MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1998 Regular Session

To: Judiciary

By: Senator(s) Turner

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 27-69-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROHIBIT THE HOLDER OF A PERMIT TO ENGAGE IN BUSINESS AS A DEALER OR MANUFACTURER OF TOBACCO, OR A PERSON WHO HAS AN OWNERSHIP INTEREST IN A BUSINESS THAT HOLDS A PERMIT TO ENGAGE IN BUSINESS AS A DEALER OR MANUFACTURER OF TOBACCO, FROM HAVING ANY OWNERSHIP INTEREST IN A BUSINESS THAT IS THE HOLDER OF A PERMIT TO ENGAGE IN THE BUSINESS AS A WHOLESALER OF TOBACCO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

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

SECTION 1. Section 27-69-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-69-5. Every distributor, wholesaler, dealer or retailer who desires to become engaged in the sale or use of tobacco upon which a tax is required to be paid shall file with the commissioner an application for a permit to engage in such business. The application for a permit shall be filed on blanks to be furnished by the commissioner for that purpose. The application must be subscribed and sworn to by the person owning the business, or having an ownership interest therein. If the applicant is a corporation, a duly authorized agent shall execute the application. The application shall show the name of such person, and in case of partnership, the name of each partner thereof, the person's post office address, the location of the place of business to which the permit shall apply, and the nature of the business in which engaged, and any other information the commissioner may require. No distributor, wholesaler, dealer or retailer shall sell any tobacco until such application has been filed, the prescribed permit fee paid, and the permit obtained. Said permit shall expire on January 31 of each year.

An application shall be filed, and a permit obtained for each place of business owned or operated by each distributor, wholesaler, dealer or retailer.

Upon receipt of the application and any permit fee hereinafter provided for, the commissioner may issue to every distributor, wholesaler, dealer or retailer, for the place of business designated, a nonassignable permit, authorizing the sale or use of tobacco in the state. Said permit shall provide that the same is revocable, and may be forfeited or suspended upon violation of any provision of this chapter, the Mississippi Tobacco Youth Access Prevention Act of 1997 or any rule or regulation adopted by the commissioner. If such permit is revoked or suspended, said distributor, wholesaler or dealer shall not sell any tobacco from such place of business until a new permit is granted, or the suspension of the old permit removed.

A permit cannot be transferred from one person to another, and the permit shall at all times be publicly displayed by the distributor, wholesaler, dealer or retailer in his place of business so as to be seen easily by the public. A permit may be refused to any person previously convicted of violations of this chapter.

The holder of a permit to engage in business as a dealer or manufacturer of tobacco, or a person who has an ownership interest in a business that holds a permit to engage in business as a dealer or manufacturer of tobacco, shall not have any ownership interest in a business that is the holder of a permit to engage in the business as a wholesaler of tobacco.

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