Opinion ID: 1696967
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether the State Violated Statutory Provisions in Its Acceptance of Adams.

Text: ¶ 24. Doe asserts two statutory violations by the State in its acceptance of Adams: first, Adams did not meet the six-month residency requirement under the Compact and, second, the State improperly accepted Adams for supervision when he was ineligible for parole in Illinois. ¶ 25. Mississippi's obligation to receive Adams was based upon a determination that Adams was eligible for parole in Illinois. See Miss.Code Ann. § 47-7-71(1). The decision to grant or deny parole is in the discretion of the Parole Board and later MDOC. See Moore v. Ruth, 556 So.2d 1059, 1061 (Miss.1990); Haynes v. State, 811 So.2d 283, 285 (Miss.Ct.App.2001). ¶ 26. Doe charges that Adams was ineligible to be received in Mississippi on parole because he had not been a resident of Mississippi for the six-month period immediately preceding the rape. We find such an analysis unnecessary. Under Miss.Code Ann. § 47-7-71(1), a probationer or parolee can be sent from the sending state to the receiving state if (a) Such person is in fact a resident of or has his family residing within the receiving state and can obtain employment there .... (emphasis added). A resident of the receiving state is one who has been an actual inhabitant of such state continuously for more than one (1) year prior to his coming to the sending state and has not resided within the sending state more than six (6) continuous months immediately preceding the commissions of the offense for which he has been convicted. Miss.Code Ann. § 47-7-71(1). It matters not whether Adams is actually a resident of the receiving state which would be Mississippi because the use of the conjunction or in subsection (a) as quoted above allows a parolee to be sent to the receiving state if such person is a resident or he has family in the receiving state. Adams clearly fell under the latter classification, for his parents are residents of Etta and he indicated he had a job waiting for him. ¶ 27. Doe's other alleged statutory violation is that Mississippi could not have accepted Adams for supervision because he was ineligible for parole in Illinois. She contends that when Illinois refused to parole Adams because his grandmother declined to take him into her home because minor girls resided with her, Adams was ergo ineligible for parole in Illinois. We disagree with Doe's characterization of Adams's grandmother's refusal to take him in as conclusive proof that he was denied parole in Illinois. The document indicating this denial was an IDOC document listing Adams's parole plans. Also included as possible host/sponsors were Adams's parents in Etta and his aunt in Chicago. Adams's parents' willingness to take him in apparently satisfied the Illinois authorities as he was paroled in Illinois and ordered to report for supervision in Mississippi under the Compact. Also, Smith stated that he verified Adams's residence and employment in Mississippi prior to responding to Illinois' request. The Parole or Mandatory Supervised Release Agreement entered into between Adams and the Illinois Prisoner Review Board further recites the fact that Adams was released on parole in Illinois. [2] The State's acceptance of Adams was proper and, indeed, was mandatory under the Compact.