MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2025 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division B
By: Senator(s) Fillingane, McMahan
AN ACT TO CREATE THE CRIME OF MAIL THEFT; TO CREATE THE CRIME OF THEFT OR UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION OF A MAIL RECEPTACLE KEY OR LOCK; TO CREATE THE THEFT OR RECEIPT OF A STOLEN CHECK OR SIGHT ORDER; TO CREATE THE CRIME OF TRAFFIC IN OR POSSESSION OF COUNTERFEIT CREDIT CARDS; TO DEFINE TERMS; TO PROVIDE CRIMINAL PENALTIES; TO AMEND SECTIONS 97-19-32 AND 97-45-31, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCLUDE CHIP-ENABLED CARDS WITHIN THE DEFINITION OF "REENCODER" AND "SCANNING DEVICE"; TO INCREASE THE CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR A SECOND OR SUBSEQUENT VIOLATION OF THESE SECTIONS; TO PROVIDE THAT IN ADDITION TO THE CRIMINAL PENALTIES A PERSON CONVICTED UNDER THESE SECTIONS SHALL MAKE FULL RESTITUTION TO VICTIM OF THE OFFENSE; TO AMEND SECTION 97-21-23, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AMEND THE CRIME OF FORGERY TO INCLUDE HAVING IN A PERSON'S CUSTODY OR POSSESSION A CHECK PRINTING SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE WITH THE INTENT TO PRODUCE A MONETARY INSTRUMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) As used in this section, the term:
(a) "Mail" means any letter, postal card, parcel, envelope, package, bag or other material, or any other sealed article addressed to another, along with its contents.
(b) "Mail depository" means a mail box, letter box or mail receptacle of a postal service, post office box, rural box, letter box, lock drawer, an office of a postal service, a vehicle of a postal service, or any area intended or used by postal customers or a postal service for the collection, deposit or delivery of mail.
(c) "Postal service" means the United States Postal Service or its contractors, or any commercial courier that delivers mail.
(2) Any of the following acts shall constitute mail theft:
(a) Stealing, converting, taking, destroying, hiding, or embezzling mail, removing mail from a mail depository, or taking mail from a mail carrier with a postal service.
(b) Obtaining, or attempting to obtain, custody of mail by fraud or deception.
(c) Damages, opens, tears down, takes or destroys any mail depository.
(d) Selling, receiving, possessing, transferring, buying or concealing mail obtained by acts described in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of this subsection, while knowing or having reason to know the mail was obtained illegally.
(3) (a) Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be imprisoned for not more than five (5) years, or fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both.
(b) Upon a second or subsequent conviction or violation of the provisions of this section, the offender shall be imprisoned for not less than one (1) year nor more than ten (10) years and may, in addition, be fined not more than Twenty Thousand Dollars $20,000.00).
(4) In addition to the penalties provided in subsection (3) of this section, a person convicted under this section shall be ordered to make full restitution to the victim and any other person who has suffered a financial loss as a result of the offense.
(5) An offense committed under this section may be prosecuted in any of the following counties:
(a) The county where the offense occurred.
(b) The county of residence or place of business of the direct or indirect victim.
SECTION 2. (1) As used in this section, the term:
(a) "Mail" means any letter, postal card, parcel, envelope, package, bag or any other sealed article addressed to another, along with its contents.
(b) "Mail depository" means a mail box, letter box or mail receptacle of a postal service, post office box, rural box, letter box, lock drawer, an office of a postal service, a vehicle of a postal service, or any area intended or used by postal customers or a postal service for the collection, deposit or delivery of mail.
(c) "Postal service" means the United States Postal Service or its contractors, or any commercial courier that delivers mail.
(2) Any of the following acts shall constitute theft or unauthorized reproduction of a mail depository key or lock:
(a) Stealing, purloining, embezzling, or obtaining by false pretense any key or lock adopted by a postal service for any box or other authorized receptacle for the deposit or delivery of mail.
(b) Knowingly and unlawfully making, forging or counterfeiting any such key, device or lock designed to provide access to a mail depository or to any key providing access to any mail depository, or possessing any such key, device or lock adopted by a postal service that delivers mail with the intent to unlawfully or improperly use, sell, or otherwise dispose of the key or lock, or to cause the key or lock to be unlawfully or improperly used, sold or otherwise disposed.
(3) (a) Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be imprisoned for not more than five (5) years, or fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both.
(b) Upon a second or subsequent conviction or violation of the provisions of this section, the offender shall be imprisoned for not less than one (1) year nor more than ten (10) years and may, in addition, be fined not more than Twenty Thousand Dollars $20,000.00).
(4) In addition to the penalties provided in subsection (3) of this section, a person convicted under this section shall be ordered to make full restitution to the victim and any other person who has suffered a financial loss as a result of the offense.
SECTION 3. (1) As used in this section, "sight order" means a written or electronic instruction to pay money that is authorized by the person giving the instruction and that is payable on demand or at a definite time by the person being instructed to pay. The term includes a check, an electronic debit, or an automatic bank draft.
