| 1 | 1 | | MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE 2025 Regular Session To: Judiciary B By: Representative Ford (73rd) House Bill 742 AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-5-39, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE MANDATORY MINIMUM PENALTIES FOR FELONY CHILD ABUSE; TO AMEND SECTION 97-5-42, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCREASE PENALTIES FOR FELONY CHILD ABUSE WITH MANDATORY MINIMUMS; TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-353, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE AN ARREST OF SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSERS WITHIN A CERTAIN TIME; TO AMEND SECTION 47-7-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO EXCLUDE FELONY CHILD ABUSE FROM CERTAIN SENTENCE REDUCTIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: SECTION 1. Section 97-5-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows: 97-5-39. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, any parent, guardian or other person who intentionally, knowingly or recklessly commits any act or omits the performance of any duty, which act or omission contributes to or tends to contribute to the neglect or delinquency of any child or which act or omission results in the abuse of any child, as defined in Section 43-21-105(m) of the Youth Court Law, or who knowingly aids any child in escaping or absenting himself from the guardianship or custody of any person, agency or institution, or knowingly harbors or conceals, or aids in harboring or concealing, any child who has absented himself without permission from the guardianship or custody of any person, agency or institution to which the child shall have been committed by the youth court shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment not to exceed one (1) year in jail, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (b) For the purpose of this section, a child is a person who has not reached his eighteenth birthday. A child who has not reached his eighteenth birthday and is on active duty for a branch of the armed services, or who is married, is not considered a child for the purposes of this statute. (c) If a child commits one (1) of the proscribed acts in subsection (2)(a), (b) or (c) of this section upon another child, then original jurisdiction of all such offenses shall be in youth court. (d) If the parent has failed to provide the child with food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or health of the child, excluding failure caused by financial inability unless relief services have been offered and refused and the child is in imminent risk of harm, or the parent is unwilling to provide reasonably necessary medical care, though that medical care does not include recommended or optional vaccinations against childhood or any other disease, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment in custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than five (5) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both. (e) A parent, legal guardian or other person who knowingly permits the continuing physical or sexual abuse of a child is guilty of neglect of a child and * * * may shall be sentenced to imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both. (2) Any person shall be guilty of felonious child abuse in the following circumstances: (a) Whether bodily harm results or not, if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly: (i) Burn any child; (ii) Torture any child; (iii) Strangle, choke, smother or in any way interfere with any child's breathing; (iv) Poison a child; (v) Starve a child of nourishments needed to sustain life or growth; (vi) Use any type of deadly weapon upon any child; (b) If some bodily harm to any child actually occurs, and if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly: (i) Throw, kick, bite, or cut any child; (ii) Strike a child under the age of fourteen (14) about the face or head with a closed fist; (iii) Strike a child under the age of five (5) in the face or head; (iv) Kick, bite, cut or strike a child's genitals; circumcision of a male child is not a violation under this subparagraph (iv); (c) If serious bodily harm to any child actually occurs, and if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly: (i) Strike any child on the face or head; (ii) Disfigure or scar any child; (iii) Whip, strike or otherwise abuse any child; (d) Any person, upon conviction under paragraph (a) or (c) of this subsection, shall be sentenced by the court to imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not less than five (5) years and up to life, as determined by the court. Any person, upon conviction under paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be sentenced by the court to imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not less than two (2) years nor more than ten (10) years, as determined by the court. For any second or subsequent conviction under this subsection (2), the person shall be sentenced to imprisonment for life. (e) For the purposes of this subsection (2), "bodily harm" means any bodily injury to a child and includes, but is not limited to, bruising, bleeding, lacerations, soft tissue swelling, and external or internal swelling of any body organ. (f) For the purposes of this subsection (2), "serious bodily harm" means any serious bodily injury to a child and includes, but is not limited to, the fracture of a bone, permanent disfigurement, permanent scarring, or mutilation any internal bleeding or internal trauma to any organ, any brain damage, any injury to the eye or ear of a child or other vital organ, and impairment of any bodily function. (g) For purposes of this subsection (2), "torture" means any act, omission, or intentional neglect committed by an individual upon a child within his custody or physical control, whereby unnecessary or unjustifiable physical or mental pain or suffering is caused or permitted, regardless of whether serious physical injury results. Child torture involves treatment that is intentionally cruel, inhumane, and degrading, including, but not limited to: intentionally starving a child; forcing a child to sit in urine or feces; binding or restraining a child; repeatedly physically injuring a child; exposing the child to extreme temperatures without adequate clothing or shelter; locking a child in closets or other small spaces; and forcing a child into stress positions or exercise resulting in prolonged suffering. (h) Nothing contained in paragraph (c) of this subsection shall preclude a parent or guardian from disciplining a child of that parent or guardian, or shall preclude a person in loco parentis to a child from disciplining that child, if done in a reasonable manner, and reasonable corporal punishment or reasonable discipline as to that parent or guardian's child or child to whom a person stands in loco parentis shall be a defense to any violation charged under paragraph (c) of this subsection. (i) Reasonable discipline and reasonable corporal punishment shall not be a defense to acts described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection or if a child suffers serious bodily harm as a result of any act prohibited under paragraph (c) of this subsection. (3) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent proceedings against the parent, guardian or other person under any statute of this state or any municipal ordinance defining any act as a crime or misdemeanor. Nothing in the provisions of this section shall preclude any person from having a right to trial by jury when charged with having violated the provisions of this section. (4) (a) A parent, legal guardian or caretaker who endangers a child's person or health by knowingly causing or permitting the child to be present where any person is selling, manufacturing or possessing immediate precursors or chemical substances with intent to manufacture, sell or possess a controlled substance as prohibited under Section 41-29-139 or 41-29-313, is guilty of child endangerment and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than three (3) years nor more than ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both. (b) If the endangerment results in substantial harm to the child's physical, mental or emotional health, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than twenty (20) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00), or both. (5) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent proceedings against the parent, guardian or other person under any statute of this state or any municipal ordinance defining any act as a crime or misdemeanor. Nothing in the provisions of this section shall preclude any person from having a right to trial by jury