MS HB835

Establishes a Circuit Court Community Corrections pilot program in the Sixth, Seventh, Eleventh, Twelfth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Nineteenth circuit court districts, with oversight by Circuit Court Community Corrections Commissions comprised of district attorneys, sheriffs, the Department of Corrections Commissioner, a criminal defense bar member, and two additional appointed members.

Authorizes programs and services including pretrial release, community service, post-adjudication supervision, vocational/educational employment programs, residential rehabilitation and work release, reentry programs, and support services for drug courts and pretrial diversion programs.

Permits commissions to collect reasonable fees from participants, hire professional services, accept grants and donations, and refuse participation of individuals deemed a public safety risk or who previously disrupted program operations.

Allows judicial officers to order eligible persons (excluding those convicted of crimes of violence) into suspended sentence supervision, residential rehabilitation programs, or other alternatives to incarceration, with participants required to pay up to 40% of gross earnings toward program costs and submit to drug and alcohol testing.

Requires annual audits of collected fees and expenditures; establishes that the act is retroactive and shall expire July 1, 2013; provides that existing drug courts and pretrial diversion programs continue to operate unchanged.