JACKSON — Under questioning from lawmakers on Tuesday, the head of the state parole board said greater scrutiny of inmates prison records has led to a decline in the parole
JACKSON ⢠Gov. Tate Reeves signed into law Thursday significant parole reforms that could make around 2,000 inmates newly eligible for release, a year after rejecting a similar bipartisan bill from lawmakers.
The Mississippi Earned Parole Eligibility Act will take effect in July, loosening several of the state s parole regulations, which are among the strictest in the country. The laws have led to a ballooning prison population over the years with roughly two-thirds of Mississippi s 17,000 prisoners serving sentences that make them ineligible for parole, according to the advocacy group FWD.us.
In vetoing last year s bill, Reeves said it went too far and would threaten public safety by potentially releasing violent inmates.