MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2022 Regular Session
To: Judiciary B
By: Representative Crudup
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 25-3-25 and 45-6-19, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE DEPUTY SHERIFFS AND POLICE OFFICERS TO TAKE CERTAIN ANNUAL CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSES IN LAW ENFORCEMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 25-3-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-3-25. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (2) through (9), the salaries of sheriffs of the various counties are fixed as full compensation for their services.
The annual salary for each sheriff shall be based upon the total population of his county according to the latest federal decennial census in the following categories and for the following amounts; however, no sheriff shall be paid less than the salary authorized under this section to be paid the sheriff based upon the population of the county according to the most recent federal decennial census:
(a) For counties with a total population of more than one hundred thousand (100,000), a salary of Ninety-nine Thousand Dollars ($99,000.00).
(b) For counties with a total population of more than forty-five thousand (45,000) and not more than one hundred thousand (100,000), a salary of Ninety Thousand Dollars ($90,000.00).
(c) For counties with a total population of more than thirty-four thousand (34,000) and not more than forty-five thousand (45,000), a salary of Eighty-five Thousand Dollars ($85,000.00).
(d) For counties with a total population of more than fifteen thousand (15,000) and not more than thirty-four thousand (34,000), a salary of Eighty Thousand Dollars ($80,000.00).
(e) For counties with a total population of not more than fifteen thousand (15,000), a salary of Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00).
(2) In addition to the salary provided for in subsection (1) of this section, the Board of Supervisors of Leflore County, in its discretion, may pay an annual supplement to the sheriff of the county in an amount not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00). The Legislature finds and declares that the annual supplement authorized by this subsection is justified in such county for the following reasons:
(a) The Mississippi Department of Corrections operates and maintains a restitution center within the county;
(b) The Mississippi Department of Corrections operates and maintains a community work center within the county;
(c) There is a resident circuit court judge in the county whose office is located at the Leflore County Courthouse;
(d) There is a resident chancery court judge in the county whose office is located at the Leflore County Courthouse;
(e) The Magistrate for the Fourth Circuit Court District is located in the county and maintains his office at the Leflore County Courthouse;
(f) The Region VI Mental Health-Mental Retardation Center, which serves a multicounty area, calls upon the sheriff to provide security for out-of-town mental patients, as well as patients from within the county;
(g) The increased activity of the Child Support Division of the Department of Human Services in enforcing in the courts parental obligations has imposed additional duties on the sheriff; and
(h) The dispatchers of the enhanced E-911 system in place in Leflore County have been placed under the direction and control of the sheriff.
(3) In addition to the salary provided for in subsection (1) of this section, the Board of Supervisors of Rankin County, in its discretion, may pay an annual supplement to the sheriff of the county in an amount not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00). The Legislature finds and declares that the annual supplement authorized by this subsection is justified in such county for the following reasons:
(a) The Mississippi Department of Corrections operates and maintains the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility within the county;
(b) The State Hospital is operated and maintained within the county at Whitfield;
(c) Hudspeth Regional Center, a facility maintained for the care and treatment of persons with an intellectual disability, is located within the county;
(d) The Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy is operated and maintained within the county;
(e) The State Fire Academy is operated and maintained within the county;
(f) The Pearl River Valley Water Supply District, ordinarily known as the "Reservoir District," is located within the county;
(g) The Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport is located within the county;
(h) The patrolling of the state properties located within the county has imposed additional duties on the sheriff; and
(i) The sheriff, in addition to providing security to the nearly one hundred thousand (100,000) residents of the county, has the duty to investigate, solve and assist in the prosecution of any misdemeanor or felony committed upon any state property located in Rankin County.
(4) In addition to the salary provided for in subsection (1) of this section, the Board of Supervisors of Neshoba County shall pay an annual supplement to the sheriff of the county an amount equal to Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00).
(5) In addition to the salary provided for in subsection (1) of this section, the Board of Supervisors of Tunica County, in its discretion, may pay an annual supplement to the sheriff of the county an amount equal to Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), payable beginning April 1, 1997.
(6) In addition to the salary provided for in subsection (1) of this section, the Board of Supervisors of Hinds County shall pay an annual supplement to the sheriff of the county in an amount equal to Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00). The Legislature finds and declares that the annual supplement authorized by this subsection is justified in such county for the following reasons:
(a) Hinds County has the greatest population of any county, two hundred fifty-four thousand four hundred forty-one (254,441) by the 1990 census, being almost one hundred thousand (100,000) more than the next most populous county;
(b) Hinds County is home to the State Capitol and the seat of all state government offices;
(c) Hinds County is the third largest county in geographic area, containing eight hundred seventy-five (875) square miles;
(d) Hinds County is comprised of two (2) judicial districts, each having a courthouse and county office buildings;
(e) There are four (4) resident circuit judges, four (4) resident chancery judges, and three (3) resident county judges in Hinds County, the most of any county, with the sheriff acting as chief executive officer and provider of bailiff services for all;
(f) The main offices for the clerk and most of the judges and magistrates for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi are located within the county;
(g) The state's only urban university, Jackson State University, is located within the county;
(h) The University of Mississippi Medical Center, combining the medical school, dental school, nursing school and hospital, is located within the county;
(i) Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, the state's largest sports arena, is located within the county;
(j) The Mississippi State Fairgrounds, including the Coliseum and Trade Mart, are located within the county;
(k) Hinds County has the largest criminal population in the state, such that the Hinds County Sheriff's Department operates the largest county jail system in the state, housing almost one thousand (1,000) inmates in three (3) separate detention facilities;
(l) The Hinds County Sheriff's Department handles more mental and drug and alcohol commitment cases than any other sheriff's department in the state;
(m) The Mississippi Department of Corrections maintains a restitution center within the county;
(n) The Mississippi Department of Corrections regularly houses as many as one hundred (100) state convicts within the Hinds County jail system; and
(o) The Hinds County Sheriff's Department is regularly asked to provide security services not only at the Fairgrounds and Memorial Stadium, but also for events at the Mississippi Museum of Art and Jackson City Auditorium.