when charged with having violated the provisions of this section. (6) After consultation with the Department of Child Protection Services, a regional mental health center or an appropriate professional person, a judge may suspend imposition or execution of a sentence provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section and in lieu thereof require treatment over a specified period of time at any approved public or private treatment facility. A person may be eligible for treatment in lieu of criminal penalties no more than one (1) time. (7) In any proceeding resulting from a report made pursuant to Section 43-21-353 of the Youth Court Law, the testimony of the physician making the report regarding the child's injuries or condition or cause thereof shall not be excluded on the ground that the physician's testimony violates the physician-patient privilege or similar privilege or rule against disclosure. The physician's report shall not be considered as evidence unless introduced as an exhibit to his testimony. (8) Any criminal prosecution arising from a violation of this section shall be tried in the circuit, county, justice or municipal court having jurisdiction; provided, however, that nothing herein shall abridge or dilute the contempt powers of the youth court. SECTION 2. Section 97-5-42, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows: 97-5-42. (1) (a) For purposes of this section, a conviction of felony parental child sexual abuse shall include any nolo contendere plea, guilty plea or conviction at trial to any offense enumerated in Section 93-15-121(h) or any other statute of the State of Mississippi whereby a parent may be penalized as a felon on account of sexual abuse of his or her own child; and shall include any conviction by plea or trial in any other state of the United States to an offense whereby a parent may be penalized as a felon for sexual abuse of his or her own child under the laws of that state, or which would be so penalized for such conduct had the act or acts been committed in the State of Mississippi. (b) A certified copy of the court order or judgment evidencing such a conviction shall be accepted by any public office with responsibilities pursuant to this section, and by any court in the State of Mississippi, as conclusive evidence of the conviction. (2) (a) No person who has been convicted of felony parental child sexual abuse shall contact or attempt to contact the victim child without the prior express written permission of the child's then legal custodian, who may be the other parent, a guardian, person in loco parentis or person with legal or physical custody of a child. (b) No person who has been convicted of felony parental child sexual abuse shall harass, threaten, intimidate or by any other means menace the victim child or any legal custodian of the child, who may be the other parent, a guardian, person in loco parentis or person with legal or physical custody of a child. (c) Any person who believes that a person who has been convicted of felony parental child sexual abuse may violate the provisions of paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection may register with the sheriff and any municipal law enforcement agency of the child's county and municipality of residence, setting forth the factual basis for that belief which shall include a certified copy of the court order or judgment evidencing the conviction of the child sexual abuse felon. The sheriff's office of each county and all municipal law enforcement agencies shall maintain a separate and distinct register for the purpose of recording the data required herein, and shall advise the reporting party of how emergency contact can be made with that office at any time with respect to a threatened violation of paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection. Immediate response with police protection shall be provided to any emergency contact made pursuant to this section, which police protection shall be continued in such reasonable manner as to deter future violations and protect the child and any person with legal custody of the child. (d) Any person who has been convicted of felony parental child sexual abuse who violates paragraph (a) of this subsection shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the * * *county jail for not custody of the Department of Corrections for not less * * *more than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years. Any person who has been convicted of felony parental child sexual abuse who violates paragraph (b) of this subsection shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for not * * *more less than five (5) years, no more than seven (7) years. (3) No person who has been convicted of felony parental child sexual abuse shall be entitled to have parental or other visitation rights as to that child who was the victim, unless he or she files a petition in the chancery court of the county in which the child resides, reciting the conviction, and joining as parties defendant any other parent, guardian, person standing in loco parentis or having legal or physical custody of the child. A guardian ad litem shall be appointed to represent the child at petitioner's expense. The court shall appoint a qualified psychologist or psychiatrist to conduct an independent examination of the petitioner to determine whether contact with that person poses a physical or emotional risk to the child, and report to the court. Such examination shall be at petitioner's expense. The court shall require any such petitioner to deposit with the court sufficient funds to pay expenses chargeable to a petitioner hereunder, the amount of such deposit to be within the discretion of the chancellor. Any defendant and the child through his or her guardian ad litem shall be entitled to a full evidentiary hearing on the petition. In no event shall a child be required to testify in court or by deposition, or be subjected to any psychological examination, without the express consent of the child through his or her guardian ad litem. Such guardian ad litem shall consult with the child's legal guardian or custodians before consenting to such testimony or examination. At any hearing there is a rebuttable presumption that contact with the child poses a physical and emotional risk to the child. That presumption may be rebutted and visitation or contact allowed on such terms and conditions that the chancery court shall set only upon specific written findings by the court that: (a) Contact between the child and the offending parent is appropriate and poses minimal risk to the child; (b) If the child has received counseling, that the child's counselor believes such contact is in the child's best interest; (c) The offending parent has successfully engaged in treatment for sex offenders or is engaged in such treatment and making progress; and (d) The offending parent's treatment provider believes contact with the child is appropriate and poses minimal risk to the child. If the court, in its discretion, allows visitation or contact it may impose such conditions to the visitation or contact which it finds reasonable, including supervision of contact or visitation by a neutral and independent adult with a detailed plan for supervision of any such contact or visitation. SECTION 3. Section 43-21-353, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows: 43-21-353. (1) Any attorney, physician, dentist, intern, resident, nurse, psychologist, social worker, family protection worker, family protection specialist, child caregiver, minister, law enforcement officer, public or private school employee or any other person having reasonable cause to suspect that a child is a neglected child, an abused child, or a victim of commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking shall cause an oral report to be made immediately by telephone or otherwise and followed as soon thereafter as possible by a report in writing to the Department of Child Protection Services, and immediately a referral shall be made by the Department of Child Protection Services to the youth court intake unit, which unit shall promptly comply with Section 43-21-357. In the course of an investigation, at the initial time of contact with the individual(s) about whom a report has been made under this Youth Court Act or with the individual(s) responsible for the health or welfare of a child about whom a report has been made under this chapter, the Department of Child Protection Services shall inform the individual of the specific complaints or allegations made against the individual. Consistent with subsection (4), the identity of the person who reported his or her suspicion shall not be disclosed at that point. Where appropriate, the