Title 47, Prisons and Prisoners; Probation and Parole

(1) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, if the department leases a single correctional work program at any correctional institution to the corporation, the corporation shall lease all such correctional work programs at that institution. Any rent paid by the corporat…

Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, no goods, wares, services or merchandise manufactured, mined or offered in whole or in part by prisoners shall be sold or offered by any person or other authority except by the corporation, as authorized by Sections 47-5-531 throu…

(1) In adopting or modifying master plans for correctional work programs, and in the administration of the Department of Corrections, it shall be the objective of the department to develop a logical sequence of vocational training, employment by correctional work programs, and po…

Any records or reports which relate to the financial aspect or operations of the corporation, with the exception of any trade secrets, shall be considered as public records and shall be subject to the provisions of the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983.

Sections 47-5-531 through 47-5-575, which create the Mississippi Prison Industries Act of 1990, shall stand repealed from and after July 1, 2027.

(1) (a) The corporation shall operate a work initiative at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, South Mississippi Correctional Institution, Mississippi State Penitentiary and the Mississippi Correctional Institute for Women, and is authorized, in its discretion, to crea…

The commissary located at any facility of the correctional system shall not sell to any person or agency, any food or other commodities, whether produced by the correctional system or not, for any amount less than the wholesale price of such food or other commodities in the area …

(1) A work-release program is established at Delta Correctional Facility. The corporation, as defined under Section 47-5-539, shall serve as the program administrator and shall focus on meaningful, skill-oriented, private-sector work opportunities in the surrounding communities. …

(1) There is hereby established a committee to be known as the Corrections and Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force, hereinafter called the Oversight Task Force, which must exercise the powers and fulfill the duties described in this chapter. (2) The Oversight Task Force shall b…

The Mississippi Department of Corrections is authorized to establish a drug identification program and shall have the power and duty to adopt rules not inconsistent with law as it may deem proper and necessary with respect to the establishment, administration and operation of the…

Any offender on probation or released from a facility of the Department of Corrections on parole or earned probation who remains under the supervision of the Department of Corrections or any offender who is incarcerated in a state correctional facility may be required to particip…

Each time the results of such a chemical analysis test indicate the unauthorized presence of alcohol or a controlled substance in the parolee or probationer, he or she shall be required to pay a fee of Ten Dollars ($10.00) to the Mississippi Department of Corrections drug identif…

(1) The commissioner is hereby directed to determine the number of acres and location of land under the department’s jurisdiction that are needed for security purposes, for Prison Agricultural Enterprises and for nonagricultural purposes. The commissioner shall designate and rese…

(1) Except as provided in Section 47-5-64(3), it shall be the duty of the Department of Finance and Administration, with the approval of the Public Procurement Review Board, to lease lands at public contract upon the submission of two (2) or more sealed bids to the Department of …

The department shall procure a United States lock-seal, to be styled “Mississippi Department of Corrections” of which the commissioner shall be the custodian. Such seal shall be used to authenticate all the written official acts, orders and process executed and issued from the de…

As used in this chapter, “board” shall include the Mississippi Board of Corrections or its successor, and “lessee” shall mean the Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service.

Sections 47-5-701 through 47-5-729 shall be known and may be cited as the “Prison Overcrowding Emergency Powers Act.”

(a) For the purposes of Sections 47-5-701 through 47-5-729 the following words shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context shall otherwise require:(a) “Inmate” means every person who at the time of the declaration of a prison system overcrowding state of emergency, …

(a) The requirements for the declaration of a prison system overcrowding state of emergency are as follows:(a) Prison system population in excess of ninety-five percent (95%) of the prison system operating capacity for at least thirty (30) consecutive days immediately preceding t…

Whenever the prison system population exceeds ninety-five percent (95%) of operating capacity, the Commissioner of Corrections shall immediately notify the Governor and the State Parole Board of this fact. The notice shall include the current prison system population and the pris…

If the prison system population exceeds ninety-five percent (95%) of operating capacity for thirty (30) consecutive days, the State Parole Board shall meet to determine whether there has been full appropriate exercise of the powers of the State Parole Board which tend to reduce t…

The State Highway Commission and the Mississippi Department of Corrections are hereby authorized to enter into and perform agreements to contract together for the construction or the pavement of roads by the State Highway Department in and adjoining to any facility of the correct…

(a) Upon receipt of the report from the Commissioner of Corrections and the report of the State Parole Board, the Governor has the power to:(a) Determine to be in error the determination that there had been full appropriate exercise of powers which tends to reduce prison populati…

