House Bill NO. 1130

By Senator(s) Committee

SECTION 2. (1) The Mississippi Code of 1972 Annotated, as amended, modified and revised from time to time, that is published by the company with which the Joint Legislative Committee on Compilation, Revision and Publication of Legislation has contracted under Section 1-1-107(a):

(a) Is the official code of the public statute laws of the State of Mississippi that are enacted by the Legislature; and

(b) Shall be used, received, recognized and referred to as the official code of the public statute laws of the State of Mississippi, and shall be considered as evidence of the public statute laws of the State of Mississippi, in all courts of the state and by all public officers, offices, departments and agencies of the state and its political subdivisions, and in all other places or instances where the public statute laws of the state may come into question. However, if there is any conflict between the language of any statute as it appears in the Mississippi Code of 1972 Annotated and in the General Laws of Mississippi, the language in the General Laws shall control; and if there is any conflict between the language of any statute as it appears in the General Laws of Mississippi and in the original enrolled bills enacted by the Legislature, the language in the enrolled bills shall control.

(2) No publisher of a code of the public statute laws of the State of Mississippi, other than the publishing company with which the Joint Legislative Committee on Compilation, Revision and Publication of Legislation has contracted under Section 1-1-107(a), shall be authorized to use as the name, title or designation of the code that is published, the words "Mississippi Code of 1972," "Mississippi Code 1972," "Mississippi Code of 1972 Annotated," "Mississippi Code 1972 Annotated," "Annotated Mississippi Code of 1972," "Annotated Mississippi Code 1972," or any other combination of words containing "Code of 1972," "Code 1972" or "1972 Code." The joint committee may seek injunctive relief, or authorize the publisher of the official code to seek injunctive relief on behalf of the joint committee, against any person or entity to enforce the provisions of this subsection.

SECTION 3. Section 1-1-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, which provides that the Mississippi Code shall be recognized as the statute laws of the state, is repealed.

SECTION 4. Section 1-1-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

1-1-33. Where any officer has received a set of the Mississippi Code of 1972 by virtue of his office and is required by law to deliver it to his successor in office, and the officer fails to deliver it to his successor, the successor may make application to the Joint Legislative Committee on Compilation, Revision and Publication of Legislation, in writing, setting forth that fact, and the joint committee, if satisfied of the truthfulness of the application, may issue to the applicant a set of the Mississippi Code of 1972. The joint committee may consider any official application for a set of the Mississippi Code of 1972, and if the facts warrant furnishing a code or codes as applied for, it shall be furnished to the applicant.

SECTION 5. Section 1 of this act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1999. Sections 2, 3 and 4 of this act shall take effect and be in force from and after the passage of this act.

TO PROVIDE THAT THE MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972 ANNOTATED THAT IS PUBLISHED BY THE COMPANY WITH WHICH THE JOINT LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE ON COMPILATION, REVISION AND PUBLICATION OF LEGISLATION HAS CONTRACTED IS THE OFFICIAL CODE OF THE PUBLIC STATUTE LAWS OF THE STATE, AND SHALL BE RECOGNIZED AS THE OFFICIAL CODE AND CONSIDERED AS EVIDENCE OF THE PUBLIC STATUTE LAWS OF THE STATE IN ALL STATE COURTS AND BY ALL PUBLIC OFFICERS AND AGENCIES; TO PROHIBIT ANY PUBLISHER OF A CODE OF THE PUBLIC STATUTE LAWS OF THE STATE, OTHER THAN THE PUBLISHER OF THE OFFICIAL CODE, FROM USING CERTAIN WORDS AS THE NAME OR TITLE OF THE CODE THAT IS PUBLISHED; TO REPEAL SECTION 1-1-15, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PRECEDING PROVISIONS; TO AMEND SECTION 1-1-33, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY TO SECTION 1-1-11, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972;