MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2020 Regular Session
To: Appropriations; Judiciary, Division B
By: Senator(s) DeBar
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 45-6-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE SALARY THRESHOLD TO DETERMINE STATUS AS A FULL-TIME OR PART-TIME LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 45-6-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
45-6-3. For the purposes of this chapter, the following words shall have the meanings ascribed herein, unless the context shall otherwise require:
(a) "Commission" means the Criminal Justice Planning Commission.
(b) "Board" means the Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training.
(c) "Law
enforcement officer" means any person appointed or employed full time by
the state or any political subdivision thereof, or by the state military
department as provided in Section 33-1-33, who is duly sworn and vested with
authority to bear arms and make arrests, and whose primary responsibility is
the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of criminals and the
enforcement of the criminal and traffic laws of this state and/or the
ordinances of any political subdivision thereof. The term "law
enforcement officer" also includes employees of the Department of
Corrections who are designated as law enforcement officers by the Commissioner
of Corrections pursuant to Section 47-5-54, and includes those district
attorney criminal investigators who are designated as law enforcement
officers. However, the term "law enforcement officer" shall not mean
or include any elected official or any person employed as a legal assistant to
a district attorney in this state, compliance agents of the State Board of
Pharmacy, or any person or elected official who, subject to approval by the
board, provides some criminal justice related services for a law enforcement
agency. As used in this paragraph, "appointed or employed full time"
means any person who is receiving gross compensation for his duties as a law
enforcement officer of * * * Four Hundred Seventy-five Dollars
($475.00) or more per week or * * *
Two Thousand Fifty Dollars ($2,050.00) or more per month.
(d) "Part-time
law enforcement officer" shall mean any person appointed or employed in a
part-time, reserve or auxiliary capacity by the state or any political
subdivision thereof who is duly sworn and vested with authority to bear arms
and make arrests, and whose primary responsibility is the prevention and
detection of crime, the apprehension of criminals and the enforcement of the
criminal and traffic laws of this state or the ordinances of any political
subdivision thereof. However, the term "part-time law enforcement
officer" shall not mean or include any person or elected official who,
subject to approval by the board, provides some criminal justice related
services for a law enforcement agency. As used in this paragraph,
"appointed or employed" means any person who is performing such
duties at any time whether or not they receive any compensation for duties as a
law enforcement officer provided that such compensation is less than * * * Four
Hundred Seventy-five Dollars ($475.00) per week or * * *
Two Thousand Fifty Dollars ($2,050.00) per month.
(e) "Law enforcement trainee" shall mean any person appointed or employed in a full-time, part-time, reserve or auxiliary capacity by the state or any political subdivision thereof for the purposes of completing all the selection and training requirements established by the board to become a law enforcement officer or a part-time law enforcement officer. Such individuals shall not have the authority to use force, bear arms, make arrests or exercise any of the powers of a peace officer unless:
(i) The trainee is under the direct control and supervision of a law enforcement officer;
(ii) The trainee was previously certified under this chapter; or
(iii) The trainee is a certified law enforcement officer in a reciprocating state.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.