MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2000 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Representative Guice

A RESOLUTION TO CREATE A NEW HOUSE RULE 25A TO PROHIBIT THE POSSESSION OF ANY DEVICE THAT MAKES A RING, ALARM OR OTHER AUDIBLE SOUND ON THE HOUSE FLOOR OR IN THE HOUSE GALLERIES WHEN THE HOUSE IS IN SESSION OR WHEN THE HOUSE AND SENATE ARE MEETING IN JOINT CONVENTION, UNLESS THE DEVICE HAS BEEN SET SO THAT IT WILL NOT MAKE AN AUDIBLE SOUND; TO PROVIDE FOR PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF THIS RULE IF ANY SUCH DEVICE MAKES AN AUDIBLE SOUND ON THE HOUSE FLOOR; TO PROVIDE FOR THE STRICT ENFORCEMENT OF THIS RULE BY THE SERGEANT AT ARMS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That the 2000-2004 Rules of the House are amended by creating a new Rule 25A to read as follows:

25A. (1) When the House is in session or when the House and Senate are meeting in joint convention, no member or employee of the House or Senate or any other person shall have in his or her possession while on the floor of the House a cellular phone, electronic pager, clock, watch, or any other device that makes a ring, alarm or other audible sound, unless the device has been set so that it will not make an audible sound. If any member or employee of the House or Senate or other person has any such device in his or her possession while on the floor of the House when the House is in session or when the House and Senate are meeting in joint convention, and the device makes an audible sound, the person shall be given a warning by the Sergeant at Arms or a House security officer for the first violation of this rule. For a second or any subsequent violation of this rule, the person shall be fined One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), which shall be collected by the Clerk of the House and deposited into the House Contingent Fund.

(2) The Sergeant at Arms shall post a sign at the entrance to each of the galleries of the House which states that no person who is in the gallery when the House is in session or when the House and Senate are meeting in joint convention shall have in his or her possession any device that makes a ring, alarm or other audible sound, unless the device has been set so that it will not make an audible sound. A person having any such device that cannot be set so that it will not make an audible sound must leave the device with a House security officer outside the gallery in order to be allowed to sit in the gallery. If any person who is in the gallery when the House is in session or when the House and Senate are meeting in joint convention has any such device in his or her possession, and the device makes an audible sound, the person shall be removed from the gallery by the Sergeant at Arms or a House security officer.

(3) This rule shall be strictly enforced by the Sergeant at Arms and the other House security officers.