age or older.
(d) (i) Any person eighteen (18) years of age or older who knowingly initiates, organizes, plans, finances, directs, manages or supervises an enterprise that has subjected a child younger than twelve (12) years of age, or a person who is mentally defective or mentally incapacitated as those terms are defined in Section 97-3-97, to human trafficking for sexual exploitation commits capital human trafficking of vulnerable persons for sexual exploitation, a capital felony and shall be punished by death if the proceeding held to determine sentence according to the procedure set forth in Section 1 of this act results in a determination that such person shall be punished by death, otherwise such person shall be punished by life imprisonment and shall be ineligible for parole.
(ii) For each instance of human trafficking of any individual under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, a separate crime is committed and a separate punishment is authorized.
(iii) In all capital cases under this paragraph, the procedure in Section 1 of this act shall be followed to determine a sentence of death or life imprisonment.
(iv) If the prosecutor intends to seek the death penalty, the prosecutor must give notice to the defendant and file the notice with the court within forty-five (45) days after arraignment. The notice must contain a list of the aggravating factors the state intends to prove and has reason to believe it can prove beyond a reasonable doubt. The court may allow the prosecutor to amend the notice upon a showing of good cause.
(2) If the victim is not a minor, a person who is convicted of an offense set forth in subsection (1)(a) or (b) of this section shall be committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than two (2) years nor more than twenty (20) years, or by a fine of not less than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) nor more than One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), or both. If the victim of the offense is a minor, a person who is convicted of an offense set forth in subsection (1)(a) or (b) of this section shall be committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than twenty (20) years nor more than life in prison, or by a fine of not less than Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00) nor more than One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), or both.
(3) An enterprise may be prosecuted for an offense under this chapter if:
(a) An agent of the enterprise knowingly engages in conduct that constitutes an offense under this chapter while acting within the scope of employment and for the benefit of the entity.
(b) An employee of the enterprise engages in conduct that constitutes an offense under this chapter and the commission of the offense was part of a pattern of illegal activity for the benefit of the enterprise, which an agent of the enterprise either knew was occurring or recklessly disregarded, and the agent failed to take effective action to stop the illegal activity.
(c) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution of an enterprise that the enterprise had in place adequate procedures, including an effective complaint procedure, designed to prevent persons associated with the enterprise from engaging in the unlawful conduct and to promptly correct any violations of this chapter.
(d) The court may consider the severity of the enterprise's offense and order penalties, including: (i) a fine of not more than One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00); (ii) disgorgement of profit; and (iii) debarment from government contracts. Additionally, the court may order any of the relief provided in Section 97-3-54.7.
(4) In addition to the mandatory reporting provisions contained in Sections 43-21-353 and 97-5-51, any person who has reasonable cause to suspect that a minor under the age of eighteen (18) is a trafficked person shall immediately make a report of the suspected child abuse or neglect to the Department of Child Protection Services and to the Statewide Human Trafficking Coordinator. The Department of Child Protection Services or the Statewide Human Trafficking Coordinator, whichever is applicable, shall then immediately notify the law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction where the suspected child abuse, neglect or trafficking occurred as required in Section 43-21-353, and the department that received the report shall also commence an initial investigation into the suspected abuse or neglect as required in Section 43-21-353. The department that received such report shall provide an annual report to the Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, the Lieutenant Governor, the Chairpersons of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees that includes the number of reports received, the number of cases screened in or out, the number of cases in which care and services were provided as a result of the report, and the type of care and services that were provided. A minor who has been identified as a victim of trafficking shall not be liable for criminal activity in violation of this section.
(5) It is an affirmative defense in a prosecution under this act that the defendant:
(a) Is a victim; and
(b) Committed the offense under a reasonable apprehension created by a person that, if the defendant did not commit the act, the person would inflict serious harm on the defendant, a member of the defendant's family, or a close associate.
SECTION 3. Section 97-3-54.4, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
97-3-54.4. For the purposes of the Mississippi Human Trafficking Act the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(a) "Act" or "this act" means the Mississippi Human Trafficking Act.