(2) Stealing an unsigned check, signed check, or sight order or, with knowledge that an unsigned check, signed check or sight order has been stolen, receiving the check or sight order with intent to use it, to sell it, or to transfer it to a person other than the person from whom the check or sight order was taken shall constitute the theft or receipt of a stolen check or sight order.
(3) (a) Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be imprisoned for not more than five (5) years, or fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both.
(b) Upon a second or subsequent conviction or violation of the provisions of this section, the offender shall be imprisoned for not less than one (1) year nor more than ten (10) years and may, in addition, be fined not more than Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00).
(4) In addition to the penalties provided in subsection (3) of this section, a person convicted under this section shall be ordered to make full restitution to the victim and any other person who has suffered a financial loss as a result of the offense.
(5) An offense committed under this section may be prosecuted in any of the following counties:
(a) The county where the offense occurred.
(b) The county of residence or place of business of the direct or indirect victim.
SECTION 4. (1) As used in this section, the term:
(a) "Counterfeit credit card or debit card" means a:
(i) Credit card or debit card that:
1. Purports on its face to have been issued by an issuer that did not issue the card;
2. Has been altered to contain a digital imprint other than that which was placed on the card by the issuer;
3. Contains a digital imprint with account information or account holder information differing from that which is printed or embossed on the card; or
4. Has been altered to change the account information or account holder information on the face of the card from that which was printed or embossed on the card by the issuer; or
(ii) Card, other than one (1) issued as a credit card or debit card, that has been altered to contain the digital imprint of a credit card or debit card.
(b) "Credit card" means that term as defined in Section 97-45-31.
(c) "Digital imprint" means the digital data is placed on a credit card or debit card or on a counterfeit credit card or debit card.
(2) A person commits the offense of traffic in or possession of counterfeit credit cards if the person, with the intent to harm or defraud another, obtains, possesses, transfers or uses:
(a) A counterfeit credit card or debit card or related documents;
(b) The number and expiration date of a credit card or debit card without the consent of the account holder; or
(c) The data stored on the digital imprint of a credit card or debit card without the consent of the account holder.
(3) If an actor possessed five (5) or more of an item described by subsection (2)(b) or (c) of this section, a rebuttable presumption exists that the actor possessed each item without the consent of the account holder. The presumption established under this subsection does not apply to a business or other commercial entity or a government agency that is engaged in a business activity or governmental function that does not violate a criminal law of this state.
(4) An offense under this section is:
(a) A misdemeanor if the number of items obtained, possessed, transferred or used is less than five (5); and upon conviction, shall be subject to a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or to imprisonment for a term not to exceed one (1) year, or both.
(b) A felony if the number of items obtained, possessed, transferred or used is five (5) or more but less than ten (10); and upon conviction, the offender shall be imprisoned for not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years and may be fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both.
(c) A felony if the number of items obtained, possessed, transferred or used is ten (10) or more but less than fifty (50); and upon conviction, the offender shall be imprisoned for not less than five (5) years nor more than fifteen (15) years and may be fined not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both.
(d) A felony if the number of items obtained, possessed, transferred or used is fifty (50) or more; and upon conviction, the offender shall be imprisoned for not less than ten (10) years nor more than twenty (20) years and may be fined not more than Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00), or both.
(5) In addition to the penalties provided in subsection (4) of this section, a person convicted under this section shall be ordered to make full restitution to the victim and any other person who has suffered a financial loss as a result of the offense.
(6) An offense committed under this section may be prosecuted in any of the following counties:
(a) The county where the offense occurred.
(b) The county of residence or place of business of the direct or indirect victim.
(7) If a court orders a defendant convicted of an offense under this section to make restitution to a victim of the offense, the court may order the defendant to reimburse the victim for lost income or other expenses, other than attorney's fees, incurred as a result of the offense.
(8) If conduct that constitutes an offense under
this section also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor may be prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.
SECTION 5. Section 97-19-32, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
97-19-32. (1) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(a) "Cardholder" means any person:
(i) Named on the face of a credit card to whom or for whose benefit the credit card is issued by an issuer; or
(ii) In possession of a credit card with the consent of the person to whom the credit card was issued.
(b) "Credit card" means:
(i) Any instrument or device, whether known as a credit card, charge card, credit plate, courtesy card, identification card or any other name that is issued with or without fee by an issuer for the use of the cardholder in obtaining money, goods, services or anything else of value, either on credit or in consideration of an undertaking or guaranty by the issuer of the payment of a check drawn by the cardholder, on a promise to pay in part or in full therefor at a future time, whether or not all or any part of the indebtedness that is represented by the promise to make deferred payment is secured or unsecured.
(ii) A debit card, electronic benefit transfer card or other access instrument or device, other than a check that is signed by the holder or other authorized signatory on the deposit account, that draws funds from a deposit account in order to obtain money, goods, services or anything else of value.
(iii) A stored value card, smart card or other instrument or device that enables a person to obtain goods, services or anything else of value through the use of value stored on the card instrument or device.
(iv) The number that is assigned the card, instrument or device, even if the physical card, instrument or device is not used or presented.
