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To: Judiciary, Division B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Senator(s) Sparks
SENATE BILL NO. 2337
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 47-7-37, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
AUTHORIZE AN INTERVENTION COURT TO IMPOSE UP TO THE REMAINDER OF 2
THE SUSPENDED PORTION OF A PROBATIONER'S SENTENCE WITHOUT THE 3
PROBATIONER HAVING A HEARING UNDER THIS SECTION UPON THE JUDGE'S 4
WRITTEN FINDING OF A CERTAIN NUMBER OF VIOLATIONS OF THE 5
PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS OF THE INTERVENTION COURT; AND FOR 6
RELATED PURPOSES. 7
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 8
SECTION 1. Section 47-7-37, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 9
amended as follows: 10
47-7-37. (1) The period of probation shall be fixed by the 11
court, and may at any time be extended or terminated by the court, 12
or judge in vacation. Such period with any extension thereof 13
shall not exceed five (5) years, except that in cases of desertion 14
and/or failure to support minor children, the period of probation 15
may be fixed and/or extended by the court for so long as the duty 16
to support such minor children exists. The time served on 17
probation or post-release supervision may be reduced pursuant to 18
Section 47-7-40. 19
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(2) At any time during the period of probation, the court, 20
or judge in vacation, may issue a warrant for violating any of the 21
conditions of probation or suspension of sentence and cause the 22
probationer to be arrested. Any probation and parole officer may 23
arrest a probationer without a warrant, or may deputize any other 24
officer with power of arrest to do so by giving him a written 25
statement setting forth that the probationer has, in the judgment 26
of the probation and parole officer, violated the conditions of 27
probation. Such written statement delivered with the probationer 28
by the arresting officer to the official in charge of a county 29
jail or other place of detention shall be sufficient warrant for 30
the detention of the probationer. 31
(3) Whenever an offender is arrested on a warrant for an 32
alleged violation of probation as herein provided, the department 33
shall hold an informal preliminary hearing within seventy-two (72) 34
hours of the arrest to determine whether there is reasonable cause 35
to believe the person has violated a condition of probation. A 36
preliminary hearing shall not be required when the offender is not 37
under arrest on a warrant or the offender signed a waiver of a 38
preliminary hearing. The preliminary hearing may be conducted 39
electronically. If reasonable cause is found, the offender may be 40
confined no more than twenty-one (21) days from the admission to 41
detention until a revocation hearing is held. If the revocation 42
hearing is not held within twenty-one (21) days, the probationer 43
shall be released from custody and returned to probation status. 44
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(4) If a probationer or offender is subject to registration 45
as a sex offender, the court must make a finding that the 46
probationer or offender is not a danger to the public prior to 47
release with or without bail. In determining the danger posed by 48
the release of the offender or probationer, the court may consider 49
the nature and circumstances of the violation and any new offenses 50
charged; the offender or probationer's past and present conduct, 51
including convictions of crimes and any record of arrests without 52
conviction for crimes involving violence or sex crimes; any other 53
evidence of allegations of unlawful sexual conduct or the use of 54
violence by the offender or probationer; the offender or 55
probationer's family ties, length of residence in the community, 56
employment history and mental condition; the offender or 57
probationer's history and conduct during the probation or other 58
supervised release and any other previous supervisions, including 59
disciplinary records of previous incarcerations; the likelihood 60
that the offender or probationer will engage again in a criminal 61
course of conduct; the weight of the evidence against the offender 62
or probationer; and any other facts the court considers relevant. 63
(5) (a) (i) The probation and parole officer after making 64
an arrest shall present to the detaining authorities a similar 65
statement of the circumstances of violation. The probation and 66
parole officer shall at once notify the court of the arrest and 67
detention of the probationer and shall submit a report in writing 68
showing in what manner the probationer has violated the conditions 69
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of probation. Within twenty-one (21) days of arrest and detention 70
by warrant as herein provided, the court shall cause the 71
probationer to be brought before it and may continue or revoke all 72
or any part of the probation or the suspension of sentence. If 73
the court revokes probation for one or more technical violations, 74
the court shall impose a period of imprisonment to be served in 75
either a technical violation center or a restitution center not to 76
exceed ninety (90) days for the first revocation and not to exceed 77
one hundred twenty (120) days for the second revocation. For the 78
third revocation, the court may impose a period of imprisonment to 79
be served in either a technical violation center or a restitution 80
center for up to one hundred eighty (180) days or the court may 81
impose the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. 82
For the fourth and any subsequent revocation, the court may impose 83
up to the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. The 84
period of imprisonment in a technical violation center imposed 85
under this section shall not be reduced in any manner. 86
(ii) For probationers who are participants in an 87
intervention court authorized under Sections 9-23-1 through 88
9-23-23, the court may impose up to the remainder of the suspended 89
portion of the sentence without the probationer having a hearing 90
under this section upon the judge's written finding of at least 91
three (3) violations of the procedures and requirements of the 92
intervention court. 93
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(b) If the offender is not detained as a result of the 94
warrant, the court shall cause the probationer to be brought 95
before it within a reasonable time and may continue or revoke all 96
or any part of the probation or the suspension of sentence, and 97
may cause the sentence imposed to be executed or may impose any 98
part of the sentence which might have been imposed at the time of 99
conviction. If the court revokes probation for one or more 100
