Title 47, Prisons and Prisoners; Probation and Parole

(1) There is hereby created the Corrections Investigative Taskforce which shall consist of the following members: the Attorney General; State Auditor; the Chief Executive Officer of the Bureau of Narcotics, or his designee; the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Public …

(a) The commissioner shall have the following powers and duties:(a) To establish the general policy of the department;(b) To approve proposals for the location of new facilities, for major renovation activities, and for the creation of new programs and divisions within the depart…

The department shall be vested with the exclusive responsibility for management and control of the correctional system, and all properties belonging thereto, subject only to the limitations of this chapter, and shall be responsible for the management of affairs of the correctiona…

(1) The Governor shall appoint a Commissioner of Corrections, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Such commissioner may be removed by the Governor. The commissioner shall be the chief executive, administrative and fiscal officer of the department. (2) The commissioner shal…

(1) The commissioner shall employ the following personnel:(a) A Deputy Commissioner for Administration and Finance, who shall supervise and implement all fiscal policies and programs within the department, supervise and implement all hiring and personnel matters within the depart…

(a) The commissioner shall have the following powers and duties:(a) To implement and administer laws and policy relating to corrections and coordinate the efforts of the department with those of the federal government and other state departments and agencies, county governments, …

The plantation known as Parchman owned by the state in Sunflower and Quitman Counties, and in such other places as are now or may be hereafter owned or operated by the state for correctional purposes shall constitute the facilities of the correctional system for the custody, puni…

(1) The Commissioner of Corrections shall develop a strategic plan for its operation of the state correctional system. The strategic plan shall cover a five-year period. The plan shall include, at a minimum, the following:(a) A clearly defined comprehensive statement of the missi…

Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327 may be cited as the “Penitentiary-Made Goods Law of 1978.”

(a) The aims and purposes of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327 are:(a) To utilize the labor of offenders for self-maintenance and for reimbursing this state for expenses incurred by reason of their crimes and imprisonment; and(b) To effect the requisitioning and disbursement of …

(1) The State Department of Corrections is authorized to purchase, in the manner prescribed by law, equipment, raw materials and supplies, and to engage the supervisory personnel necessary to establish and maintain for this state at the penitentiary or any penal farm or instituti…

(1) On and after the establishment of the industries provided for in Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327, all commissions, departments, institutions and other agencies of this state, which are supported in whole or in part by this state, may purchase from the State Department of C…

The commissioner shall monthly make to the Governor and to the State Fiscal Management Board and to the Chairmen of the Corrections Committee of the Senate and Penitentiary Committee of the House of Representatives full and complete reports of the fiscal affairs of such correctio…

The State Department of Corrections shall cause to be prepared, at such times as it may determine, catalogues containing an accurate and complete description of all articles and products manufactured or produced by it pursuant to the provisions of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-3…

At least thirty (30) days before the beginning of each fiscal year, the State Fiscal Management Board shall provide to the State Department of Corrections, summary reports of the kind and amount of articles and products purchased for state commissions, departments, institutions, …

The articles or products manufactured or produced by penitentiary labor in accordance with the provisions of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327 shall be devoted first, to fulfilling the requirements of the commissions, departments, institutions and agencies of this state which ar…

The Industries Division of the State Department of Corrections shall fix and determine the prices at which all articles or products manufactured or produced shall be furnished.

In addition to the information ordinarily required by law in the annual audits of expenditures and operations of the State Department of Corrections made by the state auditor, after March 23, 1978, audit reports shall also include a detailed statement of all materials, machinery …

The State Board of Corrections shall have the power and authority to prepare and promulgate policies which are necessary to give effect to the provisions of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327 with respect to matters of administration respecting the same which if made shall be in …

(1) In order to carry out the provisions of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327, the department is authorized to expend such monies out of appropriations from the Prison Industries Fund, as established by Section 47-5-66, as may be necessary to erect buildings, to improve existing…

The provisions of Sections 47-5-301 through 47-5-327 shall be liberally construed to achieve the primary objective of vocational training and rehabilitation of offenders through work in industrial types of activities which also will best serve the economical and efficient operati…

(1) The Commissioner of Corrections shall appoint a Prison Industries Advisory Council. The council shall advise the commissioner and the Governor on all aspects of the prison industry program at the State Penitentiary, including, but not limited to, the types and quantity of pro…

The commissioner, in the discharge of his duties, is authorized to administer oaths, to summon and examine witnesses, and take such other steps as may be necessary to ascertain the truth of any matter about which he may have the right to inquire.

