Mississippi Administrative Code
Title 29 - Prisons And Parole
Part 201 - Mississippi State Parole Board Policies And Procedures
Chapter 1 - Authority, Organization, and Duties of the Mississippi Parole Board
Rule 29-201-1.1 - Authority of Mississippi Parole Board

A. The Mississippi Code of 1972 Annotated, § 47-7-5 created the Mississippi Parole Board, hereinafter referred to as "The Board."

B. The Board has exclusive authority for granting or revoking parole as provided by Miss. Code Ann. §§ 47-7-3, 47-7-17, 47-7-27, and 47-7-29. However, the Mississippi Supreme Court has repeatedly announced that an inmate's parole is only a privilege, not a right.1

C. The Board may adopt such rules not inconsistent with law as it may deem proper or necessary with respect to the eligibility of offenders for parole, the conduct of parole hearings, or conditions to be imposed upon parolees. The Board shall have the authority to adopt rules related to the placement of certain offenders on unsupervised parole and for the operation of transitional reentry centers.2

D. The Board has exclusive responsibility for investigating clemency-recommendations upon request of the Governor.

E. The Board has no statutory authority over operations of the correctional system. The Mississippi Department of Corrections hereinafter referred to as "The Department," has sole authority as to where inmates are housed, program assignments, designation of trustees, granting of leaves, computation of parole eligibility, disciplinary actions and supervision of parolees.

1 "......because the Mississippi parole statutes contain no such mandatory language, employing the permissive "may" rather than "shall," prisoners have "no constitutionally recognized liberty interest" in parole. Vice v. State, 679 So. 2d 205, 208 (Miss. 1996). Additionally, parole should not be used as leverage in a plea deal.

2 However, in no case shall an offender be placed on unsupervised parole before he has served a minimum of fifty percent (50%) of the period of supervised parole.