technical violations, the court shall impose a period of 101
imprisonment to be served in either a technical violation center 102
or a restitution center not to exceed ninety (90) days for the 103
first revocation and not to exceed one hundred twenty (120) days 104
for the second revocation. For the third revocation, the court 105
may impose a period of imprisonment to be served in either a 106
technical violation center or a restitution center for up to one 107
hundred eighty (180) days or the court may impose the remainder of 108
the suspended portion of the sentence. For the fourth and any 109
subsequent revocation, the court may impose up to the remainder of 110
the suspended portion of the sentence. The period of imprisonment 111
in a technical violation center imposed under this section shall 112
not be reduced in any manner. 113
(c) If the court does not hold a hearing or does not 114
take action on the violation within the twenty-one-day period, the 115
offender shall be released from detention and shall return to 116
probation status. The court may subsequently hold a hearing and 117
may revoke probation or may continue probation and modify the 118
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terms and conditions of probation. If the court revokes probation 119
for one or more technical violations, the court shall impose a 120
period of imprisonment to be served in either a technical 121
violation center operated by the department or a restitution 122
center not to exceed ninety (90) days for the first revocation and 123
not to exceed one hundred twenty (120) days for the second 124
revocation. For the third revocation, the court may impose a 125
period of imprisonment to be served in either a technical 126
violation center or a restitution center for up to one hundred 127
eighty (180) days or the court may impose the remainder of the 128
suspended portion of the sentence. For the fourth and any 129
subsequent revocation, the court may impose up to the remainder of 130
the suspended portion of the sentence. The period of imprisonment 131
in a technical violation center imposed under this section shall 132
not be reduced in any manner. 133
(d) For an offender charged with a technical violation 134
who has not been detained awaiting the revocation hearing, the 135
court may hold a hearing within a reasonable time. The court may 136
revoke probation or may continue probation and modify the terms 137
and conditions of probation. If the court revokes probation for 138
one or more technical violations the court shall impose a period 139
of imprisonment to be served in either a technical violation 140
center operated by the department or a restitution center not to 141
exceed ninety (90) days for the first revocation and not to exceed 142
one hundred twenty (120) days for the second revocation. For the 143
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third revocation, the court may impose a period of imprisonment to 144
be served in either a technical violation center or a restitution 145
center for up to one hundred eighty (180) days or the court may 146
impose the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. 147
For the fourth and any subsequent revocation, the court may impose 148
up to the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. The 149
period of imprisonment in a technical violation center imposed 150
under this section shall not be reduced in any manner. 151
(6) If the probationer is arrested in a circuit court 152
district in the State of Mississippi other than that in which he 153
was convicted, the probation and parole officer, upon the written 154
request of the sentencing judge, shall furnish to the circuit 155
court or the county court of the county in which the arrest is 156
made, or to the judge of such court, a report concerning the 157
probationer, and such court or the judge in vacation shall have 158
authority, after a hearing, to continue or revoke all or any part 159
of probation or all or any part of the suspension of sentence, and 160
may in case of revocation proceed to deal with the case as if 161
there had been no probation. In such case, the clerk of the court 162
in which the order of revocation is issued shall forward a 163
transcript of such order to the clerk of the court of original 164
jurisdiction, and the clerk of that court shall proceed as if the 165
order of revocation had been issued by the court of original 166
jurisdiction. Upon the revocation of probation or suspension of 167
sentence of any offender, such offender shall be placed in the 168
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legal custody of the State Department of Corrections and shall be 169
subject to the requirements thereof. 170
(7) Any probationer who removes himself from the State of 171
Mississippi without permission of the court placing him on 172
probation, or the court to which jurisdiction has been 173
transferred, shall be deemed and considered a fugitive from 174
justice and shall be subject to extradition as now provided by 175
law. No part of the time that one is on probation shall be 176
considered as any part of the time that he shall be sentenced to 177
serve. 178
(8) The arresting officer, except when a probation and 179
parole officer, shall be allowed the same fees as now provided by 180
law for arrest on warrant, and such fees shall be taxed against 181
the probationer and paid as now provided by law. 182
(9) The arrest, revocation and recommitment procedures of 183
this section also apply to persons who are serving a period of 184
post-release supervision imposed by the court. 185
(10) Unless good cause for the delay is established in the 186
record of the proceeding, the probation revocation charge shall be 187
dismissed if the revocation hearing is not held within thirty (30) 188
days of the warrant being issued. 189
(11) The Department of Corrections shall provide 190
semiannually to the Oversight Task Force the number of warrants 191
issued for an alleged violation of probation or post-release 192
supervision, the average time between detention on a warrant and 193
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ST: Technical violation hearing; exempt need
for hearing for participant's of intervention
courts upon judge's findings of violations.
preliminary hearing, the average time between detention on a 194
warrant and revocation hearing, the number of ninety-day sentences 195
in a technical violation center issued by the court, the number of 196
one-hundred-twenty-day sentences in a technical violation center 197
issued by the court, the number of one-hundred-eighty-day 198
sentences issued by the court, and the number and average length 199
of the suspended sentences imposed by the court in response to a 200
violation. 201
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 202
and after July 1, 2026. 203