Habitual offender law; authorize parole eligibility if offender served 10 years of a sentence of 40 years or more.

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To: Judiciary B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Johnson

HOUSE BILL NO. 131

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 99-19-81, 99-19-83 AND 47-7-3, 1
MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT A HABITUAL OFFENDER MAY 2
BE ELIGIBLE FOR PAROLE IF THE OFFENDER SERVES 10 YEARS OF A 3
SENTENCE OF 40 YEARS OR MORE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 5
SECTION 1. Section 99-19-81, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 6
amended as follows: 7
99-19-81. Every person convicted in this state of a felony 8
who shall have been convicted twice previously of any felony or 9
federal crime upon charges separately brought and arising out of 10
separate incidents at different times and who shall have been 11
sentenced to separate terms of one (1) year or more in any state 12
and/or federal penal institution, whether in this state or 13
elsewhere, shall be sentenced to the maximum term of imprisonment 14
prescribed for such felony unless the court provides an 15
explanation in its sentencing order setting forth the cause for 16
deviating from the maximum sentence, and such sentence shall not 17
be reduced or suspended nor shall such person be eligible for 18
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parole or probation unless such person has served ten (10) years 19
of a sentence of forty (40) years or more. 20
SECTION 2. Section 99-19-83, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 21
amended as follows: 22
99-19-83. Every person convicted in this state of a felony 23
who shall have been convicted twice previously of any felony or 24
federal crime upon charges separately brought and arising out of 25
separate incidents at different times and who shall have been 26
sentenced to and served separate terms of one (1) year or more, 27
whether served concurrently or not, in any state and/or federal 28
penal institution, whether in this state or elsewhere, and where 29
any one (1) of such felonies shall have been a crime of violence, 30
as defined by Section 97-3-2, shall be sentenced to life 31
imprisonment, and such sentence shall not be reduced or suspended 32
nor shall such person be eligible for parole, probation or any 33
other form of early release from actual physical custody within 34
the Department of Corrections unless such person has served ten 35
(10) years of a sentence of forty (40) years or more. 36
SECTION 3. Section 47-7-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 37
amended as follows: 38
47-7-3. (1) Every prisoner who has been convicted of any 39
offense against the State of Mississippi, and is confined in the 40
execution of a judgment of such conviction in the Mississippi 41
Department of Corrections for a definite term or terms of one (1) 42
year or over, or for the term of his or her natural life, whose 43
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record of conduct shows that such prisoner has observed the rules 44
of the department, and who has served the minimum required time 45
for parole eligibility, may be released on parole as set forth 46
herein: 47
(a) Habitual offenders. Except as provided by Sections 48
99-19-81 through 99-19-87, no person sentenced as a confirmed and 49
habitual criminal shall be eligible for parole unless such 50
prisoner has served ten (10) years of a sentence of forty (40) 51
years or more; 52
(b) Sex offenders. Any person who has been sentenced 53
for a sex offense as defined in Section 45-33-23(h) shall not be 54
released on parole except for a person under the age of nineteen 55
(19) who has been convicted under Section 97-3-67; 56
(c) Capital offenders. No person sentenced for the 57
following offenses shall be eligible for parole: 58
(i) Capital murder committed on or after July 1, 59
1994, as defined in Section 97-3-19(2); 60
(ii) Any offense to which an offender is sentenced 61
to life imprisonment under the provisions of Section 99-19-101; or 62
(iii) Any offense to which an offender is 63
sentenced to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole 64
under the provisions of Section 99-19-101, whose crime was 65
committed on or after July 1, 1994; 66
(d) Murder. No person sentenced for murder in the 67
first degree, whose crime was committed on or after June 30, 1995, 68
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or murder in the second degree, as defined in Section 97-3-19, 69
shall be eligible for parole; 70
(e) Human trafficking. No person sentenced for human 71
trafficking, as defined in Section 97-3-54.1, whose crime was 72
committed on or after July 1, 2014, shall be eligible for parole; 73
(f) Drug trafficking. No person sentenced for 74
trafficking and aggravated trafficking, as defined in Section 75
41-29-139(f) through (g), shall be eligible for parole; 76
(g) Offenses specifically prohibiting parole release. 77
No person shall be eligible for parole who is convicted of any 78
offense that specifically prohibits parole release; 79
(h) (i) Offenders eligible for parole consideration 80
for offenses committed after June 30, 1995. Except as provided in 81
paragraphs (a) through (g) of this subsection, offenders may be 82
considered eligible for parole release as follows: 83
1. Nonviolent crimes. All persons sentenced 84
for a nonviolent offense shall be eligible for parole only after 85
they have served twenty-five percent (25%) or ten (10) years, 86
whichever is less, of the sentence or sentences imposed by the 87
trial court. For purposes of this paragraph, "nonviolent crime" 88
means a felony not designated as a crime of violence in Section 89
97-3-2. 90
2. Violent crimes. A person who is sentenced 91
for a violent offense as defined in Section 97-3-2, except robbery 92
with a deadly weapon as defined in Section 97-3-79, drive-by 93
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shooting as defined in Section 97-3-109, and carjacking as defined 94
in Section 97-3-117, shall be eligible for parole only after 95
having served fifty percent (50%) or twenty (20) years, whichever 96
is less, of the sentence or sentences imposed by the trial court. 97
Those persons sentenced for robbery with a deadly weapon as 98
defined in Section 97-3-79, drive-by shooting as defined in 99
Section 97-3-109, and carjacking as defined in Section 97-3-117, 100
shall be eligible for parole only after having served sixty 101