Upon the declaration of a state of emergency, the parole eligibility dates of qualified inmates shall be conditionally advanced. The amount of advancement of parole eligibility dates must be specified in the declaration by the Governor. When the state of emergency has been termin…

During the continuation of a state of emergency, the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections shall weekly certify to the Governor the prison system population for each day of the preceding week. The Governor shall declare the state of emergency terminated upon notification …

If sixty (60) days after the declaration of a prison system overcrowding state of emergency or of an additional advancement of the parole eligibility dates the prison system population continues to be in excess of ninety-five percent (95%) of operating capacity, the Commissioner …

(a) Upon receipt of the report from the Commissioner of Corrections as provided in Section 47-5-717, the Governor has the power to:(a) Determine to be in error any conclusion of the Commissioner of Corrections that an additional advancement of the parole eligibility dates is nece…

The Department of Corrections, counties and municipalities are authorized to develop regional recycling centers at regional correctional facilities. The department may establish a work program for inmates to participate in the recycling program. Inmates that are ineligible to par…

If at any time during a state of emergency the Governor determines that the continuation of the state of emergency is injurious to the public good or raises the potential of threatening the safety of the public in the state as a whole or in a particular community, he may order th…

Revocation of the conditional advancement of the parole eligibility date is a permissible prison disciplinary action according to the same procedures governing the forfeiture of earned time allowances as a prison disciplinary action.

The State Parole Board shall prescribe conditions of advancement of the parole eligibility date applicable prior to an inmate’s release. The State Parole Board shall prescribe conditions of supervision consistent with existing regulations applicable after release on parole. When …

Advancement of parole eligibility dates under Sections 47-5-701 through 47-5-729 shall occur independently of all other adjustments of the parole eligibility dates, such as advancing the parole eligibility dates as a result of receiving earned time allowances.

The Commissioner of Corrections shall within thirty (30) days after April 10, 1985, establish the operating capacities of the prison system, and shall at least quarterly certify existing operating capacities or establish changed or new operating capacities.

Sections 47-5-701 through 47-5-729, Mississippi Code of 1972, which create the Prison Overcrowding Emergency Powers Act, shall stand repealed from and after July 1, 2029.

The department is authorized to bring and maintain suits for the collection and enforcement of all demands and debts owing to the correctional system. No bond for costs, appeal bond, supersedeas bond or other security shall at any time be required of the department in any civil s…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, if an inmate plaintiff files a pauper’s affidavit in a civil action and the defendant is an employee of the department and the civil action pertains to the inmate’s condition of confinement, the department shall pay, out o…

The commissioner shall remit to the State Treasurer all moneys belonging to the correctional system received by him in accordance with the provisions of Section 7-9-21. All bills and accounts of said correctional system shall be paid from appropriations made by the Legislature up…

There is established within the State Treasury a revolving fund to fund forest management costs provided under Sections 47-5-56 and 47-5-66 for the Lambert State Forest in Quitman County and shall be disbursed as provided in those sections. The fund shall be called the “Lambert S…

All contracts for the purchase of materials, supplies, equipment and sustenance for the offenders of the correctional system shall be made under the provisions of the state purchasing law, same being Sections 31-7-1 through 31-7-55.

(1) There is created the Mississippi Department of Corrections, which shall be under the policy direction of the Governor. The chief administrative officer of the department shall be the Commissioner of Corrections. Effective July 1, 2028, the commissioner shall be appointed by t…

The Department of Corrections is hereby authorized to adopt an administrative review procedure at each of its correctional facilities in compliance with 42 USCS Section 1997, the “Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act,” or CRIPA, and Part 40 of Title 28, Code of Federal R…

(1) Upon approval of the administrative review procedure by a federal court as authorized and required by the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, and the implementation of the procedure within the department, this procedure shall constitute the administrative remedies …

Any offender who, on July 1, 1994, is a plaintiff in a lawsuit naming the state, the Department of Corrections or an official or an employee of the Department of Corrections as a defendant or defendants shall be furnished notice by certified mail of Sections 47-5-801 through 47-5…

Any offender who is aggrieved by an adverse decision rendered pursuant to any administrative review procedure under Sections 47-5-801 through 47-5-807 may, within thirty (30) days after receipt of the agency’s final decision, seek judicial review of the decision.

There shall be provided an area at each facility of the correctional system for religious worship to be conducted by the chaplain’s office of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The chaplains will have ingress and egress to all facilities of the Mississippi Department of C…

No gasoline or motor oil shall be sold for personal use by the state correctional system to any of its employees. Gasoline shall be delivered only in tank truck or tank car lots in such quantities as the commissioner may deem necessary, and motor oil in such quantities as may be …