Department of Child Protection Services shall additionally make a referral to the youth court prosecutor. Upon receiving a report that a child has been sexually abused, is a victim of commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking or has been burned, tortured, mutilated or otherwise physically abused in such a manner as to cause serious bodily harm, or upon receiving any report of abuse that would be a felony under state or federal law, the Department of Child Protection Services shall immediately notify the law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the abuse occurred. Within forty-eight (48) hours, the department must notify the appropriate prosecutor and the Statewide Human Trafficking Coordinator. If the child has been burned, tortured, mutilated or otherwise physically abused, the law enforcement agency shall arrest and detain the person suspected of such abuse no more than forty-eight (48) hours from learning about the abuse. The department shall have the duty to provide the law enforcement agency all the names and facts known at the time of the report; this duty shall be of a continuing nature. The law enforcement agency and the department shall begin to investigate the reported abuse immediately but in no less than forty-eight (48) hours and shall file a preliminary report with the appropriate prosecutor's office within twenty-four (24) hours and shall make additional reports as new or additional information or evidence becomes available. The department shall advise the clerk of the youth court and the youth court prosecutor of all cases of abuse reported to the department within seventy-two (72) hours and shall update such report as information becomes available. In addition, if the Department of Child Protection Services determines that a parent or other person responsible for the care or welfare of an abused or neglected child maintains active duty status within the military, the department shall notify the applicable military installation family advocacy program that there is an allegation of abuse or neglect that relates to that child. (2) Any report shall contain the names and addresses of the child and his parents or other persons responsible for his care, if known, the child's age, the nature and extent of the child's injuries, including any evidence of previous injuries, any other information that might be helpful in establishing the cause of the injury, and the identity of the perpetrator. (3) The Department of Child Protection Services shall maintain a statewide incoming wide-area telephone service or similar service for the purpose of receiving reports of suspected cases of child abuse, commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking; provided that any attorney, physician, dentist, intern, resident, nurse, psychologist, social worker, family protection worker, family protection specialist, child caregiver, minister, law enforcement officer or public or private school employee who is required to report under subsection (1) of this section shall report in the manner required in subsection (1). (4) Reports of abuse, neglect and commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking made under this chapter and the identity of the reporter are confidential except when the court in which the investigation report is filed, in its discretion, determines the testimony of the person reporting to be material to a judicial proceeding or when the identity of the reporter is released to law enforcement agencies and the appropriate prosecutor pursuant to subsection (1). Reports made under this section to any law enforcement agency or prosecutorial officer are for the purpose of criminal investigation and prosecution only and no information from these reports may be released to the public except as provided by Section 43-21-261. Disclosure of any information by the prosecutor shall be according to the Mississippi Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court Procedure. The identity of the reporting party shall not be disclosed to anyone other than law enforcement officers or prosecutors without an order from the appropriate youth court. Any person disclosing any reports made under this section in a manner not expressly provided for in this section or Section 43-21-261 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties prescribed by Section 43-21-267. Notwithstanding the confidentiality of the reporter's identity under this section, the Department of Child Protection Services may disclose a reporter's identity to the appropriate law enforcement agency or prosecutor if the department has reason to suspect the reporter has made a fraudulent report, and the Department of Child Protection Services must provide to the subject of the alleged fraudulent report written notification of the disclosure. (5) All final dispositions of law enforcement investigations described in subsection (1) of this section shall be determined only by the appropriate prosecutor or court. All final dispositions of investigations by the Department of Child Protection Services as described in subsection (1) of this section shall be determined only by the youth court. Reports made under subsection (1) of this section by the Department of Child Protection Services to the law enforcement agency and to the district attorney's office shall include the following, if known to the department: (a) The name and address of the child; (b) The names and addresses of the parents; (c) The name and address of the suspected perpetrator; (d) The names and addresses of all witnesses, including the reporting party if a material witness to the abuse; (e) A brief statement of the facts indicating that the child has been abused, including whether the child experienced commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking, and any other information from the agency files or known to the family protection worker or family protection specialist making the investigation, including medical records or other records, which may assist law enforcement or the district attorney in investigating and/or prosecuting the case; and (f) What, if any, action is being taken by the Department of Child Protection Services. (6) In any investigation of a report made under this chapter of the abuse or neglect of a child as defined in Section 43-21-105(l) or (m), the Department of Child Protection Services may request the appropriate law enforcement officer with jurisdiction to accompany the department in its investigation, and in such cases the law enforcement officer shall comply with such request. (7) Anyone who willfully violates any provision of this section shall be, upon being found guilty, punished by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or by imprisonment in jail not to exceed one (1) year, or both. (8) If a report is made directly to the Department of Child Protection Services that a child has been abused or neglected or experienced commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking in an out-of-home setting, a referral shall be made immediately to the law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the abuse occurred and the department shall notify the district attorney's office and the Statewide Human Trafficking Coordinator within forty-eight (48) hours of such report. The Department of Child Protection Services shall investigate the out-of-home setting report of abuse or neglect to determine whether the child who is the subject of the report, or other children in the same environment, comes within the jurisdiction of the youth court and shall report to the youth court the department's findings and recommendation as to whether the child who is the subject of the report or other children in the same environment require the protection of the youth court. The law enforcement agency shall investigate the reported abuse immediately and shall file a preliminary report with the district attorney's office within forty-eight (48) hours and shall make additional reports as new information or evidence becomes available. If the out-of-home setting is a licensed facility, an additional referral shall be made by the Department of Child Protection Services to the licensing agency. The licensing agency shall investigate the report and shall provide the department, the law enforcement agency and the district attorney's office with their written findings from such investigation as well as that licensing agency's recommendations and actions taken. (9) If a child protective investigation does not result in an out-of-home placement, a child protective investigator must provide information to the parent or guardians about community service programs that provide respite care, counseling and support for children who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking, voluntary guardianship or other support services for families in crisis. 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 (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, except for felony child abuse. 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 2028. SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025. |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | 2025 Regular Session |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | To: Judiciary B |
