House Bill 822

AN ACT TO REPEAL SECTION 9-7-26, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH AUTHORIZES THE APPOINTMENT OF CIRCUIT JUDGES FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT COURT DISTRICT; TO AMEND SECTION 9-12-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY APPEALS FROM THE CCID INFERIOR COURT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 11-51-81, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES FOR APPEALS FROM MUNICIPAL COURTS, FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 11-51-95, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH AUTHORIZES APPEALS OF INFERIOR TRIBUNALS TO CIRCUIT COURT, FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 9-7-26, Mississippi Code of 1972, which authorizes the appointment of four (4) temporary special circuit judges for the Seventh Circuit Court District, shall stand repealed.

SECTION 2. Section 9-12-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

9-12-1. (1) (a) From and after January 1, 2024, there shall be created one (1) inferior court as authorized by Article 6, Section 172 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to be located within the boundaries established in Section 29-5-203 for the Capitol Complex Improvement District, hereinafter referred to as "CCID". The CCID inferior court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine all preliminary matters and criminal matters authorized by law for municipal courts that accrue or occur, in whole or in part, within the boundaries of the Capitol Complex Improvement District; and shall have the same jurisdiction as municipal courts to hear and determine all cases charging violations of the motor vehicle and traffic laws of this state, and violations of the City of Jackson's traffic ordinance or ordinances related to the disturbance of the public peace that accrue or occur, in whole or in part, within the boundaries of the Capitol Complex Improvement District. Appeals from the CCID inferior court shall be governed in the same manner as appeals from municipal courts described in Section 11-51-81 and certiorari review as described in Section 11-51-95.

(b) Any person convicted in the CCID inferior court may be placed in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, Central Mississippi facility.

(2) The Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court shall appoint the CCID inferior court judge authorized by this section. The judge shall possess all qualifications required by law for municipal court judges. Such judge shall be a qualified elector of this state, and shall have such other qualifications as provided by law for municipal judges.

(3) The Administrative Office of Courts shall provide compensation for the CCID inferior court judge and the support staff of the judge. Such compensation shall not be in an amount less than the compensation paid to municipal court judges and their support staff in the City of Jackson.

(4) All fines, penalties, fees and costs imposed and collected by the CCID inferior court shall be deposited with the City of Jackson municipal treasurer or equivalent officer.

(5) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2027.

SECTION 3. Section 11-51-81, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

11-51-81. All appeals from courts of justices of the peace, special and general, and from all municipal courts shall be to the county court under the same rules and regulations as are provided on appeals to the circuit court, but appeals from orders of the board of supervisors, municipal boards, and other tribunals other than courts of justice of the peace and municipal courts, shall be direct to the circuit court as heretofore. And from the final judgment of the county court in a case appealed to it under this section, a further appeal may be taken to the circuit court on the same terms and in the same manner as other appeals from the county court to the circuit court are taken: Provided that where the judgment or record of the justice of the peace, municipal or police court is not properly certified, or is not certified at all, that question must be raised in the county court in the absence of which the defect shall be deemed as waived and by such waiver cured and may not thereafter be raised for the first time in the circuit court on the appeal thereto; and provided further that there shall be no appeal from the circuit court to the Supreme Court of any case civil or criminal which originated in a justice of the peace, municipal or police court and was thence appealed to the county court and thence to the circuit court unless in the determination of the case a constitutional question be necessarily involved and then only upon the allowance of the appeal by the circuit judge or by a judge of the Supreme Court.

SECTION 4. Section 11-51-95, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

11-51-95. Like proceedings as provided in Section 11-51-93 may be had to review the judgments of all tribunals inferior to the circuit court, whether an appeal be provided by law from the judgment sought to be reviewed or not. However, petitions for a writ of certiorari to the circuit court for review of a decision of a municipal civil service commission created under Section 21-31-1 et seq. or Section 21-31-51 et seq. shall be filed within thirty (30) days after the entry of the judgment or order of the commission.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.