The Associated Press
A bill that would have allowed certain inmates to earn time toward early release died Tuesday in the Senate.
The House bill’s original intent was to give the state Parole Board discretion on the revocation of certain convicts’ parole. But Senate Corrections Committee Chairman Willie Simmons, a Democrat from Cleveland, said his committee inserted the early release language.
Simmons said changing the law would save Mississippi about $3 million because fewer inmates would be in state-funded correctional facilities.
Simmons said certain inmates wouldn’t be eligible, including sex offenders and habitual offenders.
Sen. Joey Fillingane, a Republican from Sumrall, spoke against the bill because he said it would also let drug dealers earn time for early release.
“If you want to be on record as letting drug dealers out early, vote for the bill,” Fillingane said.
Several senators who had voted for the bill changed their votes after it was clear the bill would fail. The same proposal died earlier in the House.
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