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| 8 | 8 | | |
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| 9 | 9 | | By: Representative Ford (73rd) |
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| 10 | 10 | | |
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| 11 | 11 | | # House Bill 742 |
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| 13 | 13 | | AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-5-39, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE MANDATORY MINIMUM PENALTIES FOR FELONY CHILD ABUSE; TO AMEND SECTION 97-5-42, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCREASE PENALTIES FOR FELONY CHILD ABUSE WITH MANDATORY MINIMUMS; TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-353, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE AN ARREST OF SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSERS WITHIN A CERTAIN TIME; TO AMEND SECTION 47-7-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO EXCLUDE FELONY CHILD ABUSE FROM CERTAIN SENTENCE REDUCTIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. |
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| 14 | 14 | | |
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| 15 | 15 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: |
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| 17 | 17 | | SECTION 1. Section 97-5-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows: |
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| 19 | 19 | | 97-5-39. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, any parent, guardian or other person who intentionally, knowingly or recklessly commits any act or omits the performance of any duty, which act or omission contributes to or tends to contribute to the neglect or delinquency of any child or which act or omission results in the abuse of any child, as defined in Section 43-21-105(m) of the Youth Court Law, or who knowingly aids any child in escaping or absenting himself from the guardianship or custody of any person, agency or institution, or knowingly harbors or conceals, or aids in harboring or concealing, any child who has absented himself without permission from the guardianship or custody of any person, agency or institution to which the child shall have been committed by the youth court shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment not to exceed one (1) year in jail, or by both such fine and imprisonment. |
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| 20 | 20 | | |
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| 21 | 21 | | (b) For the purpose of this section, a child is a person who has not reached his eighteenth birthday. A child who has not reached his eighteenth birthday and is on active duty for a branch of the armed services, or who is married, is not considered a child for the purposes of this statute. |
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| 22 | 22 | | |
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| 23 | 23 | | (c) If a child commits one (1) of the proscribed acts in subsection (2)(a), (b) or (c) of this section upon another child, then original jurisdiction of all such offenses shall be in youth court. |
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| 24 | 24 | | |
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| 25 | 25 | | (d) If the parent has failed to provide the child with food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or health of the child, excluding failure caused by financial inability unless relief services have been offered and refused and the child is in imminent risk of harm, or the parent is unwilling to provide reasonably necessary medical care, though that medical care does not include recommended or optional vaccinations against childhood or any other disease, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment in custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than five (5) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both. |
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| 26 | 26 | | |
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| 27 | 27 | | (e) A parent, legal guardian or other person who knowingly permits the continuing physical or sexual abuse of a child is guilty of neglect of a child and * * * may shall be sentenced to imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both. |
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| 28 | 28 | | |
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| 29 | 29 | | (2) Any person shall be guilty of felonious child abuse in the following circumstances: |
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| 30 | 30 | | |
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| 31 | 31 | | (a) Whether bodily harm results or not, if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly: |
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| 32 | 32 | | |
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| 33 | 33 | | (i) Burn any child; |
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| 34 | 34 | | |
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| 35 | 35 | | (ii) Torture any child; |
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| 36 | 36 | | |
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| 37 | 37 | | (iii) Strangle, choke, smother or in any way interfere with any child's breathing; |
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| 38 | 38 | | |
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| 39 | 39 | | (iv) Poison a child; |
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| 40 | 40 | | |
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| 41 | 41 | | (v) Starve a child of nourishments needed to sustain life or growth; |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | (vi) Use any type of deadly weapon upon any child; |
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| 44 | 44 | | |
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| 45 | 45 | | (b) If some bodily harm to any child actually occurs, and if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly: |
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| 46 | 46 | | |
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| 47 | 47 | | (i) Throw, kick, bite, or cut any child; |
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| 48 | 48 | | |
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| 49 | 49 | | (ii) Strike a child under the age of fourteen (14) about the face or head with a closed fist; |
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| 50 | 50 | | |
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| 51 | 51 | | (iii) Strike a child under the age of five (5) in the face or head; |
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| 52 | 52 | | |
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| 53 | 53 | | (iv) Kick, bite, cut or strike a child's genitals; circumcision of a male child is not a violation under this subparagraph (iv); |
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| 54 | 54 | | |
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| 55 | 55 | | (c) If serious bodily harm to any child actually occurs, and if the person shall intentionally, knowingly or recklessly: |
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| 56 | 56 | | |
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| 57 | 57 | | (i) Strike any child on the face or head; |
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| 58 | 58 | | |
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| 59 | 59 | | (ii) Disfigure or scar any child; |
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| 60 | 60 | | |
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| 61 | 61 | | (iii) Whip, strike or otherwise abuse any child; |
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| 62 | 62 | | |
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| 63 | 63 | | (d) Any person, upon conviction under paragraph (a) or (c) of this subsection, shall be sentenced by the court to imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not less than five (5) years and up to life, as determined by the court. Any person, upon conviction under paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be sentenced by the court to imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not less than two (2) years nor more than ten (10) years, as determined by the court. For any second or subsequent conviction under this subsection (2), the person shall be sentenced to imprisonment for life. |
