- H.B. 747, 2021 Regular Session, authorized the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department to create a pilot work release program to help qualified inmates learn skills and make employment connections before release. H.B. 586, 2022 Regular Session, authorized Harrison and Lee counties to develop similar pilot work release programs.
- Both Harrison and Lee County did not provide any data because they have not yet developed their respective work release programs. State law authorizes the sheriff’s departments to form pilot work release programs, but it does not require them to do so.
- The Rankin County Sheriff’s Department began its work release program in May 2021 with three participants.
- The work release program operated by the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department is largely in compliance with both H.B. 747 and H.B. 586. However, the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department did not provide PEER a report on its work release program data before January 15, 2022, as required by state law.
- While the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department established a standard operating procedure for its work release program and issued it in July 2021, it has not established any formal goals or objectives for the program that can be used to measure the program’s success.
- The Rankin County Sheriff’s Department should consider the following recommendations to allow its program to be evaluated for effectiveness at a later date:
- Establish objectives, goals, and performance measures for the work release program that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based (attainable within a proposed period of time), i.e., SMART.
- Produce a yearly report that specifically identifies the overall recidivism rate and post-release employment data for participants.
- Provide semiannual reports and data collected and reported regarding the work release program to the PEER Committee as required by H.B. 586.
Should you have questions about the report, please contact James F. (Ted) Booth, PEER Executive Director, at 601-359-1226.
