MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1998 Regular Session

To: Judiciary

By: Senator(s) Smith

AN ACT TO CREATE A STATEWIDE DRUG OFFENDER REGISTRY; TO SPECIFY THE INFORMATION TO BE MAINTAINED; TO PROVIDE FOR THE TIME OF REGISTRATION; TO REQUIRE THE COURTS AND THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS TO REGISTER CERTAIN CONVICTS; TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO REGISTER; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO PROMULGATE RULES AND REGULATIONS; TO ENCOURAGE MAINTENANCE OF AN INTERNET WEBSITE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

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

SECTION 1. (1) Any person residing in this state who has been convicted of any violation of the Mississippi Uniform Controlled Substances Law shall register with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. Upon request, the department shall make the registration information available to any law enforcement officer, and shall also make available to any person upon request the name, address, place of employment, crime for which convicted and date and place of conviction of any registrant.

(2) (a) The following information shall be required for registration: (i) name; (ii) address; (iii) place of employment; (iv) crime for which convicted; (v) date and place of conviction; (vi) aliases used; (vii) Social Security number; (viii) date of birth; (ix) age, race, sex, height, weight, and hair and eye colors; (x) a brief description of the offense or offenses for which the registration is required; (xi) identifying factors; (xii) anticipated future residence; and (xiii) offense history.

(b) Persons convicted prior to July 1, 1998, shall register no later than August 15, 1998.

(c) Persons required to register under this section who are released from prison or placed on parole or supervised release shall be registered by the Department of Corrections prior to release; the Department of Corrections shall forward the information to the Department of Public Safety within three (3) days.

(d) Persons required to register under this section who are placed on probation shall be registered by the court upon entry of the order; the court shall forward the information to the Department of Public Safety within three (3) days.

(3) (a) Failure to register shall be a misdemeanor, if the offense requiring registration was a misdemeanor, and shall be a felony if the offense requiring registration was a felony.

(b) Misdemeanor failure to register shall be punishable by a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisonment in the county jail for not less than thirty (30) days nor more than one (1) year. Felony failure to register shall be punishable by a fine of not less than One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for not less than one (1) year, or both.

(4) The Department of Public Safety shall verify registration with each registrant on each anniversary of a registrant's initial registration.

SECTION 2. (1) The Mississippi Department of Public Safety shall maintain a central registry of drug offenders and shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to carry out this section. The information so obtained shall be criminal history information, and shall, within the limits prescribed by Section 2 of this act, be maintained in a form that is available to the public.

(2) The Legislature encourages the Department of Public Safety to create and maintain an internet website in order to facilitate access of the public to the information maintained by the drug offender registry that is to be available to the public.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1998.