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| 64 | 64 | | |
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| 65 | 65 | | (e) For the purposes of this subsection (2), "bodily harm" means any bodily injury to a child and includes, but is not limited to, bruising, bleeding, lacerations, soft tissue swelling, and external or internal swelling of any body organ. |
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| 66 | 66 | | |
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| 67 | 67 | | (f) For the purposes of this subsection (2), "serious bodily harm" means any serious bodily injury to a child and includes, but is not limited to, the fracture of a bone, permanent disfigurement, permanent scarring, or mutilation any internal bleeding or internal trauma to any organ, any brain damage, any injury to the eye or ear of a child or other vital organ, and impairment of any bodily function. |
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| 68 | 68 | | |
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| 69 | 69 | | (g) For purposes of this subsection (2), "torture" means any act, omission, or intentional neglect committed by an individual upon a child within his custody or physical control, whereby unnecessary or unjustifiable physical or mental pain or suffering is caused or permitted, regardless of whether serious physical injury results. Child torture involves treatment that is intentionally cruel, inhumane, and degrading, including, but not limited to: intentionally starving a child; forcing a child to sit in urine or feces; binding or restraining a child; repeatedly physically injuring a child; exposing the child to extreme temperatures without adequate clothing or shelter; locking a child in closets or other small spaces; and forcing a child into stress positions or exercise resulting in prolonged suffering. |
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| 70 | 70 | | |
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| 71 | 71 | | (h) Nothing contained in paragraph (c) of this subsection shall preclude a parent or guardian from disciplining a child of that parent or guardian, or shall preclude a person in loco parentis to a child from disciplining that child, if done in a reasonable manner, and reasonable corporal punishment or reasonable discipline as to that parent or guardian's child or child to whom a person stands in loco parentis shall be a defense to any violation charged under paragraph (c) of this subsection. |
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| 72 | 72 | | |
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| 73 | 73 | | (i) Reasonable discipline and reasonable corporal punishment shall not be a defense to acts described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection or if a child suffers serious bodily harm as a result of any act prohibited under paragraph (c) of this subsection. |
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| 74 | 74 | | |
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| 75 | 75 | | (3) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent proceedings against the parent, guardian or other person under any statute of this state or any municipal ordinance defining any act as a crime or misdemeanor. Nothing in the provisions of this section shall preclude any person from having a right to trial by jury when charged with having violated the provisions of this section. |
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| 76 | 76 | | |
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| 77 | 77 | | (4) (a) A parent, legal guardian or caretaker who endangers a child's person or health by knowingly causing or permitting the child to be present where any person is selling, manufacturing or possessing immediate precursors or chemical substances with intent to manufacture, sell or possess a controlled substance as prohibited under Section 41-29-139 or 41-29-313, is guilty of child endangerment and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than three (3) years nor more than ten (10) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both. |
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| 78 | 78 | | |
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| 79 | 79 | | (b) If the endangerment results in substantial harm to the child's physical, mental or emotional health, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than twenty (20) years or to payment of a fine of not more than Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00), or both. |
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| 80 | 80 | | |
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| 81 | 81 | | (5) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent proceedings against the parent, guardian or other person under any statute of this state or any municipal ordinance defining any act as a crime or misdemeanor. Nothing in the provisions of this section shall preclude any person from having a right to trial by jury when charged with having violated the provisions of this section. |
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| 82 | 82 | | |
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| 83 | 83 | | (6) After consultation with the Department of Child Protection Services, a regional mental health center or an appropriate professional person, a judge may suspend imposition or execution of a sentence provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section and in lieu thereof require treatment over a specified period of time at any approved public or private treatment facility. A person may be eligible for treatment in lieu of criminal penalties no more than one (1) time. |
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| 84 | 84 | | |
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| 85 | 85 | | (7) In any proceeding resulting from a report made pursuant to Section 43-21-353 of the Youth Court Law, the testimony of the physician making the report regarding the child's injuries or condition or cause thereof shall not be excluded on the ground that the physician's testimony violates the physician-patient privilege or similar privilege or rule against disclosure. The physician's report shall not be considered as evidence unless introduced as an exhibit to his testimony. |
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| 86 | 86 | | |
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| 87 | 87 | | (8) Any criminal prosecution arising from a violation of this section shall be tried in the circuit, county, justice or municipal court having jurisdiction; provided, however, that nothing herein shall abridge or dilute the contempt powers of the youth court. |
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| 88 | 88 | | |
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| 89 | 89 | | SECTION 2. Section 97-5-42, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows: |
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| 90 | 90 | | |
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| 91 | 91 | | 97-5-42. (1) (a) For purposes of this section, a conviction of felony parental child sexual abuse shall include any nolo contendere plea, guilty plea or conviction at trial to any offense enumerated in Section 93-15-121(h) or any other statute of the State of Mississippi whereby a parent may be penalized as a felon on account of sexual abuse of his or her own child; and shall include any conviction by plea or trial in any other state of the United States to an offense whereby a parent may be penalized as a felon for sexual abuse of his or her own child under the laws of that state, or which would be so penalized for such conduct had the act or acts been committed in the State of Mississippi. |
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| 92 | 92 | | |
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| 93 | 93 | | (b) A certified copy of the court order or judgment evidencing such a conviction shall be accepted by any public office with responsibilities pursuant to this section, and by any court in the State of Mississippi, as conclusive evidence of the conviction. |
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| 94 | 94 | | |
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| 95 | 95 | | (2) (a) No person who has been convicted of felony parental child sexual abuse shall contact or attempt to contact the victim child without the prior express written permission of the child's then legal custodian, who may be the other parent, a guardian, person in loco parentis or person with legal or physical custody of a child. |
