With the 2015 legislative session under wraps, state Sen. Briggs Hopson III set his sights on a few debates — including state retirement for the county’s jailed former circuit clerk — sure to emerge on the senate floor next year as he spoke to Port City Kiwanis this week.

Hopson said he expected status of retirement for state officials convicted of stealing public money to be among the hundreds of items legislators take on in the 2016 term.

Former tax collector Pat Simrall posed the question after recent reports in The Vicksburg Post that jailed former Circuit Clerk Shelly Ashley-Palmertree is drawing nearly $7,000 a month in state retirement while serving a prison sentence for embezzling county funds.

Palmertree was convicted of embezzlement in September and again in March for stealing fines, fees and restitution handled by her office.

“If they’ve got retirement in the Mississippi system, we need to tap into it. That needs to be done and should have been done a long time ago,” Simrall said.

A solution sounds simple, but from a legal standpoint it could be difficult, said Hopson, who is also an attorney.

“The question is going to be whether you can garnish that retirement. I will have to look into that and I’m sure there will be people looking into that,” Hopson said.

Simrall also said she would like to see mandatory jail sentences for public officials convicted of corruption. A plea deal reached by Palmertree and the Attorney General’s office in her first embezzlement case included a recommendation for no jail time. Special Judge Henry Lackey rejected the deal and sentenced Palmertree to five years.

“I’d like for you to file some legislation to mandate that elected officials who are prosecuted go to prison, not just for a few months,” Simrall said.

Hopson said he also expects debate over how the state’s colleges and universities should be governed. The state’s College Board has come under fire in recent weeks after the firing of popular Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones. Legislators are expected to file bills seeking individual boards for each state-run college and university, Hopson said.

“The good thing is you won’t have people who are not affiliated with your university making decisions. The bad thing is you are going to have only people affiliated with your university making decisions,” Hopson said. “They are going to be way more powerful than the chancellors or presidents of that university.”

Hopson also spent a large portion of his discussion with the Kiwanis club talking about successes in drafting the state’s $6.2 billion budget.

“Not only did we fill back up the rainy day fund, we also got to where we’re spending recurring revenues for recurring expenses. I can’t remember the last time Mississippi has been able to spend just the money we get on regular expenses,” he said.