MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2022 Regular Session
To: Judiciary B
By: Representative Newman
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-15-29, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCREASE FINES FOR LITTERING; TO INCREASE THE PORTION OF LITTERING FINES THAT IS DONATED TO THE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS MONUMENT FUND AND THE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN OF DECEASED OR DISABLED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND FIREMEN; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 65-1-165, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES FOR CONTRACTS WITH KEEP MISSISSIPPI BEAUTIFUL, INC.; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 97-15-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
97-15-29. (1) Anyone who shall put, throw, dump or leave on the roads and highways of this state, or within the limits of the rights-of-way of such roads and highways, or upon any private property, any cigarette or cigar stubs, or any other thing or substance likely to ignite the grass or underbrush on a road or highway, in addition to being civilly liable for all damages caused by such act shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished as provided by subsection (3) of this section.
(2) The Department of Transportation is authorized to erect warning signs along the roads and highways of this state advising the public of the existence of this section and of the penalty for the violation thereof and is further authorized to install receptacles at reasonable intervals along the roads and highways of this state to be used as containers for trash and rubbish and for the convenience of the public using such roads and highways.
(3) Any person found guilty
of * * *
violating this section shall, upon conviction * * * for a first offense be fined not less
than * * * Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) nor more
than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00); upon conviction for a second offense be fined
not less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) nor more than Two Thousand Dollars
($2,000.00); upon conviction for a third or subsequent offense be fined not less
than Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00). The proceeds of such fines shall
be expended by the collecting jurisdiction solely for the purpose of funding local
litter prevention programs or projects or local or school litter education
programs as recommended by the statewide litter prevention program of Keep
Mississippi Beautiful, Inc.
(4) * * * In addition to the fine * * * authorized by subsection (3) * * * of this section for a first offense,
a person convicted for an offense upon which fines are imposed by this section
may be required to perform * * * one (1) of the actions listed
in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this subsection (4). A person convicted
for a second or subsequent offense upon which fines are imposed by subsection
(3) of this section, in addition to the fine authorized in subsection (3)
of this section, shall be required to:
(a) Remove or render harmless, in accordance with written direction, as appropriate, from the Department of Environmental Quality or local law enforcement authorities, the unlawfully discarded solid waste;
(b) Repair or restore property damaged by, or pay damages for any damage arising out of the unlawfully discarded solid waste;
(c) Perform community public service relating to the removal of any unlawfully discarded solid waste or to the restoration of any area polluted by unlawfully discarded solid waste; and
(d) Pay all reasonable investigative and prosecutorial expenses and costs to the investigative and/or prosecutorial agency or agencies.
(5) Upon a second or subsequent conviction of an offense upon which fines are imposed by this section, the minimum and maximum fines shall be doubled.
(6) When any litter is thrown or discarded from a motor vehicle, the operator of the motor vehicle shall be deemed in violation of this section.
(7) There shall be imposed
and collected an assessment of * * * One Hundred Fifty Dollars
($150.00) on each violation of this section. Of this assessment,
Seventy-five Dollars ($75.00) shall be deposited into the Statewide Litter
Prevention Fund created by Section 65-1-167. The * * * other Seventy-five Dollars ($75.00)
of the One Hundred Fifty Dollars ($150.00) shall be deposited into the Law
Enforcement Officers Monument Fund created in Section 39-5-71. After the
monument is constructed, the * * * Seventy-five Dollars ($75.00) for
the Law Enforcement Officers Monument Fund shall not be deposited into the
fund. * * *
It shall then be deposited with the Postsecondary Education Financial
Assistance Board to be used for the scholarship program for children of
deceased or disabled law enforcement officers and firemen as provided by Section
37-106-39.
(8) It shall be the duty of all law enforcement officers to enforce the provisions of this section.
(9) This section shall not prohibit the storage of ties and machinery by a railroad on its right-of-way where the highway right-of-way extends to within a few feet of the railroad roadbed.
SECTION 2. Section 65-1-165, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
65-1-165. The State Highway Department is hereby authorized to execute a contract with Keep Mississippi Beautiful, Inc., to develop and implement a comprehensive statewide program of litter prevention. The contract shall contain provisions to require that Keep Mississippi Beautiful, Inc., will:
(a) Encourage and assist local communities to become certified Keep America Beautiful systems.
(b) Serve as a state clearinghouse of information on ideas and projects to make local litter prevention programs more effective.
(c) Implement statewide communication programs to alert people to the problem of littering and how it can be corrected.
(d) Coordinate an annual statewide project which will heighten public awareness of the problem of littering.
(e) Establish an annual awards program to recognize individual and community achievement in litter prevention.
(f) Serve as the authority which approves and disburses financial assistance to any nonprofit corporation, county or municipality which, in a written application, seeks such assistance to implement a local litter prevention project. The financial assistance authorized herein shall not exceed forty percent (40%) of the cost of the local litter prevention project for which such assistance is sought.
(g) Encourage donation of funds from the private sector to assist in defraying the operation of the litter prevention program implemented pursuant to this section.
The contract may include any additional provisions which the highway department deems necessary to effectuate the litter prevention program contemplated by this section.
Keep Mississippi Beautiful, Inc., shall submit to the highway department on or before August 1 of each year a written report detailing the operation of the litter prevention program statewide and its expenditure of monies for such program during the preceding state fiscal year.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2022.