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| 96 | 96 | | |
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| 97 | 97 | | (b) No person who has been convicted of felony parental child sexual abuse shall harass, threaten, intimidate or by any other means menace the victim child or any legal custodian of the child, who may be the other parent, a guardian, person in loco parentis or person with legal or physical custody of a child. |
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| 98 | 98 | | |
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| 99 | 99 | | (c) Any person who believes that a person who has been convicted of felony parental child sexual abuse may violate the provisions of paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection may register with the sheriff and any municipal law enforcement agency of the child's county and municipality of residence, setting forth the factual basis for that belief which shall include a certified copy of the court order or judgment evidencing the conviction of the child sexual abuse felon. The sheriff's office of each county and all municipal law enforcement agencies shall maintain a separate and distinct register for the purpose of recording the data required herein, and shall advise the reporting party of how emergency contact can be made with that office at any time with respect to a threatened violation of paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection. Immediate response with police protection shall be provided to any emergency contact made pursuant to this section, which police protection shall be continued in such reasonable manner as to deter future violations and protect the child and any person with legal custody of the child. |
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| 100 | 100 | | |
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| 101 | 101 | | (d) Any person who has been convicted of felony parental child sexual abuse who violates paragraph (a) of this subsection shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the * * *county jail for not custody of the Department of Corrections for not less * * *more than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years. Any person who has been convicted of felony parental child sexual abuse who violates paragraph (b) of this subsection shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for not * * *more less than five (5) years, no more than seven (7) years. |
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| 102 | 102 | | |
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| 103 | 103 | | (3) No person who has been convicted of felony parental child sexual abuse shall be entitled to have parental or other visitation rights as to that child who was the victim, unless he or she files a petition in the chancery court of the county in which the child resides, reciting the conviction, and joining as parties defendant any other parent, guardian, person standing in loco parentis or having legal or physical custody of the child. A guardian ad litem shall be appointed to represent the child at petitioner's expense. The court shall appoint a qualified psychologist or psychiatrist to conduct an independent examination of the petitioner to determine whether contact with that person poses a physical or emotional risk to the child, and report to the court. Such examination shall be at petitioner's expense. The court shall require any such petitioner to deposit with the court sufficient funds to pay expenses chargeable to a petitioner hereunder, the amount of such deposit to be within the discretion of the chancellor. Any defendant and the child through his or her guardian ad litem shall be entitled to a full evidentiary hearing on the petition. In no event shall a child be required to testify in court or by deposition, or be subjected to any psychological examination, without the express consent of the child through his or her guardian ad litem. Such guardian ad litem shall consult with the child's legal guardian or custodians before consenting to such testimony or examination. At any hearing there is a rebuttable presumption that contact with the child poses a physical and emotional risk to the child. That presumption may be rebutted and visitation or contact allowed on such terms and conditions that the chancery court shall set only upon specific written findings by the court that: |
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| 104 | 104 | | |
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| 105 | 105 | | (a) Contact between the child and the offending parent is appropriate and poses minimal risk to the child; |
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| 106 | 106 | | |
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| 107 | 107 | | (b) If the child has received counseling, that the child's counselor believes such contact is in the child's best interest; |
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| 108 | 108 | | |
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| 109 | 109 | | (c) The offending parent has successfully engaged in treatment for sex offenders or is engaged in such treatment and making progress; and |
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| 110 | 110 | | |
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| 111 | 111 | | (d) The offending parent's treatment provider believes contact with the child is appropriate and poses minimal risk to the child. If the court, in its discretion, allows visitation or contact it may impose such conditions to the visitation or contact which it finds reasonable, including supervision of contact or visitation by a neutral and independent adult with a detailed plan for supervision of any such contact or visitation. |
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| 112 | 112 | | |
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| 113 | 113 | | SECTION 3. Section 43-21-353, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows: |
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| 114 | 114 | | |
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| 115 | 115 | | 43-21-353. (1) Any attorney, physician, dentist, intern, resident, nurse, psychologist, social worker, family protection worker, family protection specialist, child caregiver, minister, law enforcement officer, public or private school employee or any other person having reasonable cause to suspect that a child is a neglected child, an abused child, or a victim of commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking shall cause an oral report to be made immediately by telephone or otherwise and followed as soon thereafter as possible by a report in writing to the Department of Child Protection Services, and immediately a referral shall be made by the Department of Child Protection Services to the youth court intake unit, which unit shall promptly comply with Section 43-21-357. In the course of an investigation, at the initial time of contact with the individual(s) about whom a report has been made under this Youth Court Act or with the individual(s) responsible for the health or welfare of a child about whom a report has been made under this chapter, the Department of Child Protection Services shall inform the individual of the specific complaints or allegations made against the individual. Consistent with subsection (4), the identity of the person who reported his or her suspicion shall not be disclosed at that point. Where appropriate, the Department of Child Protection Services shall additionally make a referral to the youth court prosecutor. |
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| 116 | 116 | | |