(1) Upon request of the Board of Corrections the Governor’s Office of General Services is authorized to lease one or more existing buildings or portions thereof on the grounds of the Parchman facility of the Department of Corrections (a) to a private individual, firm or corporati…

The Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) shall appoint an auditor to audit the correctional system, and provide sufficient office facilities in the Jackson office, who shall be a certified public accountant or an experienced accounta…

(1) It is the policy of the State of Mississippi that the Department of Corrections, to the extent practical, make maximum utilization of the farm lands of the various correctional institutions for the purpose of feeding inmates. (2) It is the intent of the Legislature that the d…

(a) For the purpose of Sections 47-5-351 through 47-5-357, the following terms shall have the following meanings unless the context shall provide otherwise:(a) “Agricultural commodities” means crops, vegetables, fruits, livestock, domesticated fish, fowl, seafood, animal husbandr…

(1) The Commissioner of Corrections shall employ a director of the prison agricultural enterprises, who shall be directly responsible to the commissioner. The director shall have the following duties and powers:(a) To implement and manage the prison agricultural enterprises;(b) T…

(1) (a) Due to the unique and time sensitive requirements of growing and harvesting products produced by the prison agricultural enterprises, the Department of Finance and Administration and the department shall establish a prudent purchasing policy which may exempt from bid requ…

The commissioner shall employ a qualified fiscal comptroller who shall be a certified public accountant and who shall be charged with the responsibility of maintaining a modern accounting system which shall accurately reflect all fiscal transactions in such manner and in such for…

(1) (a) The Department of Corrections is authorized to create the Inmate Incentive to Work Program. The program shall be made available for eligible inmates housed in state correctional facilities and shall provide certain pay upon work performed in the program. The work offered …

(1) As used in this section, “fiscal note” means the estimated dollar cost to the state for the first year and the annual cost thereafter. The term “ten-year fiscal note” means the estimated dollar cost to the state over the ten-year period following passage or adoption of the su…

(a) For purposes of this chapter, the following words shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context shall otherwise require:(a) “Adult” shall mean a person who is eighteen (18) years of age or older, or any person convicted of any crime not subject to the provisions o…

(1) There is hereby authorized, in each county of the state, a public service work program for state inmates in custody of the county. Such a program may be established at the option of the county in accordance with the provisions of Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421. The depart…

(a) As used in Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421, the following words and terms have the meanings hereby ascribed to them:(a) “County inmate” means a person convicted of a crime and sentenced to a term of confinement of one (1) year’s duration or less.(b) “State inmate” means a …

Each county electing to establish a work program under Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 is authorized through its sheriff to adopt regulations and policies for joint state-county work programs, including extending the limits of the place of confinement of an eligible inmate as …

Any county establishing a work program pursuant to Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 may also establish a work camp to be used in carrying out the program, wherein inmates participating in the program may be housed in lieu of confinement in the county jail.

The willful failure of an inmate to remain within the extended limits of his confinement or to return to the place of confinement within the time prescribed shall be deemed an escape from a state penal institution in the case of a state inmate, and an escape from the custody of t…

All employees, before entering upon their duties, shall take and subscribe the following oath to be filed and preserved by the commissioner: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully and diligently perform all the duties required of me as of the correctional system,…

(a) The Department of Corrections and the county shall endeavor to secure public service work for eligible inmates under Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421, subject to the following criteria:(a) Such work shall not result in the displacement of employed workers.(b) Inmates eligib…

County inmates performing public service work under Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 shall be eligible for earned time credit in the same manner as other inmates confined or detained in the county jail or other county correctional facility. State inmates performing public servi…

The sheriff, in the case of county inmates and state inmates incarcerated in county jails, and the Commissioner of Corrections, in the case of state inmates incarcerated in a Mississippi Department of Corrections facility, may institute a procedure for granting passes and leaves …

No inmate granted privileges under the provisions of Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 shall be deemed to be an agent, employee or involuntary servant of the Department of Corrections, the state or any political subdivision thereof, while involved in the free community or while …

The sheriff may designate any officer or employee of the county to do and perform for the county any act or function Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 empower the county to do or perform; provided, however, no elected official of the county shall be designated to do or perform a…

The provisions of Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421 are cumulative and shall not be construed to repeal or supersede any laws directly inconsistent herewith; and it is specifically provided herein that any work program in operation or functioning pursuant to any local law when S…

The commissioner shall purchase workers’ compensation insurance with coverage for all personnel employed by the department as authorized by law, and all personnel shall be entitled to the benefits prescribed by the operation of law, Sections 71-3-1 through 71-3-111, as the same i…