(7) In addition to the salary provided for in subsection (1) of this section, the Board of Supervisors of Wilkinson County, in its discretion, may pay an annual supplement to the sheriff of the county in an amount not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00). The Legislature finds and declares that the annual supplement authorized by this subsection is justified in such county because the Mississippi Department of Corrections contracts for the private incarceration of state inmates at a private correctional facility within the county.
(8) In addition to the salary provided for in subsection (1) of this section, the Board of Supervisors of Marshall County, in its discretion, may pay an annual supplement to the sheriff of the county in an amount not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00). The Legislature finds and declares that the annual supplement authorized by this subsection is justified in such county because the Mississippi Department of Corrections contracts for the private incarceration of state inmates at a private correctional facility within the county.
(9) In addition to the salary provided in subsection (1) of this section, the Board of Supervisors of Greene County, in its discretion, may pay an annual supplement to the sheriff of the county in an amount not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00). The Legislature finds and declares that the annual supplement authorized by this subsection is justified in such county for the following reasons:
(a) The Mississippi Department of Corrections operates and maintains the South Mississippi Correctional Facility within the county;
(b) In 1996, additional facilities to house another one thousand four hundred sixteen (1,416) male offenders were constructed at the South Mississippi Correctional Facility within the county; and
(c) The patrolling of the state properties located within the county has imposed additional duties on the sheriff justifying additional compensation.
(10) In addition to the salary provided in subsection (1) of this section, the board of supervisors of any county, in its discretion, may pay an annual supplement to the sheriff of the county in an amount not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00). The amount of the supplement shall be spread on the minutes of the board. The annual supplement authorized in this subsection shall not be in addition to the annual supplements authorized in subsections (2) through (9).
(11) (a) The salaries provided in this section shall be payable monthly on the first day of each calendar month by chancery clerk's warrant drawn on the general fund of the county; however, the board of supervisors, by resolution duly adopted and entered on its minutes, may provide that such salaries shall be paid semimonthly on the first and fifteenth day of each month. If a pay date falls on a weekend or legal holiday, salary payments shall be made on the workday immediately preceding the weekend or legal holiday.
(b) At least Ten Dollars ($10.00) from each fee collected and deposited into the county's general fund under the provisions of paragraphs (a), (c) and (g) of subsection (1) of Section 25-7-19 shall be used for the sheriffs' salaries authorized in Section 25-3-25; as such Ten Dollar ($10.00) amount was authorized during the 2007 Regular Session in Chapter 331, Laws of 2007, for the purpose of providing additional monies to the counties for sheriffs' salaries.
(12) (a) All sheriffs, each year, shall attend twenty (20) hours of continuing education courses in law enforcement.
(b) All deputy sheriffs, each year, shall attend sixteen (16) hours of continuing education courses in law enforcement. The courses shall consist of the following:
(i) Implicit bias;
(ii) Human and cultural relations;
(iii) Juvenile brain development and reasoning; and
(iv) Conflict resolution.
Such courses shall be approved by the Mississippi Board on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training. Such education courses may be provided by an accredited law enforcement academy or by the Mississippi Sheriffs' Association.
( * * *c) The Mississippi Board on Law
Enforcement Officers Standards and Training shall reimburse each county
for the expenses incurred by sheriffs and deputy sheriffs for attendance at any
approved training programs as required by this subsection.
SECTION 2. Section 45-6-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
45-6-19. (1) The chief of police of any municipality in the State of Mississippi is required to annually complete twenty (20) hours of executive level continuing education courses which are approved by the Mississippi Board on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training. Any new chief of police having never previously served in that capacity, is required to complete forty (40) hours of executive level continuing education courses for his first year of service. Such education courses may be provided by an accredited law enforcement academy or by the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police.
(2) (a) Any police officer of any municipality in the State of Mississippi is required to annually complete a specified number of hours, as stated in this subsection, of continuing education courses which are approved by the Mississippi Board on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training. The following number of hours of continuing education courses is required for municipal police officers based upon the number of years following July 1, 2004:
0-2 years after July 1, 2004 ........8 hours of annual training
3-4 years after July 1, 2004 .......16 hours of annual training
5 or more years after July 1, 2004..24 hours of annual training
Such education courses may be provided by an accredited law enforcement academy or by the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police.
(b) In addition to the training provided in paragraph (a) of this subsection, each year, each police officer shall attend sixteen (16) hours of continuing education courses in law enforcement. The courses shall consist of the following:
(i) Implicit bias;
(ii) Human and cultural relations;
(iii) Juvenile brain development and reasoning; and
(iv) Conflict resolution.
Such education courses may be provided by an accredited law enforcement academy or by the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police.
(3) The Mississippi Board on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training shall reimburse each municipality for the expense incurred for chiefs of police and municipal police officers in attendance at approved training programs as required by this section.
(4) Any chief of police or municipal police officer who fails to comply with the provisions of this section shall be subject to having his certification as a chief of police or municipal police officer revoked by the Mississippi Board on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training, in accordance with Section 45-6-11.
(5) The Mississippi Board on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training is authorized to institute and promulgate all rules necessary for considering the revocation of any municipal chief of police or municipal police officer who does not comply with the provisions of this section, and may grant, for sufficient cause shown, an extension of time in which compliance with the provisions of this section may be made.
(6) Any chief of police or municipal police officer who is aggrieved by any order or ruling made under the provisions of this section has the same rights and procedure of appeal as from any other order or ruling of the Mississippi Board on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2022.