House Bill 378

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-37-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS TO CARRY FIREARMS WHILE ACTUALLY ENGAGED IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THEIR DUTIES AS EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS; TO AMEND SECTION 41-59-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH TO CREATE RULES AND REGULATIONS THAT AUTHORIZE EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS TO CARRY FIREARMS WHILE ACTUALLY ENGAGED IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THEIR DUTIES AS SUCH; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 97-37-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

97-37-7. (1) (a) It shall not be a violation of Section 97-37-1 or any other statute for pistols, firearms or other suitable and appropriate weapons to be carried by duly constituted bank guards, company guards, watchmen, railroad special agents or duly authorized representatives who are not sworn law enforcement officers, agents or employees of a patrol service, guard service, * * *or a company engaged in the business of transporting money, securities or other valuables, or an emergency medical technician as defined in 41-59-1 et seq., while actually engaged in the performance of their duties as such, provided that such persons have made a written application and paid a nonrefundable permit fee of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) to the Department of Public Safety.

(b) No permit shall be issued to any person who has ever been convicted of a felony under the laws of this or any other state or of the United States. To determine an applicant's eligibility for a permit, the person shall be fingerprinted. If no disqualifying record is identified at the state level, the fingerprints shall be forwarded by the Department of Public Safety to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history record check. The department shall charge a fee which includes the amounts required by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the department for the national and state criminal history record checks and any necessary costs incurred by the department for the handling and administration of the criminal history background checks. In the event a legible set of fingerprints, as determined by the Department of Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, cannot be obtained after a minimum of three (3) attempts, the Department of Public Safety shall determine eligibility based upon a name check by the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol and a Federal Bureau of Investigation name check conducted by the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol at the request of the Department of Public Safety.

(c) A person may obtain a duplicate of a lost or destroyed permit upon payment of a Fifteen Dollar ($15.00) replacement fee to the Department of Public Safety, if he furnishes a notarized statement to the department that the permit has been lost or destroyed.

(d) (i) No less than ninety (90) days prior to the expiration date of a permit, the Department of Public Safety shall mail to the permit holder written notice of expiration together with the renewal form prescribed by the department. The permit holder shall renew the permit on or before the expiration date by filing with the department the renewal form, a notarized affidavit stating that the permit holder remains qualified, and the renewal fee of Fifty Dollars ($50.00); honorably retired law enforcement officers shall be exempt from payment of the renewal fee. A permit holder who fails to file a renewal application on or before its expiration date shall pay a late fee of Fifteen Dollars ($15.00).

(ii) Renewal of the permit shall be required every four (4) years. The permit of a qualified renewal applicant shall be renewed upon receipt of the completed renewal application and appropriate payment of fees.

(iii) A permit cannot be renewed six (6) months or more after its expiration date, and such permit shall be deemed to be permanently expired; the holder may reapply for an original permit as provided in this section.

(2) It shall not be a violation of this or any other statute for pistols, firearms or other suitable and appropriate weapons to be carried by Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks law enforcement officers, railroad special agents who are sworn law enforcement officers, investigators employed by the Attorney General, criminal investigators employed by the district attorneys, all prosecutors, public defenders, investigators or probation officers employed by the Department of Corrections, employees of the State Auditor who are authorized by the State Auditor to perform investigative functions, or any deputy fire marshal or investigator employed by the State Fire Marshal, while engaged in the performance of their duties as such, or by fraud investigators with the Department of Human Services, or by judges of the Mississippi Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, circuit, chancery, county, justice and municipal courts, or by coroners. Before any person shall be authorized under this subsection to carry a weapon, he shall complete a weapons training course approved by the Board of Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training. Before any criminal investigator employed by a district attorney shall be authorized under this section to carry a pistol, firearm or other weapon, he shall have complied with Section 45-6-11 or any training program required for employment as an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A law enforcement officer, as defined in Section 45-6-3, shall be authorized to carry weapons in courthouses in performance of his official duties. A person licensed under Section 45-9-101 to carry a concealed pistol, who (a) has voluntarily completed an instructional course in the safe handling and use of firearms offered by an instructor certified by a nationally recognized organization that customarily offers firearms training, or by any other organization approved by the Department of Public Safety, (b) is a member or veteran of any active or reserve component branch of the United States of America Armed Forces having completed law enforcement or combat training with pistols or other handguns as recognized by such branch after submitting an affidavit attesting to have read, understand and agree to comply with all provisions of the enhanced carry law, or (c) is an honorably retired law enforcement officer or honorably retired member or veteran of any active or reserve component branch of the United States of America Armed Forces having completed law enforcement or combat training with pistols or other handguns, after submitting an affidavit attesting to have read, understand and agree to comply with all provisions of Mississippi enhanced carry law shall also be authorized to carry weapons in courthouses except in courtrooms during a judicial proceeding, and any location listed in subsection (13) of Section 45-9-101, except any place of nuisance as defined in Section 95-3-1, any police, sheriff or highway patrol station or any detention facility, prison or jail. For the purposes of this subsection (2), component branch of the United States Armed Forces includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard or Marine Corps, or the Army National Guard, the Army National Guard of the United States, the Air National Guard or the Air National Guard of the United States, as those terms are defined in Section 101, Title 10, United States Code, and any other reserve component of the United States Armed Forces enumerated in Section 10101, Title 10, United States Code. The department shall promulgate rules and regulations allowing concealed pistol permit holders to obtain an endorsement on their permit indicating that they have completed the aforementioned course and have the authority to carry in these locations. This section shall in no way interfere with the right of a trial judge to restrict the carrying of firearms in the courtroom.

