MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2001 Regular Session

To: Constitution

By: Senator(s) Frazier

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING TO AMEND THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890 BY REPEALING SECTION 48 WHICH PROVIDES FOR THE IMMUNITY FROM ARREST OF THE MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE FOR CERTAIN CRIMES WHEN THE LEGISLATURE IS IN SESSION AND FOR FIFTEEN DAYS BEFORE THE COMMENCEMENT AND AFTER THE TERMINATION OF EACH SESSION.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That the following amendment to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 is proposed to the qualified electors of the state:

Amend the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 by repealing Section 48 which reads as follows:

Section 48. Senators and Representatives shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, theft, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the Legislature, and for fifteen days before the commencement and after the termination of each session.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this proposed amendment shall be submitted by the Secretary of State to the qualified electors at an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 2002, as provided by Section 273 of the Constitution and by general law.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of this proposed amendment for the ballot shall read as follows: "This proposed constitutional amendment provides that members of the state Legislature shall no longer have immunity from arrest while the Legislature is in session."

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this resolution, immediately upon adoption by the Legislature, 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.