MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1998 Regular Session

To: Judiciary

By: Senator(s) Turner

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 9-7-44, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CREATE AN ADDITIONAL JUDGESHIP FOR THE SIXTEENTH CIRCUIT COURT DISTRICT; TO PROVIDE FOR THE ELECTION THEREOF; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

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

SECTION 1. Section 9-7-44, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

9-7-44. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, there shall be two (2) judges for the Sixteenth Circuit Court District.

(2) From and after January 1, 1999, there shall be three (3) judges for the Sixteenth Circuit Court District. The initial term for the third judgeship created under this section shall begin on January 1, 1999, and shall run concurrently with the terms of circuit judges generally. For the 1998 election only, the initial holder of the third judgeship shall not be appointed but shall be elected, and all candidates therefor shall file their intent to be a candidate and pay the fee provided in Section 23-15-977 not later than sixty (60) days prior to the general election and shall run in the general election of 1998; the election of the initial holder of the third judgeship shall otherwise be as required by law.

SECTION 2. All new programs authorized under this Senate Bill No. 3121 shall be subject to the availability of funds specifically appropriated therefor by the Legislature during the 1998 Regular Session or any subsequent session. It is the intent of the Legislature that this act shall be codified but that no amendment to a code section or repeal of a code section enacted by this Senate Bill No. 3121 shall take effect until the Legislature has funded any new programs authorized hereunder by line item appropriation, said line item appropriation to be certified by the Legislative Budget Office to the Secretary of State.

SECTION 3. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi is directed to submit this act, immediately upon approval by the Governor, or upon approval by the Legislature subsequent to a veto, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.