(b) "Actor" means a person who violates any of the provisions of Sections 97-3-54 through 97-3-54.4.
(c) "Blackmail" means obtaining property or things of value of another by threatening to (i) inflict bodily injury on anyone; or (ii) commit any other criminal offense.
(d) "Coerce" or "coercion" means:
(i) Causing or threatening to cause bodily harm to any person, physically restraining or confining any person, or threatening to physically restrain or confine any person;
(ii) Exposing or threatening to expose any fact or information or disseminating or threatening to disseminate any fact or information that would tend to subject a person to criminal or immigration proceedings, hatred, contempt or ridicule;
(iii) Destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating or possessing any actual or purported passport or other immigration document, or any other actual or purported government identification document of any person;
(iv) Providing a controlled substance to a person for the purpose of compelling the person to engage in labor or sexual servitude against the person's will;
(v) Causing or threatening to cause financial harm to any person or using financial control over any person;
(vi) Abusing or threatening to abuse a position of power, the law, or legal process;
(vii) Using blackmail;
(viii) Using an individual's personal services as payment or satisfaction of a real or purported debt when: 1. the reasonable value of the services is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt; 2. the length of the services is not limited and the nature of the services is not defined; 3. the principal amount of the debt does not reasonably reflect the value of the items or services for which the debt is incurred; or 4. the individual is prevented from acquiring accurate and timely information about the disposition of the debt; or
(ix) Using any scheme, plan or pattern of conduct intended to cause any person to believe that, if the person did not perform the labor or services, that the person or another person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint.
(e) "Commercial sexual activity" means any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to, promised to, or received by any person.
(f) "Enterprise" means any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, union or other legal entity, or any association or group of individuals associated in fact regardless of whether a legal entity has been formed pursuant to any state, federal or territorial law. It includes illicit as well as licit enterprises and governmental as well as other entities.
(g) "Financial
harm" includes, but is not limited to, extortion as defined by Section 97-3-82,
Mississippi Code of 1972, or violation of the usury law as defined by Chapter
17, Title 75, * * * Mississippi Code of 1972.
(h) "Forced labor or services" means labor or services that are performed or provided by another person and are obtained or maintained through coercion.
(i) "Labor" means work of economic or financial value.
(j) "Maintain" means, in relation to labor or services, to secure continued performance thereof, regardless of any initial agreement on the part of the trafficked person to perform such labor or service.
(k) "Minor" means a person under the age of eighteen (18) years.
(l) "Obtain" means, in relation to labor or services, to secure performance thereof.
(m) "Pecuniary damages" means any of the following:
(i) The greater of the gross income or value to the defendant of the victim's labor or services, including sexual services, not reduced by the expense the defendant incurred as a result of maintaining the victim, or the value of the victim's labor or services calculated under the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 USCS Section 201 et seq., whichever is higher;
(ii) If it is not possible or in the best interest of the victim to compute a value under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph (m), the equivalent of the value of the victim's labor or services if the victim had provided labor or services that were subject to the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 USCS 201 et seq.;
(iii) Costs and expenses incurred by the victim as a result of the offense for:
1. Medical services;
2. Therapy or psychological counseling;
3. Temporary housing;
4. Transportation;
5. Childcare;
6. Physical and occupational therapy or rehabilitation;
7. Funeral, interment, and burial services;
reasonable attorney's fees and other legal costs; and
8. Other expenses incurred by the victim.
(n) "Serious harm" means harm, whether physical or nonphysical, including psychological, economic or reputational, to an individual that would compel a reasonable person in similar circumstances as the individual to perform or continue to perform labor or services to avoid incurring the harm.
(o) "Services" means an ongoing relationship between a person and the actor in which the person performs activities under the supervision of or for the benefit of the actor or a third party and includes, without limitation, commercial sexual activity, sexually explicit performances, or the production of sexually explicit materials.
(p) "Sexual exploitation" means any violation of Section 97-3-95, excluding a violation pursuant to Section 97-3-95(1)(c).
