House Bill 1569

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 9-3-45, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW ANY OFFICIAL WHO IS DESIGNATED TO RECEIVE COPIES OF THE MISSISSIPPI SUPREME COURT CASES FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO DECLINE RECEIPT OF THE COPIES; TO AMEND SECTIONS 7-3-13 AND 7-3-15, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO MAKE TECHNICAL CHANGES IN STATUTES PROVIDING FOR DISTRIBUTION OF THE SOUTHERN REPORTER-MISSISSIPPI CASES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 9-3-45, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

9-3-45. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to contract for the purchase of and to purchase not more than four hundred (400) copies of the official Mississippi edition of the decisions of the Supreme Court and advance sheets with headnotes. The Supreme Court shall, when approved by the Chief Justice, certify the account therefor to the State Fiscal Officer, who thereupon shall issue his warrant upon the State Treasury for the amounts so specified. Of these copies, the Secretary of State shall deliver, if so requested, a copy to each circuit judge, each chancellor, each district attorney, and each county attorney, each county judge, each Supreme Court judge, the Attorney General and each assistant, and to all others heretofore or hereafter authorized by law to receive same. Before delivery of the copies, the Secretary of State shall first have stamped thereon as follows: "Property of the State of Mississippi for the use of the __________ Judicial District," and his successors in office; and he shall place an appropriately similar stamp on each copy delivered to the other court officers mentioned in this section.

The contractor shall have exclusive sale of all reports published under this section, including the advance sheets with headnotes, but the contract shall provide that the permanent volumes of the Mississippi Reports shall not sell, within the state, for a greater price than that approved by the Chief Justice. The contractor shall mail directly to each circuit judge, each chancellor, each district attorney, and each county attorney the advance sheets at the same time they are mailed out to other subscribers within the state.

SECTION 2. Section 7-3-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

7-3-13. The Secretary of State shall cause ten (10) copies of each volume of the "Southern Reporter-Mississippi Cases" and ten (10) copies of the department reports * * * to be provided to the State Library.

SECTION 3. Section 7-3-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

7-3-15. The Secretary of State shall transmit, free of cost, one (1) copy of each volume of "Southern Reporter-Mississippi Cases" to the sheriff of each county of the state, for the county library; one (1) copy of each volume thereof to each of the following educational institutions * * *: Mississippi State University, Alcorn State University, Mississippi University for Women, Mississippi College School of Law, Delta State University, Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State University, and the University of Southern Mississippi; ten (10) copies of each volume thereof to the University of Mississippi; and one (1) copy of each volume to the Library of Congress at Washington, D.C.

The above provisions of this section are made in recognition of benefits received through receipt at depository libraries and elsewhere in the State of Mississippi of public documents of the United States under the provisions of federal and state laws.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2002.