(3) It shall not be a violation of this or any other statute for pistols, firearms or other suitable and appropriate weapons, to be carried by any out-of-state, full-time commissioned law enforcement officer who holds a valid commission card from the appropriate out-of-state law enforcement agency and a photo identification. The provisions of this subsection shall only apply if the state where the out-of-state officer is employed has entered into a reciprocity agreement with the state that allows full-time commissioned law enforcement officers in Mississippi to lawfully carry or possess a weapon in such other states. The Commissioner of Public Safety is authorized to enter into reciprocal agreements with other states to carry out the provisions of this subsection.

SECTION 2. Section 41-59-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-59-5. (1) The State Board of Health shall establish and maintain a program for the improvement and regulation of emergency medical services (hereinafter EMS) in the State of Mississippi. The responsibility for implementation and conduct of this program shall be vested in the State Health Officer of the State Board of Health along with such other officers and boards as may be specified by law or regulation.

(2) The board shall provide for the regulation and licensing of public and private ambulance service, inspection and issuance of permits for ambulance vehicles, training and certification of EMS personnel, including drivers and attendants, the development and maintenance of a statewide EMS records program, development and adoption of EMS regulations, the coordination of an EMS communications system, and other related EMS activities.

(3) The board is authorized to promulgate and enforce such rules, regulations and minimum standards as needed to carry out the provisions of this chapter, including rules, regulations and minimum standards to authorize emergency medical technicians to carry firearms while actually engaged in the performance of their duties as such.

(4) The board is authorized to receive any funds appropriated to the board from the Emergency Medical Services Operating Fund created in Section 41-59-61 and is further authorized, with the Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council acting in an advisory capacity, to administer the disbursement of such funds to the counties, municipalities and organized emergency medical service districts and the utilization of such funds by the same, as provided in Section 41-59-61.

(5) The department acting as the lead agency, in consultation with and having solicited advice from the EMS Advisory Council, shall develop a uniform nonfragmented inclusive statewide trauma care system that provides excellent patient care. It is the intent of the Legislature that the purpose of this system is to reduce death and disability resulting from traumatic injury, and in order to accomplish this goal it is necessary to assign additional responsibilities to the department. The department is assigned the responsibility for creating, implementing and managing the statewide trauma care system. The department shall be designated as the lead agency for trauma care systems development. The department shall develop and administer trauma regulations that include, but are not limited to, the Mississippi Trauma Care System Plan, trauma system standards, trauma center designations, field triage, interfacility trauma transfer, EMS aero medical transportation, trauma data collection, trauma care system evaluation and management of state trauma systems funding. The department shall promulgate regulations specifying the methods and procedures by which Mississippi-licensed acute care facilities shall participate in the statewide trauma system. Those regulations shall include mechanisms for determining the appropriate level of participation for each facility or class of facilities. The department shall also adopt a schedule of fees to be assessed for facilities that choose not to participate in the statewide trauma care system, or which participate at a level lower than the level at which they are capable of participating. The fees paid under this provision shall be for the exclusive benefit of the statewide trauma care system and shall not lapse into the State General Fund. The department shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to effectuate this provision by September 1, 2008, with an implementation date of September 1, 2008. The department shall take the necessary steps to develop, adopt and implement the Mississippi Trauma Care System Plan and all associated trauma care system regulations necessary to implement the Mississippi Trauma Care System. The department shall cause the implementation of both professional and lay trauma education programs. These trauma educational programs shall include both clinical trauma education and injury prevention. As it is recognized that rehabilitation services are essential for traumatized individuals to be returned to active, productive lives, the department shall coordinate the development of the inclusive trauma system with the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services and all other appropriate rehabilitation systems.

(6) The State Board of Health is authorized to receive any funds appropriated to the board from the Mississippi Trauma Care * * *~~System~~ Systems Fund created in Section 41-59-75. It is further authorized, with the Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council and the Mississippi Trauma Advisory Committee acting in advisory capacities, to administer the disbursements of those funds according to adopted trauma care system regulations. Any Level I trauma care facility or center located in a state contiguous to the State of Mississippi that participates in the Mississippi Trauma Care System and has been designated by the department to perform specified trauma care services within the Trauma Care System under standards adopted by the department shall receive a reasonable amount of reimbursement from the department for the cost of providing trauma care services to Mississippi residents whose treatment is uncompensated.

(7) In addition to the trauma-related duties provided for in this section, the Board of Health shall develop a plan for the delivery of services to Mississippi burn victims through the existing trauma care system of hospitals. Such plan shall be operational by July 1, 2005, and shall include:

(a) Systems by which burn patients will be assigned or transferred to hospitals capable of meeting their needs;

(b) Until the Mississippi Burn Center established at the University of Mississippi Medical Center under Section 37-115-45 is operational, procedures for allocating funds appropriated from the Mississippi Burn Care Fund to hospitals that provide services to Mississippi burn victims; and

(c) Such other provisions necessary to provide burn care for Mississippi residents, including reimbursement for travel, lodging, if no free lodging is available, meals and other reasonable travel-related expenses incurred by burn victims, family members and/or caregivers, as established by the State Board of Health through rules and regulations.

After the Mississippi Burn Center established at the University of Mississippi Medical Center under Section 37-115-45 is operational, the Board of Health shall revise the plan to include the Mississippi Burn Center.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.