MS HB198

Nonviolent offenders incarcerated by the Department of Corrections receive a 10% sentence reduction for each subject area passed on the twelfth grade level of the Mississippi end-of-course subject area testing program, effective July 1, 2019.

Nonviolent offenders who pass end-of-course exams are exempted from the 15% earned-time allowance limitation that normally applies to inmates under the meritorious earned time program.

"Nonviolent offender" is defined as any individual convicted of a felony other than a crime of violence as defined under Section 97-3-2.

Amendments to sections 47-5-138, 47-5-142, and 47-7-3.2 conform existing earned-time and meritorious earned-time statutes to accommodate the new sentence reduction provisions.

The bill takes effect July 1, 2019.