(c) "Issuer" means any business organization, state agency or financial institution, or its duly authorized agent, that issues a credit card.
(d) "Merchant" means a person who is authorized under a written contract with a participating party to furnish money, goods, services or anything else of value on presentation of a credit card by a cardholder.
(e) "Reencoder" means an electronic device that places encoded information from chip-enabled cards or the magnetic strip or stripe of a credit card onto chip-enabled cards or the magnetic strip or stripe of a different credit card.
(f) "Scanning device" means a scanner, reader, skimmer or other electronic device that is used to access, read, scan, obtain, memorize or store, temporarily or permanently, information that is encoded on chip-enabled cards or a magnetic strip or stripe of a credit card.
(2) (a) It is unlawful for a person to possess, directly or indirectly, a scanning device or reencoder without the permission of the cardholder of the credit card from which the information is being scanned or reencoded with the intent to defraud the cardholder, the issuer or a merchant.
(b) A person who violates this section commits a felony punishable, upon conviction thereof, by imprisonment not to exceed five (5) years, a fine not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both.
(c) Upon a second or subsequent conviction of a violation of the provisions of this section, the offender shall be imprisoned for not less than one (1) year nor more than ten (10) years, and may be fined not more than Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00).
(3) In addition to the penalties provided in subsection (2) of this section, a person convicted under this section shall be ordered to make full restitution to the victim and any other person who has suffered a financial loss as a result of the offense.
SECTION 6. Section 97-45-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
97-45-31. (1) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(a) "Cardholder" means any person:
(i) Named on the face of a credit card to whom or for whose benefit the credit card is issued by an issuer; or
(ii) In possession of a credit card with the consent of the person to whom the credit card was issued.
(b) "Credit card" means:
(i) Any instrument or device, whether known as a credit card, charge card, credit plate, courtesy card, identification card or any other name that is issued with or without fee by an issuer for the use of the cardholder in obtaining money, goods, services or anything else of value, either on credit or in consideration of an undertaking or guaranty by the issuer of the payment of a check drawn by the cardholder, on a promise to pay in part or in full therefor at a future time, whether or not all or any part of the indebtedness that is represented by the promise to make deferred payment is secured or unsecured.
(ii) A debit card, electronic benefit transfer card or other access instrument or device, other than a check that is signed by the holder or other authorized signatory on the deposit account, that draws funds from a deposit account in order to obtain money, goods, services or anything else of value.
(iii) A stored value card, smart card or other instrument or device that enables a person to obtain goods, services or anything else of value through the use of value stored on the card instrument or device.
(iv) The number that is assigned the card, instrument or device, even if the physical card, instrument or device is not used or presented.
(c) "Issuer" means any business organization, state agency or financial institution, or its duly authorized agent, that issues a credit card.
(d) "Merchant" means a person who is authorized under a written contract with a participating party to furnish money, goods, services or anything else of value on presentation of a credit card by a cardholder.
(e) "Reencoder" means an electronic device that places encoded information from chip-enabled cards or the magnetic strip or stripe of a credit card onto chip-enabled cards or the magnetic strip or stripe of a different credit card.
(f) "Scanning device" means a scanner, reader or other electronic device that is used to access, read, scan, obtain, memorize or store, temporarily or permanently, information that is encoded chip-enabled cards or on a magnetic strip or stripe of a credit card.
(b) A person who violates this section commits a felony punishable, upon conviction thereof, by imprisonment not to exceed five (5) years, a fine not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both.
(c) Upon a second or subsequent conviction of a violation of the provisions of this section, the offender shall be imprisoned for not less than one (1) year nor more than ten (10) years, and may be fined not more than Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00).
(3) In addition to the penalties provided in subsection (2) of this section, a person convicted under this section shall be ordered to make full restitution to the victim and any other person who has suffered a financial loss as a result of the offense.
SECTION 7. Section 97-21-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
97-21-23. Every person who shall be convicted of having made or engraved, or having caused or procured to be made or engraved, any plate in the form or similitude of any promissory note, bill of exchange, draft, check, certificate of deposit, or other evidence of debt, issued by any incorporated bank in this state, or by any bank incorporated under the laws of the United States, or of any state or territory, or under the laws of any foreign country or government, without the authority of such bank, with the intent of using or having the same used for the purpose of taking therefrom any impression, to be passed, sold, or altered, or of having made or caused to be made, or having in his custody or possession any plate upon which shall be engraved any figures or words which may be used for the purpose of falsely altering any evidence of debt issued by any such incorporated bank, with the intent of having the same used for such purpose, or of having or keeping in his custody or possession, without the authority of such bank, any impression taken from any such plate, with intent to have the same filled up and completed for the purpose of being passed, sold, or uttered, or using or having in his custody or possession check printing software or hardware with the intent to produce, make, design, or otherwise utter a counterfeit promissory note, bill of exchange, draft, check, bank check, certificate of deposit, or other evidence of debt, treasury note or monetary instrument shall be guilty of forgery.
SECTION 8. Sections 1 through 4 of this act shall be codified as a new chapter within Title 97, Mississippi Code of 1972.
SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.