REMI will be joined by Sondra Collins, Ph.D., Senior Economist from the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, on Wednesday, October 9th from 2 to 3 p.m. (ET) to assess Mississippi’s recently enacted Criminal Justice Reform Act in regards to the changes made to expungement policy in the state and examine the corresponding economic growth.
“Expungement and the Mississippi Economy” will evaluate the change in employment and the state’s review as a result of forgiving the criminal records of a select group of past offenders and making more citizens eligible to work.
Mississippi’s House Bill 1352 went into effect on July 1st and the legislation includes several provisions that significantly alter the future of criminal justice procedures in the state. The bill expands expungement for misdemeanors, while also allowing people charged with misdemeanors to await trial at home, enabling those with drug convictions to receive public services like workforce training and nutrition assistance, and pushing back the payment of supervision fees for people released on parole or probation to 60 days.
In an article published by WLBT 3 in Mississippi, the state’s Governor Phil Bryant spoke about the bill, saying, “If people don’t believe Mississippi can be innovative, let them look to criminal justice reforms.”
Gov. Bryant also mentioned that, “You will see new opportunities with our community colleges, new opportunities in workforce development, new opportunities at a federal level very soon that will continue the work that Mississippi began.”
Here at REMI, we recognize the importance of this policy decision on many Americans and want to help advance the conversation through meaningful economic impact analysis.
You can access the article published by WLBT 3 by clicking here.
