House Bill 748

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 99-39-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE A PERSON SEEKING TO FILE A MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION COLLATERAL RELIEF TO OBTAIN PERMISSION FROM THE MISSISSIPPI SUPREME COURT BEFORE FILING THE MOTION IN TRIAL COURT IF A DENIAL OF A PREVIOUS POST-CONVICTION MOTION HAS BEEN AFFIRMED ON APPEAL OR MORE THAN THREE YEARS HAS ELAPSED AFTER THE TIME FOR TAKING AN APPEAL FROM A JUDGMENT OR CONVICTION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 99-39-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

99-39-7. (1) The motion under this article shall be filed as an original civil action in the trial court, except in cases in which:

(a) The petitioner's conviction and sentence have been appealed to the Supreme Court of Mississippi and there affirmed or the appeal dismissed * * *. ;

(b) The denial of a previous post-conviction motion filed by the petitioner has been appealed to the Supreme Court of Mississippi and there affirmed or the appeal dismissed; or

(2) Where the conviction and sentence have been affirmed on appeal or the appeal has been dismissed, where the denial of a previous post-conviction motion filed by the petitioner has been appealed to the Supreme Court of Mississippi and there affirmed or the appeal dismissed, or where more than three (3) years after the time for taking an appeal from the judgment or conviction has elapsed, the motion under this article shall not be filed in the trial court until the motion shall have first been presented to a quorum of the Justices of the Supreme Court of Mississippi, convened for * * *~~said~~ such purpose either in termtime or in vacation, and an order granted allowing the filing of such motion in the trial court. The procedure governing applications to the Supreme Court for leave to file a motion under this article shall be as provided in Section 99-39-27.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.