( * * *q) "Sexually explicit
performance" means a live or public act or show intended to arouse or
satisfy the sexual desires or appeal to the prurient interests of patrons.
( * * *r) "Trafficked person" means
a person subjected to the practices prohibited by this act regardless of
whether a perpetrator is identified, apprehended, prosecuted or convicted, and
is a term used interchangeably with the terms "victim," "victim
of trafficking" and "trafficking victim."
( * * *s) "Venture" means any group
of two (2) or more individuals associated in fact, whether or not a legal
entity.
( * * *t) "Sexually oriented
material" shall have the meaning ascribed in Section 97-5-27, Mississippi
Code of 1972.
SECTION 4. Section 47-7-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
47-7-3. (1) Every prisoner who has been convicted of any offense against the State of Mississippi, and is confined in the execution of a judgment of such conviction in the Mississippi Department of Corrections for a definite term or terms of one (1) year or over, or for the term of his or her natural life, whose record of conduct shows that such prisoner has observed the rules of the department, and who has served the minimum required time for parole eligibility, may be released on parole as set forth herein:
(a) Habitual offenders. Except as provided by Sections 99-19-81 through 99-19-87, no person sentenced as a confirmed and habitual criminal shall be eligible for parole;
(b) Sex offenders. Any person who has been sentenced for a sex offense as defined in Section 45-33-23(h) shall not be released on parole except for a person under the age of nineteen (19) who has been convicted under Section 97-3-67;
(c) Capital offenders. No person sentenced for the following offenses shall be eligible for parole:
(i) Capital murder committed on or after July 1, 1994, as defined in Section 97-3-19(2);
(ii) Any offense to which an offender is sentenced to life imprisonment under the provisions of Section 99-19-101 or Section 1 of this act; or
(iii) Any offense to which an offender is sentenced to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole under the provisions of Section 99-19-101, whose crime was committed on or after July 1, 1994;
(d) Murder. No person sentenced for murder in the first degree, whose crime was committed on or after June 30, 1995, or murder in the second degree, as defined in Section 97-3-19, shall be eligible for parole;
(e) Human trafficking. No person sentenced for human trafficking, as defined in Section 97-3-54.1, whose crime was committed on or after July 1, 2014, shall be eligible for parole;
(f) Drug trafficking. No person sentenced for trafficking and aggravated trafficking, as defined in Section 41-29-139(f) through (g), shall be eligible for parole;
(g) Offenses specifically prohibiting parole release. No person shall be eligible for parole who is convicted of any offense that specifically prohibits parole release;
(h) (i) Offenders eligible for parole consideration for offenses committed after June 30, 1995. Except as provided in paragraphs (a) through (g) of this subsection, offenders may be considered eligible for parole release as follows:
1. Nonviolent crimes. All persons sentenced for a nonviolent offense shall be eligible for parole only after they have served twenty-five percent (25%) or ten (10) years, whichever is less, of the sentence or sentences imposed by the trial court. For purposes of this paragraph, "nonviolent crime" means a felony not designated as a crime of violence in Section 97-3-2.
2. Violent crimes. A person who is sentenced for a violent offense as defined in Section 97-3-2, except robbery with a deadly weapon as defined in Section 97-3-79, drive-by shooting as defined in Section 97-3-109, and carjacking as defined in Section 97-3-117, shall be eligible for parole only after having served fifty percent (50%) or twenty (20) years, whichever is less, of the sentence or sentences imposed by the trial court. Those persons sentenced for robbery with a deadly weapon as defined in Section 97-3-79, drive-by shooting as defined in Section 97-3-109, and carjacking as defined in Section 97-3-117, shall be eligible for parole only after having served sixty percent (60%) or twenty-five (25) years, whichever is less, of the sentence or sentences imposed by the trial court.
3. Nonviolent and nonhabitual drug offenses. A person who has been sentenced to a drug offense pursuant to Section 41-29-139(a) through (d), whose crime was committed after June 30, 1995, shall be eligible for parole only after he has served twenty-five percent (25%) or ten (10) years, whichever is less, of the sentence or sentences imposed.