percent (60%) or twenty-five (25) years, whichever is less, of the 102
sentence or sentences imposed by the trial court. 103
3. Nonviolent and nonhabitual drug offenses. 104
A person who has been sentenced to a drug offense pursuant to 105
Section 41-29-139(a) through (d), whose crime was committed after 106
June 30, 1995, shall be eligible for parole only after he has 107
served twenty-five percent (25%) or ten (10) years, whichever is 108
less, of the sentence or sentences imposed. 109
(ii) Parole hearing required. All persons 110
eligible for parole under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph (h) 111
who are serving a sentence or sentences for a crime of violence, 112
as defined in Section 97-3-2, shall be required to have a parole 113
hearing before the Parole Board pursuant to Section 47-7-17, prior 114
to parole release. 115
(iii) Geriatric parole. Notwithstanding the 116
provisions in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph (h), a person 117
serving a sentence who has reached the age of sixty (60) or older 118
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and who has served no less than ten (10) years of the sentence or 119
sentences imposed by the trial court shall be eligible for parole. 120
Any person eligible for parole under this subparagraph (iii) shall 121
be required to have a parole hearing before the board prior to 122
parole release. No inmate shall be eligible for parole under this 123
subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph (h) if: 124
1. The inmate is sentenced as a habitual 125
offender under Sections 99-19-81 through 99-19-87 unless such 126
inmate has served ten (10) years of a sentence of forty (40) years 127
or more; 128
2. The inmate is sentenced for a crime of 129
violence under Section 97-3-2; 130
3. The inmate is sentenced for an offense 131
that specifically prohibits parole release; 132
4. The inmate is sentenced for trafficking in 133
controlled substances under Section 41-29-139(f); 134
5. The inmate is sentenced for a sex crime; 135
or 136
6. The inmate has not served one-fourth (1/4) 137
of the sentence imposed by the court. 138
(iv) Parole consideration as authorized by the 139
trial court. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of 140
this subsection, any offender who has not committed a crime of 141
violence under Section 97-3-2 and has served twenty-five percent 142
(25%) or more of his sentence may be paroled by the State Parole 143
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Board if, after the sentencing judge or if the sentencing judge is 144
retired, disabled or incapacitated, the senior circuit judge 145
authorizes the offender to be eligible for parole consideration; 146
or if the senior circuit judge must be recused, another circuit 147
judge of the same district or a senior status judge may hear and 148
decide the matter. A petition for parole eligibility 149
consideration pursuant to this subparagraph (iv) shall be filed in 150
the original criminal cause or causes, and the offender shall 151
serve an executed copy of the petition on the District Attorney. 152
The court may, in its discretion, require the District Attorney to 153
respond to the petition. 154
(2) The State Parole Board shall, by rules and regulations, 155
establish a method of determining a tentative parole hearing date 156
for each eligible offender taken into the custody of the 157
Department of Corrections. The tentative parole hearing date 158
shall be determined within ninety (90) days after the department 159
has assumed custody of the offender. Except as provided in 160
Section 47-7-18, the parole hearing date shall occur when the 161
offender is within thirty (30) days of the month of his parole 162
eligibility date. Any parole eligibility date shall not be 163
earlier than as required in this section. 164
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an inmate 165
shall not be eligible to receive earned time, good time or any 166
other administrative reduction of time which shall reduce the time 167
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necessary to be served for parole eligibility as provided in 168
subsection (1) of this section. 169
(4) Any inmate within forty-eight (48) months of his parole 170
eligibility date and who meets the criteria established by the 171
classification board shall receive priority for placement in any 172
educational development and job-training programs that are part of 173
his or her parole case plan. Any inmate refusing to participate 174
in an educational development or job-training program, including, 175
but not limited to, programs required as part of the case plan, 176
shall be in jeopardy of noncompliance with the case plan and may 177
be denied parole. 178
(5) In addition to other requirements, if an offender is 179
convicted of a drug or driving under the influence felony, the 180
offender must complete a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program 181
prior to parole, or the offender shall be required to complete a 182
postrelease drug and alcohol program as a condition of parole. 183
(6) Except as provided in subsection (1)(a) through (h) of 184
this section, all other persons shall be eligible for parole after 185
serving twenty-five percent (25%) of the sentence or sentences 186
imposed by the trial court, or, if sentenced to thirty (30) years 187
or more, after serving ten (10) years of the sentence or sentences 188
imposed by the trial court. 189
(7) The Corrections and Criminal Justice Oversight Task 190
Force established in Section 47-5-6 shall develop and submit 191
recommendations to the Governor and to the Legislature annually on 192
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ST: Habitual offender law; authorize parole
eligibility if offender served 10 years of a
sentence of 40 years or more.
or before December 1st concerning issues relating to juvenile and 193
habitual offender parole reform and to review and monitor the 194
implementation of Chapter 479, Laws of 2021. 195
(8) The amendments contained in Chapter 479, Laws of 2021, 196
shall apply retroactively from and after July 1, 1995. 197
(9) Notwithstanding provisions to the contrary in this 198
section, a person who was sentenced before July 1, 2021, may be 199
considered for parole if the person's sentence would have been 200
parole eligible before July 1, 2021. 201
(10) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2027. 202
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from 203
and after July 1, 2026. 204