MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2020 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Representatives Straughter, Paden, Watson
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 3-3-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DECLARE FEBRUARY 7 TO BE MISSISSIPPI DAY OF FREEDOM AND ABOLISHMENT OF SLAVERY, IN RECOGNITION OF MISSISSIPPI'S RATIFICATION OF THE THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 3-3-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
3-3-7. (1) Except as
otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, the following are declared
to be legal holidays * * *:
(a) The first
day of January, designated as New
Year's Day;
(b) The third
Monday of January, designated as both Robert
E. Lee's birthday and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday;
(c) The third
Monday of February, designated as George Washington's
birthday;
(d) The last
Monday of April, designated as Confederate
Memorial Day;
(e) The last
Monday of May, designated as both National
Memorial Day and Jefferson Davis' birthday;
(f) The fourth
day of July, designated as Independence
Day;
(g) The first
Monday of September, designated as Labor
Day;
(h) The
eleventh day of November, designated as Armistice
or Veterans' Day;
(i) The day
fixed by proclamation by the Governor of Mississippi as a day of Thanksgiving,
which shall be fixed to correspond to the date proclaimed by the President of
the United States, designated as Thanksgiving
Day; and
(j) The twenty-fifth
day of December, designated as Christmas
Day.
* * * If any holiday * * * falls
on Sunday, then the next following day shall be a legal holiday.
(2) In lieu of any one (1)
legal holiday provided for in subsection (1) of this section, with the
exception of the third Monday in January, designated as both Robert E.
Lee's and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, and the eleventh day of
November, designated as Armistice
or Veterans' Day, the
governing authorities of any municipality or county may declare, by order
spread upon its minutes, Mardi Gras Day or any one (1) other day during the
year, to be a legal holiday.
(3) August 16 is declared to be Elvis Aaron Presley Day in recognition and appreciation of Elvis Aaron Presley's many contributions, international recognition and the rich legacy left to us by Elvis Aaron Presley. This day shall be a day of recognition and observation and shall not be recognized as a legal holiday.
(4) May 8 is declared to be Hernando de Soto Day in recognition, observation and commemoration of Hernando de Soto, who led the first and most imposing expedition ever made by Europeans into the wilds of North America and the State of Mississippi, and in further recognition of the Spanish explorer's 187-day journey from the Tombigbee River basin on our state's eastern boundary, westward to the place of discovery of the Mississippi River on May 8, 1541. This day shall be a day of commemoration, recognition and observation of Hernando de Soto and European exploration and shall not be recognized as a legal holiday.
(5) February 7 is declared to be Mississippi Day of Freedom and Abolishment of Slavery, in recognition, observation and commemoration of Mississippi's ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This day shall be a day to celebrate Mississippi's freedom from slavery, and shall not be recognized as a legal holiday.
( * * *6) Armistice * * * or Veterans' Day shall be observed by appropriate exercises in
all the public schools in the State of Mississippi. The superintendent of
schools of each public school district is authorized to provide for the
appearance of uniformed military personnel, uniformed veterans or the families
of fallen military personnel/veterans at such public school exercises in honor
of Armistice or Veterans' Day. The superintendent of schools is also
authorized to permit the school band and its director(s) at any public school
in the district to perform at Armistice or Veterans' Day exercises in the school district upon the
request of public officials or veterans associations without loss of any
program credit by participating students and without loss of leave by
participating school personnel.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.