Sentencing
Parole Eligibility &
Grade: 
Overview
Parole and Earned Time provisions provide people who are currently incarcerated positive incentives to behave and improve themselves while in prison. They also empower parole boards and corrections officials to make evidence-based decisions that serve the interests of justice and protect taxpayers. Denying individuals the opportunity to be considered for parole or early release removes a powerful tool that can be used by corrections officials to maintain order and safety. Parole systems that provide broad eligibility and positive incentives for good behavior provide maximal benefit to taxpayers. These provisions must be structured in a way that allow system actors to exercise these powers effectively and grant parole as they see fit. Geriatric and medical parole provisions allow the state to provide compassionate release in extraordinary circumstances, allowing for individuals nearing end-of-life to maintain a measure of dignity while relieving taxpayers of the full burden of expensive end of life care.
Broad Eligibility
Does the state establish broad parole eligibility for most incarcerated individuals?
40 points
Good Behavior Incentives
Are good behavior incentives in place to encourage safety and order within correctional facilities?
30 points
Efficacy
Does the parole grant rate reflect appropriate consideration of individual cases and full utilization of the parole process?
20 points
Geriatric Parole, Medical Parole, and Compassionate Release
Do compassionate release provisions allow individuals nearing end of life to serve the remainder of their sentence at home or in a medical facility?
10 points
State Overview
Recent reforms expanded parole eligibility in Mississippi to include some violent offenses most nonviolent offenses, except for those serving a habitual sentence.
For those who are eligible for parole, the system appears to function relatively well, with a grant rate of around 70% in 2020. Compassionate release options are extremely limited, applying to almost no one who is not otherwise eligible for parole.
Details
Broad Eligibility
Most nonviolent offenses are eligible for parole in Mississippi, except for those serving habitual sentences.
30/40 points
Good Behavior Incentives
Earned time is available for some crimes of violence, but other offense types are excluded for arbitrary reasons that do not correlate with risks associated with offense types. These exclusions are problematic from a public safety perspective because they deny incentives to those convicted of serious offenses.
15/30 points
Efficacy
The parole grant rate is stable and reflects a reasonable consideration of cases for parole, although this is partially due to the limited nature of offense types currently eligible for parole. The lack of reentry housing for individuals in Mississippi requires many individuals to remain incarcerated even after they have been granted parole because they have nowhere to go.
15/20 points
Geriatric Parole, Medical Parole, and Compassionate Release
Mississippi’s compassionate release laws are extremely limited, applying to almost no one who isn’t otherwise eligible for parole already.