House Bill 913

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 45-1-2, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO PROVIDE THAT THE OFFICE OF FORENSICS LABORATORIES SHALL INCLUDE THE OFFICE OF THE MEDICAL EXAMINER; TO AMEND SECTION 41-61-55, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTION; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 45-1-29, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 45-1-2, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

45-1-2. (1) The Executive Director of the Department of Public Safety shall be the Commissioner of Public Safety.

(2) The Commissioner of Public Safety shall establish the organizational structure of the Department of Public Safety, which shall include the creation of any units necessary to implement the duties assigned to the department and consistent with specific requirements of law including, but not limited to:

(a) Office of Public Safety Planning;

* * *~~(b) Office of Medical Examiner;~~

( * * *cb) Office of Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol;

( * * *dc) Office of Forensics Laboratories, which includes the Office of the Medical Examiner;

( * * *ed) Office of Law Enforcement Officers' Training Academy;

( * * *fe) Office of Support Services;

( * * *gf) Office of Narcotics, which shall be known as the Bureau of Narcotics; and

( * * *hg) Office of Homeland Security.

(3) The department shall be headed by a commissioner, who shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The appointment of the commissioner shall be made with the advice and consent of the Senate. The commissioner may assign to the appropriate offices such powers and duties as deemed appropriate to carry out the department's lawful functions.

(4) The commissioner of the department shall appoint heads of offices, who shall serve at the pleasure of the commissioner. The commissioner shall have the authority to organize the offices established by subsection (2) of this section as deemed appropriate to carry out the responsibilities of the department. The organization charts of the department shall be presented annually with the budget request of the Governor for review by the Legislature.

(5) The commissioner of the department shall appoint, from within the Department of Public Safety, a statewide safety training officer who shall serve at the pleasure of the commissioner and whose duty it shall be to perform public training for both law enforcement and private persons throughout the state concerning proper emergency response to the mentally ill, terroristic threats or acts, domestic conflict, other conflict resolution, and such other matters as the commissioner may direct.

SECTION 2. Section 41-61-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-61-55. (1) There is hereby created the position of State Medical Examiner, to be established as herein provided under the supervision of the Commissioner of Public Safety and within the Office of Forensics Laboratory. The State Medical Examiner shall be appointed by the Commissioner of Public Safety subject to the approval of a majority of a panel composed of the following: (a) the Dean of the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Medicine; (b) the Dean of the University of Mississippi School of Law; and (c) the State Health Officer. The State Medical Examiner may be discharged only for good cause, upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of Public Safety, and by a majority of the same panel.

(2) Each applicant for the position of State Medical Examiner shall, as a minimum, be a physician who is eligible for a license to practice medicine in Mississippi and be certified in forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology.

(3) There is hereby created the State Medical Examiner Advisory Council composed of the State Health Officer or his or her designee, the Dean of the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Medicine or his or her designee, the Commissioner of Public Safety, the Attorney General or his or her designee, the President of the Mississippi * * * ~~Coroners'~~ Coroner and Medical Examiners Association or his or her designee, the President of the Mississippi Prosecutors Association or his or her designee, the President of the Mississippi Public Defenders Association or his or her designee, the President of the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police or his or her designee, and the President of the Mississippi Sheriffs' Association or his or her designee. The council shall be purely advisory and serve as a liaison between the State Medical Examiner and the various entities related to the Medical Examiner Act.

SECTION 3. Section 45-1-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

45-1-29. (1) The Mississippi Forensics Laboratory shall be funded separately from the Department of Public Safety. Any appropriated funds shall be maintained in an account separate from any funds of the Department of Public Safety and shall never be commingled with any funds of the department. However, nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the utilization of the combined resources of the Mississippi Forensics Laboratory, the Division of Support Services of the Department of Public Safety or the Mississippi Justice Information Center to efficiently carry out the mission of the Department of Public Safety.

(2) Grants and donations to the Forensics Laboratory may be accepted from individuals, the federal government, firms, corporations, foundations and other interested organizations and societies.

(3) The Commissioner of Public Safety shall establish and the Division of Support Services of the Department of Public Safety shall collect for services rendered proper fees commensurate with the services rendered by the Forensics Laboratory. Those fees shall be deposited into a special fund in the State Treasury to the credit of the Forensics Laboratory and expended in accordance with applicable rules and regulations of the Department of Finance and Administration. Those fees may be used for any authorized expenditure of the Forensics Laboratory except expenditures for salaries, wages and fringe benefits.

(4) Upon every individual convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, every individual who is nonadjudicated on a felony or misdemeanor case under Section 99-15-26 or 63-11-30(14), and every individual who participates in a pretrial intervention program established under Section 99-15-101 et seq., in a case where the Forensics Laboratory provided forensic science or laboratory services in connection with the case, the court shall impose and collect a separate laboratory analysis fee of Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00), in addition to any other assessments and costs imposed by statutory authority, unless the court finds that undue hardship would result by imposing the fee. All fees collected under this section shall be deposited into the special fund of the Forensics Laboratory created in subsection (3) of this section.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.