MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1998 Regular Session

To: Public Health and Welfare; Appropriations

By: Representatives Moody, Stringer, Comans

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI RESIDENTIAL CENTER AT THE OLD CLARKE COLLEGE PROPERTY IN THE CITY OF NEWTON FOR ADULTS WITH CHRONIC MENTAL ILLNESS; TO PROVIDE THAT THE FACILITY SHALL BE ADMINISTERED BY THE STATE BOARD OF MENTAL HEALTH; TO SPECIFY THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION TO THE CENTER; TO PROVIDE FOR CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR BRINGING WEAPONS INTO THE CENTER OR ITS GROUNDS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 41-19-261, Mississippi Code of 1972:

41-19-261. The purpose of Sections 41-19-261 through 41-19-271 is to create, equip, and maintain a residential facility for adults with chronic mental illness which shall be known as the Central Mississippi Residential Center.

SECTION 2. The following shall be codified as Section 41-19-263, Mississippi Code of 1972:

41-19-263. The center shall be located at the old Clarke College property in the City of Newton, and it shall be administered by the State Board of Mental Health.

SECTION 3. The following shall be codified as Section 41-19-265, Mississippi Code of 1972:

41-19-265. The center shall serve persons who have attained the age of twenty-one (21) years with chronic mental illness who would benefit from a structured living environment.

SECTION 4. The following shall be codified as Section 41-19-267, Mississippi Code of 1972:

41-19-267. Persons admitted to the center shall be assessed support and maintenance costs in accordance with the provisions of the state reimbursement laws as they apply to other state facilities.

SECTION 5. The following shall be codified as Section 41-19-269, Mississippi Code of 1972:

41-19-269. Any person who knowingly brings any firearm, deadly weapon or explosive into the center or its grounds, or passes any thereof to a resident, employee or officer of the center, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) nor more than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00), imprisonment for not less than six (6) months nor more than one (1) year, or both.

SECTION 6. The following shall be codified as Section 41-19-271, Mississippi Code of 1972:

41-19-271. The center is designated as a state agency for carrying out the purposes of any act of the Congress of the United States of America existing on July 1, 1998, or enacted at any time after July 1, 1998, that pertains to mental illness.

SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1998.