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| 117 | 117 | | Upon receiving a report that a child has been sexually abused, is a victim of commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking or has been burned, tortured, mutilated or otherwise physically abused in such a manner as to cause serious bodily harm, or upon receiving any report of abuse that would be a felony under state or federal law, the Department of Child Protection Services shall immediately notify the law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the abuse occurred. Within forty-eight (48) hours, the department must notify the appropriate prosecutor and the Statewide Human Trafficking Coordinator. If the child has been burned, tortured, mutilated or otherwise physically abused, the law enforcement agency shall arrest and detain the person suspected of such abuse no more than forty-eight (48) hours from learning about the abuse. The department shall have the duty to provide the law enforcement agency all the names and facts known at the time of the report; this duty shall be of a continuing nature. The law enforcement agency and the department shall begin to investigate the reported abuse immediately but in no less than forty-eight (48) hours and shall file a preliminary report with the appropriate prosecutor's office within twenty-four (24) hours and shall make additional reports as new or additional information or evidence becomes available. The department shall advise the clerk of the youth court and the youth court prosecutor of all cases of abuse reported to the department within seventy-two (72) hours and shall update such report as information becomes available. In addition, if the Department of Child Protection Services determines that a parent or other person responsible for the care or welfare of an abused or neglected child maintains active duty status within the military, the department shall notify the applicable military installation family advocacy program that there is an allegation of abuse or neglect that relates to that child. |
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| 118 | 118 | | |
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| 119 | 119 | | (2) Any report shall contain the names and addresses of the child and his parents or other persons responsible for his care, if known, the child's age, the nature and extent of the child's injuries, including any evidence of previous injuries, any other information that might be helpful in establishing the cause of the injury, and the identity of the perpetrator. |
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| 120 | 120 | | |
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| 121 | 121 | | (3) The Department of Child Protection Services shall maintain a statewide incoming wide-area telephone service or similar service for the purpose of receiving reports of suspected cases of child abuse, commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking; provided that any attorney, physician, dentist, intern, resident, nurse, psychologist, social worker, family protection worker, family protection specialist, child caregiver, minister, law enforcement officer or public or private school employee who is required to report under subsection (1) of this section shall report in the manner required in subsection (1). |
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| 122 | 122 | | |
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| 123 | 123 | | (4) Reports of abuse, neglect and commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking made under this chapter and the identity of the reporter are confidential except when the court in which the investigation report is filed, in its discretion, determines the testimony of the person reporting to be material to a judicial proceeding or when the identity of the reporter is released to law enforcement agencies and the appropriate prosecutor pursuant to subsection (1). Reports made under this section to any law enforcement agency or prosecutorial officer are for the purpose of criminal investigation and prosecution only and no information from these reports may be released to the public except as provided by Section 43-21-261. Disclosure of any information by the prosecutor shall be according to the Mississippi Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court Procedure. The identity of the reporting party shall not be disclosed to anyone other than law enforcement officers or prosecutors without an order from the appropriate youth court. Any person disclosing any reports made under this section in a manner not expressly provided for in this section or Section 43-21-261 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties prescribed by Section 43-21-267. Notwithstanding the confidentiality of the reporter's identity under this section, the Department of Child Protection Services may disclose a reporter's identity to the appropriate law enforcement agency or prosecutor if the department has reason to suspect the reporter has made a fraudulent report, and the Department of Child Protection Services must provide to the subject of the alleged fraudulent report written notification of the disclosure. |
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| 124 | 124 | | |
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| 125 | 125 | | (5) All final dispositions of law enforcement investigations described in subsection (1) of this section shall be determined only by the appropriate prosecutor or court. All final dispositions of investigations by the Department of Child Protection Services as described in subsection (1) of this section shall be determined only by the youth court. Reports made under subsection (1) of this section by the Department of Child Protection Services to the law enforcement agency and to the district attorney's office shall include the following, if known to the department: |
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| 126 | 126 | | |
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| 127 | 127 | | (a) The name and address of the child; |
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| 128 | 128 | | |
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| 129 | 129 | | (b) The names and addresses of the parents; |
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| 130 | 130 | | |
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| 131 | 131 | | (c) The name and address of the suspected perpetrator; |
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| 132 | 132 | | |
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| 133 | 133 | | (d) The names and addresses of all witnesses, including the reporting party if a material witness to the abuse; |
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| 134 | 134 | | |
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| 135 | 135 | | (e) A brief statement of the facts indicating that the child has been abused, including whether the child experienced commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking, and any other information from the agency files or known to the family protection worker or family protection specialist making the investigation, including medical records or other records, which may assist law enforcement or the district attorney in investigating and/or prosecuting the case; and |
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| 136 | 136 | | |
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| 137 | 137 | | (f) What, if any, action is being taken by the Department of Child Protection Services. |
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| 138 | 138 | | |
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| 139 | 139 | | (6) In any investigation of a report made under this chapter of the abuse or neglect of a child as defined in Section 43-21-105(l) or (m), the Department of Child Protection Services may request the appropriate law enforcement officer with jurisdiction to accompany the department in its investigation, and in such cases the law enforcement officer shall comply with such request. |
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| 140 | 140 | | |
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| 141 | 141 | | (7) Anyone who willfully violates any provision of this section shall be, upon being found guilty, punished by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or by imprisonment in jail not to exceed one (1) year, or both. |
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| 142 | 142 | | |
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| 143 | 143 | | (8) If a report is made directly to the Department of Child Protection Services that a child has been abused or neglected or experienced commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking in an out-of-home setting, a referral shall be made immediately to the law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the abuse occurred and the department shall notify the district attorney's office and the Statewide Human Trafficking Coordinator within forty-eight (48) hours of such report. The Department of Child Protection Services shall investigate the out-of-home setting report of abuse or neglect to determine whether the child who is the subject of the report, or other children in the same environment, comes within the jurisdiction of the youth court and shall report to the youth court the department's findings and recommendation as to whether the child who is the subject of the report or other children in the same environment require the protection of the youth court. The law enforcement agency shall investigate the reported abuse immediately and shall file a preliminary report with the district attorney's office within forty-eight (48) hours and shall make additional reports as new information or evidence becomes available. If the out-of-home setting is a licensed facility, an additional referral shall be made by the Department of Child Protection Services to the licensing agency. The licensing agency shall investigate the report and shall provide the department, the law enforcement agency and the district attorney's office with their written findings from such investigation as well as that licensing agency's recommendations and actions taken. |