(ii) Parole hearing required. All persons eligible for parole under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph (h) who are serving a sentence or sentences for a crime of violence, as defined in Section 97-3-2, shall be required to have a parole hearing before the Parole Board pursuant to Section 47-7-17, prior to parole release.
(iii) Geriatric parole. Notwithstanding the provisions in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph (h), a person serving a sentence who has reached the age of sixty (60) or older and who has served no less than ten (10) years of the sentence or sentences imposed by the trial court shall be eligible for parole. Any person eligible for parole under this subparagraph (iii) shall be required to have a parole hearing before the board prior to parole release. No inmate shall be eligible for parole under this subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph (h) if:
1. The inmate is sentenced as a habitual offender under Sections 99-19-81 through 99-19-87;
2. The inmate is sentenced for a crime of violence under Section 97-3-2;
3. The inmate is sentenced for an offense that specifically prohibits parole release;
4. The inmate is sentenced for trafficking in controlled substances under Section 41-29-139(f);
5. The inmate is sentenced for a sex crime; or
6. The inmate has not served one-fourth (1/4) of the sentence imposed by the court.
(iv) Parole consideration as authorized by the trial court. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection, any offender who has not committed a crime of violence under Section 97-3-2 and has served twenty-five percent (25%) or more of his sentence may be paroled by the State Parole Board if, after the sentencing judge or if the sentencing judge is retired, disabled or incapacitated, the senior circuit judge authorizes the offender to be eligible for parole consideration; or if the senior circuit judge must be recused, another circuit judge of the same district or a senior status judge may hear and decide the matter. A petition for parole eligibility consideration pursuant to this subparagraph (iv) shall be filed in the original criminal cause or causes, and the offender shall serve an executed copy of the petition on the District Attorney. The court may, in its discretion, require the District Attorney to respond to the petition.
(2) The State Parole Board shall, by rules and regulations, establish a method of determining a tentative parole hearing date for each eligible offender taken into the custody of the Department of Corrections. The tentative parole hearing date shall be determined within ninety (90) days after the department has assumed custody of the offender. Except as provided in Section 47-7-18, the parole hearing date shall occur when the offender is within thirty (30) days of the month of his parole eligibility date. Any parole eligibility date shall not be earlier than as required in this section.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an inmate shall not be eligible to receive earned time, good time or any other administrative reduction of time which shall reduce the time necessary to be served for parole eligibility as provided in subsection (1) of this section.
(4) Any inmate within forty-eight (48) months of his parole eligibility date and who meets the criteria established by the classification board shall receive priority for placement in any educational development and job-training programs that are part of his or her parole case plan. Any inmate refusing to participate in an educational development or job-training program, including, but not limited to, programs required as part of the case plan, shall be in jeopardy of noncompliance with the case plan and may be denied parole.
(5) In addition to other requirements, if an offender is convicted of a drug or driving under the influence felony, the offender must complete a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program prior to parole, or the offender shall be required to complete a postrelease drug and alcohol program as a condition of parole.
(6) Except as provided in subsection (1)(a) through (h) of this section, all other persons shall be eligible for parole after serving twenty-five percent (25%) of the sentence or sentences imposed by the trial court, or, if sentenced to thirty (30) years or more, after serving ten (10) years of the sentence or sentences imposed by the trial court.
(7) The Corrections and Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force established in Section 47-5-6 shall develop and submit recommendations to the Governor and to the Legislature annually on or before December 1st concerning issues relating to juvenile and habitual offender parole reform and to review and monitor the implementation of Chapter 479, Laws of 2021.
(8) The amendments contained in Chapter 479, Laws of 2021, shall apply retroactively from and after July 1, 1995.
(9) Notwithstanding provisions to the contrary in this section, a person who was sentenced before July 1, 2021, may be considered for parole if the person's sentence would have been parole eligible before July 1, 2021.
(10) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2027.
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
