House Bill 903

(As Passed the House)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-15-29, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF THE FINE FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE FOUND GUILTY OF VIOLATING LITTERING ORDINANCES OF COUNTIES AND MUNICIPALITIES; 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) (a) Except as provided under paragraph (b) of this subsection, any person found guilty of the violation of this section shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) nor more than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00). 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.

(b) If the governing authorities of any municipality or the board of supervisors of any county implements an anti-littering ordinance pursuant to this section, and any person who is found guilty of violating such ordinance shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00). 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) As a part of the fine imposed by subsection (3) above, a person convicted for an offense upon which fines are imposed by this section may be required to perform the following, and a person convicted for a second or subsequent offense upon which fines are imposed by 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 Fifty Dollars ($50.00) on each violation of this section. The assessment shall be deposited into the Law Enforcement Officers Monument Fund created in Section 39-5-71. After the monument is constructed, the assessment shall not be deposited into the fund. The assessment 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. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.