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| 144 | 144 | | |
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| 145 | 145 | | (9) If a child protective investigation does not result in an out-of-home placement, a child protective investigator must provide information to the parent or guardians about community service programs that provide respite care, counseling and support for children who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking, voluntary guardianship or other support services for families in crisis. |
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| 146 | 146 | | |
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| 147 | 147 | | SECTION 4. Section 47-7-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows: |
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| 148 | 148 | | |
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| 149 | 149 | | 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: |
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| 150 | 150 | | |
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| 151 | 151 | | (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; |
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| 152 | 152 | | |
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| 153 | 153 | | (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; |
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| 154 | 154 | | |
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| 155 | 155 | | (c) Capital offenders. No person sentenced for the following offenses shall be eligible for parole: |
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| 156 | 156 | | |
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| 157 | 157 | | (i) Capital murder committed on or after July 1, 1994, as defined in Section 97-3-19(2); |
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| 158 | 158 | | |
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| 159 | 159 | | (ii) Any offense to which an offender is sentenced to life imprisonment under the provisions of Section 99-19-101; or |
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| 160 | 160 | | |
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| 161 | 161 | | (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; |
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| 162 | 162 | | |
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| 163 | 163 | | (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; |
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| 164 | 164 | | |
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| 165 | 165 | | (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; |
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| 166 | 166 | | |
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| 167 | 167 | | (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; |
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| 168 | 168 | | |
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| 169 | 169 | | (g) Offenses specifically prohibiting parole release. No person shall be eligible for parole who is convicted of any offense that specifically prohibits parole release; |
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| 170 | 170 | | |
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| 171 | 171 | | (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: |
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| 172 | 172 | | |
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| 173 | 173 | | 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, except for felony child abuse. For purposes of this paragraph, "nonviolent crime" means a felony not designated as a crime of violence in Section 97-3-2. |
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| 174 | 174 | | |
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| 175 | 175 | | 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. |
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| 176 | 176 | | |
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| 177 | 177 | | 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. |
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| 178 | 178 | | |
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| 179 | 179 | | (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. |
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| 180 | 180 | | |
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| 181 | 181 | | (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: |
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| 182 | 182 | | |
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| 183 | 183 | | 1. The inmate is sentenced as a habitual offender under Sections 99-19-81 through 99-19-87; |
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| 184 | 184 | | |
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| 185 | 185 | | 2. The inmate is sentenced for a crime of violence under Section 97-3-2; |
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| 186 | 186 | | |
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| 187 | 187 | | 3. The inmate is sentenced for an offense that specifically prohibits parole release; |
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| 188 | 188 | | |
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| 189 | 189 | | 4. The inmate is sentenced for trafficking in controlled substances under Section 41-29-139(f); |
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| 190 | 190 | | |
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| 191 | 191 | | 5. The inmate is sentenced for a sex crime; or |
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| 192 | 192 | | |
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| 193 | 193 | | 6. The inmate has not served one-fourth (1/4) of the sentence imposed by the court. |
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| 194 | 194 | | |
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| 195 | 195 | | (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. |
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| 196 | 196 | | |
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| 197 | 197 | | (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. |
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| 198 | 198 | | |
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| 199 | 199 | | (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. |
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| 200 | 200 | | |
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| 201 | 201 | | (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. |
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| 202 | 202 | | |
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| 203 | 203 | | (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. |
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| 204 | 204 | | |
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| 205 | 205 | | (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. |
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| 206 | 206 | | |
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| 207 | 207 | | (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. |
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| 208 | 208 | | |
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| 209 | 209 | | (8) The amendments contained in Chapter 479, Laws of 2021, shall apply retroactively from and after July 1, 1995. |
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| 210 | 210 | | |
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| 211 | 211 | | (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. |
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| 212 | 212 | | |
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| 213 | 213 | | (10) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, * * * 2027 2028. |
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| 214 | 214 | | |
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| 215 | 215 | | SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025. |
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